Rosen's Pacific Preview

Alacron · Nov 1, 2004

Keep in mind I'm only the messenger... this is from Charlie Rosen, Fox Sports.

Sacramento Kings

The Kings' run is done, and the biggest reason for their downfall is Chris Webber. This guy is a soft-stepping, seriously selfish, sticky-fingered choke-artist, who insists that he is (and always has been) the Kings' main man.

In truth, his cancerous presence on the court and in the locker room neutralizes whatever good chemistry the Kings have managed to create. Remember how well they played last season before his return from a knee injury?

Mike Bibby is a solid, clutch performer who makes the most of his modest athleticism. As Doug Christie's outside shooting improves from year to year, his once stifling defense gets worse. Peja Stojakovich is a terrific player from early November to mid-April.

Brad Miller isn't quite the tough guy that he appears to be, and as his career progresses (he's entering his seventh season) he's becoming more injury prone. Bobby Jackson puts some oomph in the Kings' offense. He and Christie are the team's only jet-setters.

As always, defense is a problem. So is a lack of chest-to-chest power. Short of trading Webber (whose balky knee makes him largely undesirable), coach Rick Adelman should tie C-Webb's shoelaces together, play Peja at power forward and insert B-Jax into the starting lineup.

Young player to watch: Gerald Wallace is arguably the best young athlete in the league. Veteran NBA insiders are wondering ... Whoops! My bad. The Kings let Wallace go unprotected in the expansion draft. So their best young to watch will be suiting up for Charlotte this season.
_________________________________
Flash better make him eat those words.

The rest of the article is about the other teams, who he also disses mercilessly. http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3121646
~~

HndsmCelt · Nov 1, 2004

Harsh... very harsh

LPKingsFan · Nov 1, 2004

Wow, first Kerr's Yahoo, Bucher's ESPN, Kahn's cbs, and now this. SI's the only major sports website I've seen that hasn't trashed the Kings yet.

Superman · Nov 1, 2004

Yeah, cuz Charlie Rosen is a credible source for a Kings preview...

Kick rocks, Chuck.

PT Cruiser 9ROC · Nov 1, 2004

Gee, ignorant much? How on earth does a professional, paid journalist relegate to using Gerald Wallace as a criterion for bashing the Kings? If he knew anything whatsoever besides what slanted information he got from the Bee, he would know that Wallace was being pushed further and further off the bench, despite several opportunities to shine past his dunking ability. Unfortunately, this guy chose to regurgitate everything that every other "professional" writer has said. Why waste the time to paraphrase what others have said? Why not just post a giant link to the Bee's website on your column? These jerks don't provide anything new whatsoever; they're simply reporting vicariously through the likes of Voisin.

Bricklayer · Nov 1, 2004

Charlie Rosen has really gone overboard this time. The guys a ****ing idiot on his best days, but normally he conceals his petty hatreds behind a veneer of "oh I'm an insider"ness and sarcastic banter. Remember this is Phil Jackson's old butt buddy.

TheSerbianQueen · Nov 1, 2004

If we are gonna listen to all of the critics and what they have to say about the Kings, then we might as well not even watch games this season, since according to everyone Kings are simply going to suck!

Oh well.... I guess we'll have to see

Andriod_KiNg · Nov 1, 2004

Give it a week, then they will be on the Kings bandwagon.

PT Cruiser 9ROC · Nov 1, 2004

His bio:

Charley Rosen, former CBA coach, author of 12 books about hoops, the next one being A PIVOTAL SEASON — HOW THE 1971-72 LA LAKERS CHANGED THE NBA, is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com.

This explains everything. The man shamelessly advertises the fact that he has blinders on. He's still living in the past, and he doesn't even try to hide it. He'd rather be bitter towards everyone and everything in the present, as evidenced by the extreme-pessimistic tone that's shrouded over the entire article, not just the section regarding the Kings. There's not one positive statement in there that doesn't go without being shotdown a few moments later by a negative statement.

Superman · Nov 1, 2004

I just looked at the rest of the article - though God knows I didn't want to - and it's even worse than I thought. This article is nothing but Charlie Rosen's way of voicing his bitterness towards the NBA. What makes him an expert anyways? I've NEVER read anything worth reading from Rosen, at all. Especially not as pertains to basketball analysis.

What a waste of 7 minutes of my life. I could have been alphabetizing my CDs.

bleedpurple · Nov 1, 2004

Ouch.

Mad D · Nov 1, 2004

eff rosen

SacKings384 · Nov 1, 2004

Read the rest of the article... They are all stupid predictions and insights...

fakie · Nov 1, 2004

Alacron said:

glad to know you are just the messanger. don't worry, we dont' kill messengers.

interesting article.......i acutally like being the underdog. proving someone wrong is the most fun thing in the world.

piksi · Nov 1, 2004

Does AV have an alias - like C Rosen

kingskings! · Nov 1, 2004

Any article that makes me wince for Kobe and the Lakers is pure B.S.

I just wish I hadn't read the rest of it, vicious all around, does the guy even LIKE basketball anymore?

KK!

Evenstar · Nov 1, 2004

woah. hmmm sounds like someone doesn't like mr webber.

the part about gerald wallace was LAUGHABLE. yes, i'm sure we are going to be going " rats, we shouldn't have let him go" come january.. *rolls eyes*

peja at the power foward????? you are KIDDING me. this isn't the east.

this guy is a BUTT! he and voison sound like they would be the perfect couple ( just as long as they weren't allowed to have offspring. oh man that would be BAD!)

VF21 · Nov 1, 2004

Anybody see the picture on the front page of the sports section in today's Bee?

That's sure proof of the problems between Pedja and Chris, isn't it?

That good chemistry that is always being bandied around...does anyone remember how it started? Do the names Jason Williams, Vlade Divac and CHRIS WEBBER ring any bells?

I don't know why I'm even bothering to say this, because the Rosens of the world will never listen but 55, 21 and 4 are what STARTED that chemistry - that special feeling of wondrous delight that spread quickly from the team to the fans and back again.

On the other hand, these comments from Chucky are to be expected. Had he come out and praised the Kings I would have been afraid...very afraid.

GO KINGS!!!

VF21 · Nov 1, 2004

Here's the picture:

Whether Peja Stojakovic, middle, or Chris Webber, right, emerges as the No. 1 option on offense is but one issue for the Kings, who welcome rookie Kevin Martin, left. Fresno Bee/Darrell Wong
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/11286497p-12201671c.html#more_images

KingKong · Nov 1, 2004

VF21 said:

Yeah that definately illustrates the Kings chemistry issues to the tee.

side note: Flash looks really young!!!

kingskings! · Nov 1, 2004

VF21 said:

In all honesty, and with no disrespect intended, I remember thinking that the "chemistry" between "White Chocolate" and "C-Webb" is what got JWill traded away. Does anyone else remember the late night "races" from Arco to the Pocket? Or am I just a disgruntled fan bent on remembering some of the bad times?

KK!

VF21 · Nov 1, 2004

What got Jason traded away was the opportunity to get Mike Bibby.

What I'm talking about is how alive the team became with the three of them. Their excitement, enthusiasm, etc. is what first energized the team - and it spread to the fans.

kingskings! · Nov 1, 2004

VF21 said:

And with all due respect, what "I" think got Jason traded away were three things:

1. His inconsistency.

2. His bad/good chemistry with Webber...and Webber was THE premier player for the Kings in those days (no matter how plainly he made it that he didn't want to be here). If JWill had been better than Webb in those days it would have been Webb who was traded. Remember, Webb was coming off some bad press years back then. His fights with his GSW coach, his drug and rape charges in Washington. His comments about wanting to be traded away from Sac when he was free of his current contract. If JWill had been the better player in those days (and he's still not, but he IS better in Memphis than he was here), then Webb would have been traded a long time ago. Webb and Williams were TROUBLE, and the Kings haven't changed much in all the years they've been here (thank GOD we're not Portland). The Kings org. doesn't like trouble and they could not keep Webber and Williams out of it.

3. This isn't about Jason, but I will say this...the fans were energized long before CWebb came here and that was the same year Vlade came, and the year the Kings picked Peja...Yes, we began to believe the Kings would win something eventually that year but some of us were believers even before that era. We're the fans who went to the games when Reggie was the premier player, the fans who rooted for OP and all the other guys in the 10 years before Webber, Vlade, Williams, and Peja came to play here. The fans who cried when our first round pick's career ended in a freak auto accident. The Kings did not start with Webber, the fans did not pick up this team when Webber was added and personally? I don't think we'll ever see his number retired in the rafters.

bibbyweb · Nov 1, 2004

I don't understand what fosters such bitterness against the Kings from everyone

.

kingskings! · Nov 2, 2004

bibbyweb said:

Are you talking to me?

Because I LOVE the Kings! I loved them before any of the current players arrived and I'll love them after all the current players retire or are traded! I just don't like the posts that say webb=kings. We were fans before he came and we'll be fans after he's gone. We may grieve the loss of our players but we'll still love the Kings. I grieved the loss of JB, heck I grieved the loss of Reggie Theus and I'm STILL grieving the loss of Vlade, so please excuse me if I've offended you.

KK!

bibbyweb · Nov 2, 2004

kingskings! said:

No I wasn't talking abt you. I was talking abt the paid writers who have consistantly been making derogatory statements abt the Kings. I mean every article has something bad to say about the kings. Not that it makes any difference.

And I have no problems about you or anyone else grieving abt Vlade or anyone else.

What I detest is the fact that people so easily forget Webber's contributions and try to pin everything that has gone wrong on him.

Bricklayer · Nov 2, 2004

kingskings! said:

Webb does not = Kings.

Webb (healthy) DOES = Kings chance at a championship.

He is not the only player in the league who could fill that equation. He is however the only one we have a realistic chance to have on our roster without having to give up huge chunks of our remaining talent.

P.S. And getting rid of JWill had nothing to do with his relationship with Webb and everything to do with Jason being a knucklehead btoh on and off the court. If you recall in his final year in Sacto he had more or less been replaced in the lineup down the stretch of games because he simply could not be trusted to make smart decisions.

Superman · Nov 2, 2004

kingskings! said:

True, coupled with his terrible decision making late in games. Tony Delk was our 4th quarter point guard, and after that it Bobby Jackson.

I don't understand. Are you saying that Webb and Williams didn't get along, or are you saying that they got into too much trouble together and so one of them had to go? Because the Kings weren't going to let Webber go anywhere, which is why they made such a big deal of getting him to re-sign that same summer.

Those three players arrived at the same time.

Side note: Jason Williams averaged 52% from the field and 39% from downtown in four preseason games. I wonder if that's a precursor of things to come.

VF21 · Nov 2, 2004

kingskings! said:

If you're talking about my posts, then you're really missing the boat totally and completely. I have NOT said that webb=kings.

As far as getting rid of Jason goes, you're right. This thread wasn't about that, but since you've turned it into a partial discussion about J-Will, I'll respond. Certainly there were a lot of issues involved in Jason's leaving. BUT - and this is very important - Petrie would not have dumped him for just anyone. He got rid of him BECAUSE - at least in part - he had the opportunity to pull the trigger on the deal that brought us Mike Bibby. So, I used the Reader's Digest version to illustrate my point.

And your comment about Kings fans being energized before the trio of 4-21-55 arrived also misses the point, as Supes touched on before.

Kings fans were rabid, true. Excited, true. Hopeful of anything remoting resembling a shot at the playoffs, let alone a run at the WCF? Not on your life. Not until those three got here and we began to realize that there just MIGHT, in fact, be basketball life after mid-April.

There's a big difference between simply being a rabid support of your local team and being a rabid supporter of your local team that's headed to the playoffs. I've been both. I much prefer the latter to the former and I thank Vlade, Jason and Webber for getting the ball rolling.

uolj · Nov 2, 2004

The Kings were pretty much ignored in ESPN.com's predictions (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/preview2004/news/story?id=1914309) except for this from Marc Stein:

Rosen's Pacific Preview

Bench

Hall of Famer

All-Star

All-Star

Bench

Don't Make Me Use The Bat

Bench

Starter

Bench

All-Star

Bench

Starter

Starter

Bench

Hall of Famer

Bench

Starter

Super Moderator Emeritus

Super Moderator Emeritus

Starter

Bench

Super Moderator Emeritus

Bench

Bench

Bench

Bench

Don't Make Me Use The Bat

All-Star

Super Moderator Emeritus

Starter