Note: Don't let the crappy title fool you. This is a pretty good column about Mike Bibby, his future and that of the Kings...
http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/127938.html
Ailene Voisin: Feelings are clear: The love has faded
By Ailene Voisin - Bee Columnist
Last Updated 12:41 am PST Friday, February 23, 2007
A breakup between the Kings and their one-time clutch shooter would have been in the best interest of all concerned. Mike Bibby and Geoff Petrie and the Maloofs can all agree on that.
Yet the inevitable divorce -- stay tuned this summer -- won't occur because Bibby stopped taking out the garbage or began leaving the cap off the toothpaste. Nothing that sordid or sloppy. Rather, the strain between the longest-tenured King and his bosses traces to the same simple elements that doom so many other relationships.
Bibby has stayed the same, and the Kings want change.
They want to get younger, play faster, become more athletic. They want new and different and exciting.
And Bibby? Though one of the league's premier shooters, he is no longer young and has never been fast or athletic or more than mildly interested in defense.
So for the closing weeks, Bibby and the Kings will live like an estranged couple sharing a house until the kids turn 18. The atmosphere figures to be uncomfortable at best. At worst, everyone in the locker room will be miserable.
"The deadline creates a lot of anxiety for everybody," Petrie said after refusing to consummate a trade that would have sent Bibby to Cleveland for forward Drew Gooden, "but you have to let it go. ... We need him to play. We still have to try and win games."
Though the deal failed to materialize for obvious reasons, specifically because the Cavaliers lacked the additional quality draft picks or expiring contracts Petrie coveted, the candor of the conversation at least injected some clarity into a murky situation. The sides are picked. The end to that eight-season playoff run is near. The current standings are nothing more than foil, just crazy numbers that distort reality. The Kings remain in the Western Conference playoff hunt only because the teams they're chasing are so pathetic.
All eyes over at the kingdom should be fixated on an offseason that will present opportunities to reconfigure an ailing roster in one or all of three ways: via the draft, free agency or trade. Salary cap flexibility is all the buzz, with Petrie's aggressive attempt to trade Bibby particularly significant in this sense: Teams that deal their veteran starting point guards -- or seem determined to do so -- are intent on changing both the personality and style of play.
In essence, without saying as much as sayonara, Petrie announced his blueprint for the Kings' next generation. And although it excludes Bibby for several reasons, including the $28 million he is owed over the next two seasons, the formula (new and exciting and athletic) isn't designed to disparage the nine-year veteran as a person or a player.
This is Mike Bibby here. Who doesn't remember who hit all those big shots? Who wanted the ball against the Lakers? Who once engaged Steve Nash in delightful duels? Rather, this pragmatic Kings approach simply reinforces the notion that Bibby's particular talents don't fit into their future.
At 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, Bibby is a hybrid, a shooting guard at heart who, because of his small size and lack of quickness, is cast as a point guard by profession. And frankly, he owes the Kings an assist here. The team that Petrie began piecing together almost a decade ago -- adroitly matching the skills and personalities of Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, Jon Barry, Bobby Jackson, Doug Christie and Brad Miller, among others -- offered a near-perfect stage for an undersized, combination-type point guard such as Bibby to excel.
Christie's presence and complementary talents were particularly beneficial. At 6-6, he was the Kings' primary ballhandler, the best defender, the most creative passer among the guards and certainly the most effective at initiating the fast break. He was an anomaly, a modern-era guard who advanced the offense with a long pass, eschewing any temptation to dominate the ball and slow the pace.
Knowing Petrie as we do, these new and future Kings are being assembled in the image of the 1999-2004 squads, built to pass, to rebound and run, with Kevin Martin, Francisco García, Ronnie Price, Quincy Douby and John Salmons already eminently capable of sprinting and passing and dunking. But along with the glaring need for a rebounder and interior defender, the Kings need someone to accelerate the tempo, force the pace, direct the break, defend the ball.
That someone is not Bibby. It just isn't.
About the writer: Reach Ailene Voisin at (916) 321-1208 or avoisin@sacbee.com.
http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/127938.html
Ailene Voisin: Feelings are clear: The love has faded
By Ailene Voisin - Bee Columnist
Last Updated 12:41 am PST Friday, February 23, 2007
A breakup between the Kings and their one-time clutch shooter would have been in the best interest of all concerned. Mike Bibby and Geoff Petrie and the Maloofs can all agree on that.
Yet the inevitable divorce -- stay tuned this summer -- won't occur because Bibby stopped taking out the garbage or began leaving the cap off the toothpaste. Nothing that sordid or sloppy. Rather, the strain between the longest-tenured King and his bosses traces to the same simple elements that doom so many other relationships.
Bibby has stayed the same, and the Kings want change.
They want to get younger, play faster, become more athletic. They want new and different and exciting.
And Bibby? Though one of the league's premier shooters, he is no longer young and has never been fast or athletic or more than mildly interested in defense.
So for the closing weeks, Bibby and the Kings will live like an estranged couple sharing a house until the kids turn 18. The atmosphere figures to be uncomfortable at best. At worst, everyone in the locker room will be miserable.
"The deadline creates a lot of anxiety for everybody," Petrie said after refusing to consummate a trade that would have sent Bibby to Cleveland for forward Drew Gooden, "but you have to let it go. ... We need him to play. We still have to try and win games."
Though the deal failed to materialize for obvious reasons, specifically because the Cavaliers lacked the additional quality draft picks or expiring contracts Petrie coveted, the candor of the conversation at least injected some clarity into a murky situation. The sides are picked. The end to that eight-season playoff run is near. The current standings are nothing more than foil, just crazy numbers that distort reality. The Kings remain in the Western Conference playoff hunt only because the teams they're chasing are so pathetic.
All eyes over at the kingdom should be fixated on an offseason that will present opportunities to reconfigure an ailing roster in one or all of three ways: via the draft, free agency or trade. Salary cap flexibility is all the buzz, with Petrie's aggressive attempt to trade Bibby particularly significant in this sense: Teams that deal their veteran starting point guards -- or seem determined to do so -- are intent on changing both the personality and style of play.
In essence, without saying as much as sayonara, Petrie announced his blueprint for the Kings' next generation. And although it excludes Bibby for several reasons, including the $28 million he is owed over the next two seasons, the formula (new and exciting and athletic) isn't designed to disparage the nine-year veteran as a person or a player.
This is Mike Bibby here. Who doesn't remember who hit all those big shots? Who wanted the ball against the Lakers? Who once engaged Steve Nash in delightful duels? Rather, this pragmatic Kings approach simply reinforces the notion that Bibby's particular talents don't fit into their future.
At 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, Bibby is a hybrid, a shooting guard at heart who, because of his small size and lack of quickness, is cast as a point guard by profession. And frankly, he owes the Kings an assist here. The team that Petrie began piecing together almost a decade ago -- adroitly matching the skills and personalities of Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, Jon Barry, Bobby Jackson, Doug Christie and Brad Miller, among others -- offered a near-perfect stage for an undersized, combination-type point guard such as Bibby to excel.
Christie's presence and complementary talents were particularly beneficial. At 6-6, he was the Kings' primary ballhandler, the best defender, the most creative passer among the guards and certainly the most effective at initiating the fast break. He was an anomaly, a modern-era guard who advanced the offense with a long pass, eschewing any temptation to dominate the ball and slow the pace.
Knowing Petrie as we do, these new and future Kings are being assembled in the image of the 1999-2004 squads, built to pass, to rebound and run, with Kevin Martin, Francisco García, Ronnie Price, Quincy Douby and John Salmons already eminently capable of sprinting and passing and dunking. But along with the glaring need for a rebounder and interior defender, the Kings need someone to accelerate the tempo, force the pace, direct the break, defend the ball.
That someone is not Bibby. It just isn't.
About the writer: Reach Ailene Voisin at (916) 321-1208 or avoisin@sacbee.com.
