A fresher take
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11073607p-11990334c.html
Ailene Voisin: Team takes wise stand on Adelman's contract
By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Wednesday, October 13, 2004
There is no harm in asking. They always do. Rick Adelman is merely the latest NBA coach to lobby for an extension when his current contract nears the expiration date.
But the organization's response - cautious and noncommittal - is both prudent and appropriate.
Earn it. Prove it.
Demonstrate that the sneaker fits.
The 2004-05 Kings are in transition, and in contrast to the previous six years of the Adelman Era, they no longer present a united front. Hugs and high-fives have been replaced by curious stares and muffled grumblings. The locker-room discord that disrupted a cohesive style of play and prompted Vlade Divac's defection has been quieted, but only for the moment.
These situations tend to fester.
Geoff Petrie's inability to dramatically alter the team dynamic during the offseason - and in this situation, that would have required divorcing the coach and the franchise player - forces Adelman to revisit the very issue that will likely determine whether he sinks or survives: How to use Chris Webber in a manner that enhances rather than cripples the team's collective performance and its delicate psyche.
That question supersedes all others, transcends a variety of considerations that under different circumstances might have favorably crowded the Adelman balance sheet. The seventh-year Kings coach can indeed present a solid argument. He has overseen the Kings' emergence as legitimate contenders and in the process shattered most franchise marks for regular-season and playoff victories. Additionally, the entertaining style has transformed the Kings into global icons and Sacramento into a tourist destination. With few exceptions and amid several excruciating playoff disappointments, he has also enjoyed the support of his players.
"I certainly feel our staff deserves that nod of recognition, a little security," Adelman told The Bee last week, noting he has one year to go. Or maybe not. Coaches dread entering the final year of a contract with good reason; this is just management's way of applying pressure and heightening demands.
Seven years in one city in fact is an eternity in the NBA, and when faced with his most daunting challenge - the unenviable task of incorporating a gimpy Webber into the mix in the final weeks - Adelman's response reflected his non-threatening, non-nurturing personality.
He went with the flow, or more accurately, with the lack of flow. He went down meekly. The team chemistry became pure poison after Webber returned because the power forward wasn't close to being healthy yet was allowed to dictate his playing time at the expense of Divac and Brad Miller. And because by attempting to appease his star, who was eager but often unable, Adelman wound up placating no one.
Oh. And the Kings lost again in the conference semifinals.
So why not insist Webber adapt? Why not sit him down when he was clearly laboring?
Make the tough decisions. This is what coaches do.
True, Webber has always been an enigma and not much for the role of the foot soldier. The majority of his coaches are awed by his abilities but intimidated by his fluctuating moods and powerful, mercurial personality. They would rather acquiesce and accommodate than confront. Yet ultimately who wins? Certainly not the Kings, with the end result proving much more troubling than just another playoff ouster.
Divac, feeling betrayed by Adelman, who frequently removed him from games when he was clearly more effective than the ailing Webber, decided to finish his career elsewhere. Peja Stojakovic, upset about the reasons behind Divac's departure and his own diminished role, stewed in silence and later publicly requested a trade. Miller, the target of much of Webber's offseason sniping, refuses to respond but privately is thought to be miffed.
Petrie, who has presided over the Kings' rise, bolstering the squad with one timely acquisition after another (see Greg Ostertag), took Divac's defection hard. He would take Adelman's departure even harder. Although he and Adelman are former teammates and longtime friends, the Kings' basketball president isn't resisting the wait-and-see state of mind adopted by the increasingly restless Maloofs.
"Rick and I have talked," said Petrie, speaking slowly, and visibly uncomfortable, "but that conversation will stay between us. He has a contract."
But for how long?
With the regular season approaching, the players' mental health is no less pressing than Webber's knee, Ostertag's hand and Doug Christie's foot. And while Adelman can't replace Webber's knee, woo back Divac or ensure anyone's good health, he can even the playing court and impose one set of rules.
It's Adelman's call, but a tough job has become even tougher.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11073607p-11990334c.html
Ailene Voisin: Team takes wise stand on Adelman's contract
By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Wednesday, October 13, 2004
There is no harm in asking. They always do. Rick Adelman is merely the latest NBA coach to lobby for an extension when his current contract nears the expiration date.
But the organization's response - cautious and noncommittal - is both prudent and appropriate.
Earn it. Prove it.
Demonstrate that the sneaker fits.
The 2004-05 Kings are in transition, and in contrast to the previous six years of the Adelman Era, they no longer present a united front. Hugs and high-fives have been replaced by curious stares and muffled grumblings. The locker-room discord that disrupted a cohesive style of play and prompted Vlade Divac's defection has been quieted, but only for the moment.
These situations tend to fester.
Geoff Petrie's inability to dramatically alter the team dynamic during the offseason - and in this situation, that would have required divorcing the coach and the franchise player - forces Adelman to revisit the very issue that will likely determine whether he sinks or survives: How to use Chris Webber in a manner that enhances rather than cripples the team's collective performance and its delicate psyche.
That question supersedes all others, transcends a variety of considerations that under different circumstances might have favorably crowded the Adelman balance sheet. The seventh-year Kings coach can indeed present a solid argument. He has overseen the Kings' emergence as legitimate contenders and in the process shattered most franchise marks for regular-season and playoff victories. Additionally, the entertaining style has transformed the Kings into global icons and Sacramento into a tourist destination. With few exceptions and amid several excruciating playoff disappointments, he has also enjoyed the support of his players.
"I certainly feel our staff deserves that nod of recognition, a little security," Adelman told The Bee last week, noting he has one year to go. Or maybe not. Coaches dread entering the final year of a contract with good reason; this is just management's way of applying pressure and heightening demands.
Seven years in one city in fact is an eternity in the NBA, and when faced with his most daunting challenge - the unenviable task of incorporating a gimpy Webber into the mix in the final weeks - Adelman's response reflected his non-threatening, non-nurturing personality.
He went with the flow, or more accurately, with the lack of flow. He went down meekly. The team chemistry became pure poison after Webber returned because the power forward wasn't close to being healthy yet was allowed to dictate his playing time at the expense of Divac and Brad Miller. And because by attempting to appease his star, who was eager but often unable, Adelman wound up placating no one.
Oh. And the Kings lost again in the conference semifinals.
So why not insist Webber adapt? Why not sit him down when he was clearly laboring?
Make the tough decisions. This is what coaches do.
True, Webber has always been an enigma and not much for the role of the foot soldier. The majority of his coaches are awed by his abilities but intimidated by his fluctuating moods and powerful, mercurial personality. They would rather acquiesce and accommodate than confront. Yet ultimately who wins? Certainly not the Kings, with the end result proving much more troubling than just another playoff ouster.
Divac, feeling betrayed by Adelman, who frequently removed him from games when he was clearly more effective than the ailing Webber, decided to finish his career elsewhere. Peja Stojakovic, upset about the reasons behind Divac's departure and his own diminished role, stewed in silence and later publicly requested a trade. Miller, the target of much of Webber's offseason sniping, refuses to respond but privately is thought to be miffed.
Petrie, who has presided over the Kings' rise, bolstering the squad with one timely acquisition after another (see Greg Ostertag), took Divac's defection hard. He would take Adelman's departure even harder. Although he and Adelman are former teammates and longtime friends, the Kings' basketball president isn't resisting the wait-and-see state of mind adopted by the increasingly restless Maloofs.
"Rick and I have talked," said Petrie, speaking slowly, and visibly uncomfortable, "but that conversation will stay between us. He has a contract."
But for how long?
With the regular season approaching, the players' mental health is no less pressing than Webber's knee, Ostertag's hand and Doug Christie's foot. And while Adelman can't replace Webber's knee, woo back Divac or ensure anyone's good health, he can even the playing court and impose one set of rules.
It's Adelman's call, but a tough job has become even tougher.