SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/25/sports/basketball/25hoops1.ready.html?pagewanted=2
The Struggling Kings Are No Longer Able to Relax at Home
The Sacramento Kings could always count on Arco Arena as a safe haven - the din made it a brutal place for opposing teams. But now the Kings cannot find comfort there.
Last season, they lost 11 games at Arco. From 2000 to 2005, they averaged only eight losses a season. The Kings lost their eighth game there Thursday night against Dallas. Bonzi Wells is out about three weeks because of a groin muscle pull and Peja Stojakovic is out a minimum of a week with a protruding disk.
"The current injuries notwithstanding, you can look at a lot of things that would indicate why we are struggling," General Manager Geoff Petrie said. "We really haven't improved defensively and we're not scoring the ball at the rate we have for the last few years."
With Chris Webber long gone and with Shareef Abdur-Rahim not having enough of an impact, Coach Rick Adelman's status seems to be even more tenuous as the Kings continue to lose close games.
Petrie denies that. "His job is solid," he said of Adelman. "He's had five 50-win seasons. That's another externally generated thing." Trade rumors about Stojakovic, in the final year of his contract, are also "externally generated," Petrie said.
Meanwhile, the news is not good close to home. Sacramento is in danger of losing its team if city officials and the team's owners, Joe and Gavin Maloof, cannot come to an agreement on how to finance a new arena. The old one, like the team, is worn down.
The Struggling Kings Are No Longer Able to Relax at Home
The Sacramento Kings could always count on Arco Arena as a safe haven - the din made it a brutal place for opposing teams. But now the Kings cannot find comfort there.
Last season, they lost 11 games at Arco. From 2000 to 2005, they averaged only eight losses a season. The Kings lost their eighth game there Thursday night against Dallas. Bonzi Wells is out about three weeks because of a groin muscle pull and Peja Stojakovic is out a minimum of a week with a protruding disk.
"The current injuries notwithstanding, you can look at a lot of things that would indicate why we are struggling," General Manager Geoff Petrie said. "We really haven't improved defensively and we're not scoring the ball at the rate we have for the last few years."
With Chris Webber long gone and with Shareef Abdur-Rahim not having enough of an impact, Coach Rick Adelman's status seems to be even more tenuous as the Kings continue to lose close games.
Petrie denies that. "His job is solid," he said of Adelman. "He's had five 50-win seasons. That's another externally generated thing." Trade rumors about Stojakovic, in the final year of his contract, are also "externally generated," Petrie said.
Meanwhile, the news is not good close to home. Sacramento is in danger of losing its team if city officials and the team's owners, Joe and Gavin Maloof, cannot come to an agreement on how to finance a new arena. The old one, like the team, is worn down.
