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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11943268p-12830066c.html
Subpar shooting costly to Kings
Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic are a combined 8 for 32 in a loss to Toronto.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, January 6, 2005
TORONTO - Rick Adelman usually has a way of summing up games succinctly, and Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre he was on point again.
"There were a lot of things that didn't go right," the Kings' coach said after a 96-93 loss to the Toronto Raptors before a crowd of 18,288.
And a heck of lot of things that were pretty darned wrong.
Only three of the eight Kings used by Adelman played well. Mike Bibby scored a game-and season-high 32 points and grabbed seven rebounds, had four assists and three steals; Brad Miller scored 14 points and grabbed a game-and season-high 19 rebounds; and backup swingman Maurice Evans provided a spark by scoring all nine of his points in the second half.
"Outside of Mike and Brad, none of the other starters really played well," forward Peja Stojakovic said. "Maurice and those guys got us back into the game, but we couldn't win it."
Generally, it's going to be a colder night in Toronto than it was when Stojakovic (2 of 11 from the field) and Chris Webber (6 of 21 before fouling out) combine to shoot 8 of 32 from the field and Sacramento wins. And it wasn't that cold Wednesday night.
"I missed 50 open jump shots," Webber said with a deliberate exaggeration. "Peja missed 150 open jump shots.
"We just didn't play well, but they beat us. They played hard. They played defense, and we were part of the problem."
Added Stojakovic: "I got a lot of open looks, really open looks. If I just make two or three of them, who knows? But I didn't."
On nights the Kings cannot handle young power forward Chris Bosh (23 points, 13 rebounds) or sixth man Jalen Rose (20 points in 28 minutes) and it's sometimes difficult to discern whether they are playing a zone or just a shoddy man-to-man defense, it's time to chalk it up and look toward Friday night's road game against the Atlanta Hawks.
"He definitely got the best of me," Webber told the Associated Press, referring to Bosh.
In a way, everything was right with the world: The Kings didn't play well enough to earn a victory and didn't record one, even though the Raptors tried to help Sacramento's cause.
The Kings entered the game shooting 80.7 percent from the foul line after hitting 18 of 20 free throws in Tuesday night's 105-98 win in New York.
Wednesday, the Kings shot just 63.6 percent (21 of 33) from the line against the Raptors.
The Kings shot just 34 of 86 (39.5 percent) from the field, yet still outshot the Raptors, who made just 36 of 92 (39.1 percent).
Sacramento fell behind early and trailed by 10 twice in the second, but Miller, Kevin Martin, Darius Songaila, Doug Christie and Evans scored eight straight points in the middle of the period for a 40-40 tie with 3:39 left.
Unfortunately for the Kings, that would be the end of their scoring for the half; Toronto scored the final nine points of the quarter for a 49-40 halftime lead.
Adelman had tried to bring back Webber, who missed his first seven shots of the game, with nearly four minutes remaining in the half and the score tied at 40, but there wasn't a break until the Raptors had taken a 44-40 lead with 2:38 left.
Then Adelman called a 20-second timeout just for the substitution, and brought back Bibby and Stojakovic as well. But the Kings looked disoriented and committed three turnovers during the rest of the half.
The night was summed up when the Kings missed seven of 19 free throws in the fourth, after the Raptors' early fouls put them in the penalty with 7:32 left.
The Kings had trimmed a 17-point, fourth-quarter deficit to 94-90 with 39.5 seconds left when Miller made a steal, and Bibby found Songaila underneath.
Songaila thought the pass was intended for Miller and caught it off-balance before missing an open layup that would have brought the Kings within 94-92 with 15 seconds left. "Yeah, I caught it awkwardly," said Songaila, who had five of his 10 rebounds at the offensive end. "But that's no excuse. It's a layup."
Subpar shooting costly to Kings
Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic are a combined 8 for 32 in a loss to Toronto.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, January 6, 2005
TORONTO - Rick Adelman usually has a way of summing up games succinctly, and Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre he was on point again.
"There were a lot of things that didn't go right," the Kings' coach said after a 96-93 loss to the Toronto Raptors before a crowd of 18,288.
And a heck of lot of things that were pretty darned wrong.
Only three of the eight Kings used by Adelman played well. Mike Bibby scored a game-and season-high 32 points and grabbed seven rebounds, had four assists and three steals; Brad Miller scored 14 points and grabbed a game-and season-high 19 rebounds; and backup swingman Maurice Evans provided a spark by scoring all nine of his points in the second half.
"Outside of Mike and Brad, none of the other starters really played well," forward Peja Stojakovic said. "Maurice and those guys got us back into the game, but we couldn't win it."
Generally, it's going to be a colder night in Toronto than it was when Stojakovic (2 of 11 from the field) and Chris Webber (6 of 21 before fouling out) combine to shoot 8 of 32 from the field and Sacramento wins. And it wasn't that cold Wednesday night.
"I missed 50 open jump shots," Webber said with a deliberate exaggeration. "Peja missed 150 open jump shots.
"We just didn't play well, but they beat us. They played hard. They played defense, and we were part of the problem."
Added Stojakovic: "I got a lot of open looks, really open looks. If I just make two or three of them, who knows? But I didn't."
On nights the Kings cannot handle young power forward Chris Bosh (23 points, 13 rebounds) or sixth man Jalen Rose (20 points in 28 minutes) and it's sometimes difficult to discern whether they are playing a zone or just a shoddy man-to-man defense, it's time to chalk it up and look toward Friday night's road game against the Atlanta Hawks.
"He definitely got the best of me," Webber told the Associated Press, referring to Bosh.
In a way, everything was right with the world: The Kings didn't play well enough to earn a victory and didn't record one, even though the Raptors tried to help Sacramento's cause.
The Kings entered the game shooting 80.7 percent from the foul line after hitting 18 of 20 free throws in Tuesday night's 105-98 win in New York.
Wednesday, the Kings shot just 63.6 percent (21 of 33) from the line against the Raptors.
The Kings shot just 34 of 86 (39.5 percent) from the field, yet still outshot the Raptors, who made just 36 of 92 (39.1 percent).
Sacramento fell behind early and trailed by 10 twice in the second, but Miller, Kevin Martin, Darius Songaila, Doug Christie and Evans scored eight straight points in the middle of the period for a 40-40 tie with 3:39 left.
Unfortunately for the Kings, that would be the end of their scoring for the half; Toronto scored the final nine points of the quarter for a 49-40 halftime lead.
Adelman had tried to bring back Webber, who missed his first seven shots of the game, with nearly four minutes remaining in the half and the score tied at 40, but there wasn't a break until the Raptors had taken a 44-40 lead with 2:38 left.
Then Adelman called a 20-second timeout just for the substitution, and brought back Bibby and Stojakovic as well. But the Kings looked disoriented and committed three turnovers during the rest of the half.
The night was summed up when the Kings missed seven of 19 free throws in the fourth, after the Raptors' early fouls put them in the penalty with 7:32 left.
The Kings had trimmed a 17-point, fourth-quarter deficit to 94-90 with 39.5 seconds left when Miller made a steal, and Bibby found Songaila underneath.
Songaila thought the pass was intended for Miller and caught it off-balance before missing an open layup that would have brought the Kings within 94-92 with 15 seconds left. "Yeah, I caught it awkwardly," said Songaila, who had five of his 10 rebounds at the offensive end. "But that's no excuse. It's a layup."
