http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/238934.html
Ailene Voisin: Maloofs, Petrie find a medium
By Ailene Voisin - Bee Columnist
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, June 24, 2007
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1
Joe Maloof was on an exercise machine the other day, speaking between gasps of breath, and for the first time in a while sounding like someone ready to climb the mountain.
His coach has been hired. His team has the No. 10 selection in Thursday's NBA draft. His roster includes at least a few tradeable assets. And he has a team basketball president he rates "the best in the league" and whose future with the franchise is secure well beyond the final years of his current contract.
"What does Geoff (Petrie) have left?" Maloof asks. "Two years? We'll be talking soon."
This Petrie-Maloof marriage remains a fascinating, strangely enduring relationship, a sort of Bill and Hillary of the NBA. They have their differences -- maybe even toss a few balls against the wall -- yet invariably they return to the table to analyze the situation, reach a compromise and arrive at a conclusion palatable to all parties.
"We want it to be like the old days around here," said Maloof, referring to the Kings' success earlier in the decade, "and it can be like that again. But it's going to take a lot of work. We're not going to turn this around in one year. Geoff is always telling us: 'Be patient, be patient. You guys need to realize that it's going to take some time.' We listen because we trust him so much."
For sure, these past four years have mostly produced a collective groan, with the Kings on a downer ever since losing the 2002 Western Conference finals to a lesser Lakers team. And lest we forget, this current mess didn't evolve overnight -- or by one man's hand.
Chris Webber blew out his knee in the 2003 playoffs, returned late in the 2003-04 season and dominated Rick Adelman while destroying the team dynamic. The 2004-05 season began with Vlade Divac lumbering back to Los Angeles, continued with Webber's trade to Philadelphia and ended with Peja Stojakovic awaiting his first pass from Mike Bibby in the postseason finale in Seattle. Then it was on to 2005-06, a time characterized by a chronic team lethargy, bad contracts, a confounded Adelman on the sideline and disgruntled fans sprinting for the exits ... in the third quarter.
Then Ron Artest arrived. Then Adelman was fired. Then the Maloofs pushed for John Whisenant and Petrie countered with Eric Musselman, and the Kings skipped the playoffs for the first time since 1999.
There certainly have been enough botched maneuvers for three people to blame. Total autonomy in the front office rarely exists anymore. With rising salaries and biting inflation come the heightened influence and interference of the owners.
"Geoff makes the basketball decisions," Maloof said, "but when it comes to picking a coach, any owner that didn't get involved would be an idiot. We wouldn't shove a coach down Geoff's throat, but he wouldn't do that to us, either. If he didn't come around on Reggie (Theus), we wouldn't have hired him."
The recently concluded coaching search, in fact, reflects both the contrasting styles and the diverse personalities of the Kings' brain trusts. Extroverts and high-profile figures themselves, the Maloofs favored charismatic candidates such as Larry Brown and Theus. Petrie, who is soft-spoken and insular by nature, favored possibilities such as Terry Porter, Elston Turner, Kurt Rambis, Bill Cartwright, Brian Shaw and Scott Brooks, among others. All the executives appreciated Stan Van Gundy. Theus, the former King with limited head-coaching experience, was a long shot well into the final days.
Had Petrie been remotely receptive to hiring Brown -- and he wasn't -- Larry would be in Sacramento today, accompanied by all of his baggage.
"Geoff didn't like what (Brown's) agent had to say," Maloof said. "He was talking about having a say in personnel decisions, and that's not what we were looking for. Plus, his (Brown's) family wasn't going to move here. When Larry was out of the picture, that's when it got hot and heavy with Reggie and Brian. And believe me, we went back and forth, back and forth. I went back and forth 100 times."
The clincher? The development that swung Petrie from Shaw in the deciding hours?
Jerry Tarkanian and his Vegas cronies can take the credit -- and they have -- but it was Louisville coach Rick Pitino's endorsement that swayed Petrie and essentially returned Theus to Arco.
"The fans are not going to see what they saw last year," Maloof said, "and if they do, then we made a big mistake. Now we have to give Reggie some help, get him players to work with."
As for the brothers' lengthy union with Petrie, Maloof said, laughing: "I know we drive Geoff crazy sometimes. I'm sure we do. He grimaces every time he opens the newspaper and sees we made crazy predictions. We get a little overexuberant. Or like after the Scotty Brooks interview. We really liked the guy. Geoff tries to talk us down ... but we've never had any blowups. Hey, he doesn't even have an agent. We just have a handshake deal. He's part of our family now. We want him to retire with us."
About the writer: Reach Ailene Voisin at (916) 321-1208 or avoisin@sacbee.com.
Ailene Voisin: Maloofs, Petrie find a medium
By Ailene Voisin - Bee Columnist
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, June 24, 2007
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1
Joe Maloof was on an exercise machine the other day, speaking between gasps of breath, and for the first time in a while sounding like someone ready to climb the mountain.
His coach has been hired. His team has the No. 10 selection in Thursday's NBA draft. His roster includes at least a few tradeable assets. And he has a team basketball president he rates "the best in the league" and whose future with the franchise is secure well beyond the final years of his current contract.
"What does Geoff (Petrie) have left?" Maloof asks. "Two years? We'll be talking soon."
This Petrie-Maloof marriage remains a fascinating, strangely enduring relationship, a sort of Bill and Hillary of the NBA. They have their differences -- maybe even toss a few balls against the wall -- yet invariably they return to the table to analyze the situation, reach a compromise and arrive at a conclusion palatable to all parties.
"We want it to be like the old days around here," said Maloof, referring to the Kings' success earlier in the decade, "and it can be like that again. But it's going to take a lot of work. We're not going to turn this around in one year. Geoff is always telling us: 'Be patient, be patient. You guys need to realize that it's going to take some time.' We listen because we trust him so much."
For sure, these past four years have mostly produced a collective groan, with the Kings on a downer ever since losing the 2002 Western Conference finals to a lesser Lakers team. And lest we forget, this current mess didn't evolve overnight -- or by one man's hand.
Chris Webber blew out his knee in the 2003 playoffs, returned late in the 2003-04 season and dominated Rick Adelman while destroying the team dynamic. The 2004-05 season began with Vlade Divac lumbering back to Los Angeles, continued with Webber's trade to Philadelphia and ended with Peja Stojakovic awaiting his first pass from Mike Bibby in the postseason finale in Seattle. Then it was on to 2005-06, a time characterized by a chronic team lethargy, bad contracts, a confounded Adelman on the sideline and disgruntled fans sprinting for the exits ... in the third quarter.
Then Ron Artest arrived. Then Adelman was fired. Then the Maloofs pushed for John Whisenant and Petrie countered with Eric Musselman, and the Kings skipped the playoffs for the first time since 1999.
There certainly have been enough botched maneuvers for three people to blame. Total autonomy in the front office rarely exists anymore. With rising salaries and biting inflation come the heightened influence and interference of the owners.
"Geoff makes the basketball decisions," Maloof said, "but when it comes to picking a coach, any owner that didn't get involved would be an idiot. We wouldn't shove a coach down Geoff's throat, but he wouldn't do that to us, either. If he didn't come around on Reggie (Theus), we wouldn't have hired him."
The recently concluded coaching search, in fact, reflects both the contrasting styles and the diverse personalities of the Kings' brain trusts. Extroverts and high-profile figures themselves, the Maloofs favored charismatic candidates such as Larry Brown and Theus. Petrie, who is soft-spoken and insular by nature, favored possibilities such as Terry Porter, Elston Turner, Kurt Rambis, Bill Cartwright, Brian Shaw and Scott Brooks, among others. All the executives appreciated Stan Van Gundy. Theus, the former King with limited head-coaching experience, was a long shot well into the final days.
Had Petrie been remotely receptive to hiring Brown -- and he wasn't -- Larry would be in Sacramento today, accompanied by all of his baggage.
"Geoff didn't like what (Brown's) agent had to say," Maloof said. "He was talking about having a say in personnel decisions, and that's not what we were looking for. Plus, his (Brown's) family wasn't going to move here. When Larry was out of the picture, that's when it got hot and heavy with Reggie and Brian. And believe me, we went back and forth, back and forth. I went back and forth 100 times."
The clincher? The development that swung Petrie from Shaw in the deciding hours?
Jerry Tarkanian and his Vegas cronies can take the credit -- and they have -- but it was Louisville coach Rick Pitino's endorsement that swayed Petrie and essentially returned Theus to Arco.
"The fans are not going to see what they saw last year," Maloof said, "and if they do, then we made a big mistake. Now we have to give Reggie some help, get him players to work with."
As for the brothers' lengthy union with Petrie, Maloof said, laughing: "I know we drive Geoff crazy sometimes. I'm sure we do. He grimaces every time he opens the newspaper and sees we made crazy predictions. We get a little overexuberant. Or like after the Scotty Brooks interview. We really liked the guy. Geoff tries to talk us down ... but we've never had any blowups. Hey, he doesn't even have an agent. We just have a handshake deal. He's part of our family now. We want him to retire with us."
About the writer: Reach Ailene Voisin at (916) 321-1208 or avoisin@sacbee.com.
