We can all point to the second when our beloved Kings went from perrenial contenders to what we see today. I was there, right behind Kareem abdul Jabbar, having another verbal confrontation with the most annoying owner in the history of sports when the Kings world blew up. Yes we still had a 1-0 lead over Dallas. Vlade,Doug, and BJax were still contributing. Peja(who?) Peja was still a player when Cwebbs knee exploded and our franchise imploded. It's been a slow but painful spiral sinse. Now if you weren't a KINGs fan in 1970(alright Royals) or a KC fan 1980, but at least found the KINGs before 1998ish you remember the pre-Maloof KINGs............Horrid is the only word that comes to mind. As bad as it has been going from the mountain top or at least seeing it up close to where we have fallen try to have faith in the boys of the Palms. They'll fix it.
Tougher Year to be a KINGs fan
- Thread starter Rayfa
- Start date
I've been a fan since the day the Kings came to Sac. At this point I am finding it hard to have faith in the Maloofs. They didn't build this team - they took over majority ownership at the same time Webber and Vlade arrived but then they forced Petrie into a number of cost cutting moves while we were still in our prime which lead to the drastic downturn when Webber went down.
Now, that said, I really do think they want to win but it also appears that they actually believed we were a good team headed into this season. I'd love to believe that its all going to work out in the offseason and we'll make a splash in free agency and also get a nice lottery pick. I'm patient which is why I'm not one of the people calling for Muss's head every day or figuring out 200 trade proposals that won't work based on who had the bad game last night. We weren't going anywhere with this roster and we won't go anywhere until we actually have a starting caliber PF and C again. I can accept that - but any team/ownership can catch that proverbial magic in a bottle and have once great run. The Maloofs caught it, now they have to do it again before I have unwavering faith in "the boys of the Palms". For all we know the Palms is part of the problem, it was right around the time the Palms really took off with the reality shows that the Kings cost cutting began, their enthusiasm at Kings games dropped a bit and all the Vegas rumors started.
Now, that said, I really do think they want to win but it also appears that they actually believed we were a good team headed into this season. I'd love to believe that its all going to work out in the offseason and we'll make a splash in free agency and also get a nice lottery pick. I'm patient which is why I'm not one of the people calling for Muss's head every day or figuring out 200 trade proposals that won't work based on who had the bad game last night. We weren't going anywhere with this roster and we won't go anywhere until we actually have a starting caliber PF and C again. I can accept that - but any team/ownership can catch that proverbial magic in a bottle and have once great run. The Maloofs caught it, now they have to do it again before I have unwavering faith in "the boys of the Palms". For all we know the Palms is part of the problem, it was right around the time the Palms really took off with the reality shows that the Kings cost cutting began, their enthusiasm at Kings games dropped a bit and all the Vegas rumors started.
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
The second part of that is true, but don't underestimate the Maloofs role in putting together, and keeping together, those early teams either. And it was the deep pockets -- they gave Geoff an advantage and said go ahead and spend up into the Top 5-8 team's in payroll to bring us a winner. So he did. Then they closed up the pursestrings post-Webb injury -- my consistent opinion being that after they saw all the expensive depth fail without the team leader they figured why the hell are we paying for all of these guys if they can't get it done if one guy goes down? And after that Geoff has not been nearly so effective, and we've been in long slow decline. But the Maloofs initial burst of money may still have been one of the major reasons were rose up in the first place.
I agree that they were pretty spendy early on, but that was pre-luxury tax, right? It was also when the Kings were their shiny new toy and the darling of the NBA. As attention on the Kings as the "new NBA" faded and turned towards the Mavericks they seemed to lose interest until the middle of last season when Artest came in. Overall I think they are good owners who want to win but the seeds were sewn when they got here. If they can do it again I'll be a heck of a lot more impressed.
If anyone was a fan from day one they would know that this year is nothing compared to some of the heartache of the past. This is the middle of the pack folks. Lighten up.
No young emerging player has committed suicide (Ricky Berry). Or had their career virtually ended and nearly their life in a car accident (Bobby Hurley). Our lone all star hasn't decided to sit the final months of the season over his contract (Mitch Richmond). Our #1 overall pick hasn't turned out to have bad feet and knees and poor work ethic (Pervis Ellison). We didn't trade for any players that had career ending injuries before the trade (Derek Smith and Ralph Sampson).
There bad times, good times and great times. We are still in the good times.
No young emerging player has committed suicide (Ricky Berry). Or had their career virtually ended and nearly their life in a car accident (Bobby Hurley). Our lone all star hasn't decided to sit the final months of the season over his contract (Mitch Richmond). Our #1 overall pick hasn't turned out to have bad feet and knees and poor work ethic (Pervis Ellison). We didn't trade for any players that had career ending injuries before the trade (Derek Smith and Ralph Sampson).
There bad times, good times and great times. We are still in the good times.
A
AriesMar27
Guest
its not the losing that bothers me its how they lose... this team cant close qtrs to save their lives.... they should just hold the ball for 24secs.... then get back on defense....these last few losses have been so avoidable that its scary...
but im still a fan... im not going anywhere....
but im still a fan... im not going anywhere....
nbrans
All-Star
I agree completely.
I'm with you completely. We have been spoiled since 1999 and now we're dropping back a bit but we're still considerably better than in any of those 14 years.
whozit
Starter
There is a catch-22 in here. Those deep pockets in the beginning were a necessity but also became part of the problem. This team had been the laughing stock or siberia of the league for so long, they had to pay for the respect to be taken seriously. How many threads were there of them paying too much for Christie, not haggling with Webber or paying the max to Bibby? Those expenditures allowed the owners to change the direction of the franchise while creating an image for themselves and first impressions usually last the longest. The purse strings were already tightening before Webber went down. Him going down only accelerated the descent.
