Now he IS Sloan's enemy

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LMM

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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11895724p-12782576c.html

Now he IS Sloan's enemy

Ostertag, who clashed with his former Utah coach, returns to the Delta Center

By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, December 30, 2004

Kings backup center Greg Ostertag spent nine years in Salt Lake City with the Utah Jazz, experiencing up-and-down relationships with coach Jerry Sloan and the team's fans.



Ostertag's relationship with Sloan is solid, but he's apprehensive about his reception from the Delta Center crowd when the Kings meet the Jazz on New Year's Eve.

"I'm sure it'll be mixed," Ostertag said Wednesday. "I know I'm going to have dinner with some friends (tonight) and get my hair cut Friday morning by my usual barber. But I'm not going to know how I'm going to feel until game time."



Kings coach Rick Adelman didn't play Ostertag in Sunday's loss to the Golden State Warriors but says he'll play the big center against his former team Friday and in games to follow.

On a team that has major difficulties protecting its basket and clearing its defensive backboards, Ostertag, whose strengths are exactly those qualities, would seem to be a logical candidate for more playing time.

"I know I've got to play Greg," Adelman said. "I've got to make that commitment in the middle."

Adelman has been hesitant to use Ostertag consistently against the growing number of teams that are playing without prototypical centers. But the coach says he plans to see how Ostertag fares and how teams handle his size.

"If it's a mismatch," Adelman says, "then I'll have to see where it is and how it goes. But Greg and Darius (Songaila) have got to get into the games."

Ostertag looked at the schedule before the season to see when the Kings played in Salt Lake City. However, after breaking his right hand Oct. 2, he wondered if he'd be able to play.

"I was just hoping (the hand) would be better," said Ostertag, who has not played in four games because of the coach's decision. "I'm looking forward to going back and getting a win. It would be a sweet victory for the team. It's a game we need, especially after two losses in a row. It would be bigger for the team than it would be for my own self-satisfaction."

Ostertag, whom the Kings signed as a free agent last July, said his relationship with Sloan was great off the court.

"On the court, there were times when we didn't see eye-to-eye," Ostertag said. "And I think he'd tell you straight up that he was a little harder on me than anybody else. But when we had a problem, the next day we'd usually talk and get it over with. I'd say my sorrys and he'd say his, and that would be it."

But Ostertag said there were times when neither would want to back down.

"If he held out, then I held out," the normally jovial center said about a conciliation the next day. "We are both two pretty stubborn people."

For the first time in their careers, Ostertag and Sloan will be on different sides of the ledger. And the 7-foot-2 center says he'll just continue to try to do his job.

"I didn't leave cursing out the media or the coaches," Ostertag said. "Jerry was the first one I called when I found out I was leaving."

Ostertag was asked if he expected a standing ovation like the one Vlade Divac received earlier this month when he returned to Sacramento with the Los Angeles Lakers. "It won't be anything like that," Ostertag said with a laugh. "I probably won't get a standing 'O'."

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yes adelman.. we need to see more of darius and greg :)
 
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Go get em TAG! I'd love to see him have one of his rare offensive nights and drp 20 points on the Jazz! I also hope Rick sticks by the decision to play Tag more.
 
glad to hear adelman say this. one of my criticisms of adelman is that he tends to allow other teams to dictate matchups.

hopefully, greg will capitalize on this opportunity.
 
I hope Tag gets a nicer ovation than he expects, then goes on to have a career night, and gets another ovation when he's pulled late in the game.

Interesting that Rick is grappling with these issues - they are clearly outside of his comfort zone.
 
eflat said:
I hope Tag gets a nicer ovation than he expects, then goes on to have a career night, and gets another ovation when he's pulled late in the game.
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I sure hope so too!

GOO GREG!!!
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LMM said:
"I know I've got to play Greg," Adelman said. "I've got to make that commitment in the middle."

Adelman has been hesitant to use Ostertag consistently against the growing number of teams that are playing without prototypical centers. But the coach says he plans to see how Ostertag fares and how teams handle his size.

"If it's a mismatch," Adelman says, "then I'll have to see where it is and how it goes. But Greg and Darius (Songaila) have got to get into the games."
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RA is a little slow. Took him only 26 games to figure it out :rolleyes:
 
well 26 games out of how many total? And Tag was hurt some also.

I here all the radio guys say Tag didn't play because of the matchup. But doesn't that work both ways? A big guy vs an athletic guy? I would think that matchup works both ways.

I like RA's thinking now and would like to see more of Tag.
 
Well, first let me say that I fundamentally believe that Tag should play in EVERY single game for us no matter who we are playing. That he's the only game changer we have on defense and he absolutely needs to be on the court to give us presence.


But that said, the problem with the mismatch "going both ways" with Tag is that it doesn't. Normally when you say that what you mean is that sure, his guy might have an advantage taking him out on the floor and scoring on him on one side of the floor, but your big guy can come back down the other way and punish his opponent inside. But that's not Tag. He has no real offensive game, so he can't really punish his guy on offense. So the mismatach kind of only goes one way -- nobody's worried about Tag going off against them on offense no matter who is guarding him (he is a good offensive rebounder though, so that could be a factor against a little guy).
 
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Bricklayer said:
Well, firt let me say that I fundamentally beleive that Tag should paly in EVRY single game for us no matter who we are playing. That he's the only game changer we have on defensen and he absolutely needs to be ont he court to give us presence.


But that said, the problem with the mismatch "going both ways" with Tag is that it doesn't. Normally when you say that what you mean is that sure, his guy might have an advanatage taking him out on the floor and scoring on him on one side of the floor, but your big guy can come back down the other way and punish hsi opponent inside. But that's not Tag. He has no real offensive game, so he can't really punsih his guy on offense. So the mismatach kind of only goies one way -- nobody's worried about Tag going off against them on offense no mater who is guarding him (he is a good offensive rebouonder though, so that could be a factor against a little guy).
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Plus I think the more he is on the floor the more effective he will be offensively. Every player that plays with the Kings does, and he's already shown improvement(lately) passing and picking up baskets in the limited time hes been on the floor. He'll never be Brad, but He'll get better. I hope...
 
Tag should play more, no matter who we're playing. Sure, he doesnt have the offensive talents like Brad, but if we have 3 or 4 of the other starters in, will it really hurt our offense THAT much? His defensive presence makes up for his lack of offensive talent.
 
SacTownKid said:
I didn't see the Jazz game but it looks like Adelman kept his word and played Tag.






4 whole minutes.
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Since you didn't see the game, you most likely didn't realize that Tag took a VERY hard foul, and actually lay prone on the court. When he got up, he got up very gingerly and went out shortly thereafter - not to return. Sometimes it's good to get the facts before you jump right off Conclusion Cliff...
 
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I don't actually think it it WAS all that serious. It was more, IMO, that Tag did not, as Brick so aptly put it, respond all that well to the boos. He was largely ineffective in his minutes on the court. I'm sure it couldn't have had anything to do with those darn matchup thingys Adelman is always talking about;)
We won. I'm not going to spend MY New Years fretting over how many minutes Tag got........mostly because HIS style game is perfectly suited for the Play-offs, which is when we will need him the most, and when I foresee he will have the most impact. Until then, I expect to see sporadic minutes and a semi-uneven production level
 
SacTownKid said:
My bad.

I read through your PBP and didn't see anything serious.
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Okay, it wasn't THAT serious. Sorry if I misled you. It did, however, clearly knock the breath out of him - and since, as KG and Brickie have mentioned, he was not doing very well anyway and was the target of a lot of booing from the Utah crowd, I think RA made the right decision.
 
Okay, I will admit, it LOOKED serious at the time. I just felt kind of bad for Tag after the deplorable way the utah 'fans' greeted him on his return and think it probably just as well he did not return. WE, the ARCO faithful, gave Malone AND Stockton, sworn enemies, a standing O because of what we felt they had contributed to the game of basketball. They can't give a man who spent his entire career (9 YEARS) thus far, with them a polite smattering of appluase? I was appallled.
 
Kingsgurl said:
Okay, I will admit, it LOOKED serious at the time. I just felt kind of bad for Tag after the deplorable way the utah 'fans' greeted him on his return and think it probably just as well he did not return. WE, the ARCO faithful, gave Malone AND Stockton, sworn enemies, a standing O because of what we felt they had contributed to the game of basketball. They can't give a man who spent his entire career (9 YEARS) thus far, with them a polite smattering of appluase? I was appallled.
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Thanks for reminder of the stand O the Kings fans gave Malone and Stockton. I forgot about that.
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I was shock as well when the fans booed Greg... wasn't even expecting it at all. But I did hear them say on TV that there were a few cheers. Too bad the boos were more loud. :(
 
i feel bad for tag cause he got booed.. 9 yrs at utah and when he comes back, he gets booed? that sucks :(

seems like a really good guy, too..
 
Yes, it was a pretty lame response, but I was under the impression Greg was pretty much disliked by the Utah crowd. I thought Sloan saw him as a lazy player who had a lot of potential, but didn't want to commit to the effort of being consistent about his workouts.

Dare I get too psudeo-analytical, but I think they misplace a lot the blame of Michael Jordan being alive during the Jazz's run at the title, and resent him because he might not have worked as hard as they thought he could have during that era.

Whatever. Even if that's true, it's still a pathetic reaction to a long time member of that franchise.
 
Utah fans who booed Tag showed no class...
Yet onemore reason for Kings fans to NOT boo Webber and to contenue to aplaud exteam members who visit.
 
Its not like it was all boo's. Sounded like a 55-45% mix of me. Thats not all that bad. Yes he should've been treated better but I wouldnt say it was as bad as some are saying.
 
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