With Webber, Peja at home, Kings jolted

[LMM]

http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11186419p-12102415c.html

With Webber, Peja at home, Kings jolted



By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, October 23, 2004

SALT LAKE CITY - Coach Rick Adelman is trying to prepare for the worst: that neither starting shooting guard Doug Christie nor backup center Greg Ostertag will be ready when the Kings open the regular season in Dallas on Nov. 2.



Before an announced crowd of 18,523 Friday night, an assortment of free agents and rookies showed the good and the bad during a 101-88 exhibition loss to the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center.

The Kings (1-4), who host New Orleans tonight after losing their second straight road game, left starting All-Star forwards Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic in Sacramento.


Adelman started David Bluthenthal at Stojakovic's small-forward spot and second-year forward Darius Songaila at Webber's power-forward position. Brad Miller was at center, with Mike Bibby and Bobby Jackson at the guards.

Leaving Stojakovic and Webber at home created playing opportunities for free-agent forwards Erik Daniels, Matt Barnes and Bluthenthal and viewing opportunities for Adelman, his assistant coaches and the basketball operations staff.

Because the competition included forwards Matt Harpring, Andrei Kirilenko and newcomer Carlos Boozer, the Kings' brass had ample opportunities to judge the reserves against quality opposition.

Besides, Utah was coming off a 108-67 loss Wednesday night at Phoenix, so the Jazz figured to be motivated.

"I needed to play those young guys," Adelman said. "I plan on playing Peja and Webb quite a bit (tonight), 30 to 35 minutes. I think Brad and Mike played 30 minutes (Friday night), and I'll try to get them the same amount of minutes (tonight). There's no other way to do it."

Friday night, Adelman showed no reluctance to put his young guys on Front Street.

Then again, he said he had few options. He began the second quarter with no returning veterans on the court, and the fourth with only Songaila in the mix.

That strategy worked in the former situation and not in the latter.

"It's a Catch-22 because we don't have a lot of our main guys," Adelman said. "We only had four of them. So you want those guys to play together, so they get into some type of rhythm and feel. If you play them together, you've got no other choice but to play the other guys together.

"Other than the five guys I started, everybody else was a free agent or a rookie. You put them out there and see how they react. I tried to play Kevin (Martin) with the main guys, and I've tried to play Maurice (Evans) with them, too. I wanted Bobby to play with the main guys, and I'll probably do it (tonight), too."

Sacramento hung tough with the new version of the Jazz, which is young and talented, for the first three quarters. Then the bottom dropped out like a boulder into a canyon.

Miller's lay-in at the buzzer gave the Kings a 75-73 lead entering the fourth. But Songaila fouled out of a foul-plagued game just 1:10 into the final period. And Sacramento opened the quarter by committing five early turnovers and missing nine straight shots before Martin took a pass from Barnes and dunked on Mehmet Okur with two hands at the 4:36 mark.

"I have no idea when we're going to get Doug or Greg," Adelman said, referring to Christie's foot injury and Ostertag's broken hand. "I don't think we're going to have Greg (for the season opener). And even if Doug is going to play, how much will he really be able to play? So there is some concern because we are really disjointed, as you saw in the fourth quarter. I didn't know if we were going to score." The Kings were 3 of 17 in the fourth, when they were outscored 28-13.

 

[LMM]

Jazz 101, Kings 88

http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11174191p-12090228c.html

Jazz 101, Kings 88



Published 8:55 pm PDT Friday, October 22, 2004

SALT LAKE CITY - Now that Utah's offense seems to be progressing, coach Jerry Sloan would like to see the Jazz defense catch up.

The Jazz beat Sacramento 101-88 Friday night in a preseason game that didn't give much of an indication of progress because the Kings played with just three of their regular starters and sat the trio for the final quarter.

"I think they've got a long way to go to try to get themselves in better condition to be able to play and compete a little bit harder," Sloan said. "We're very poor defensively. We've got a lot of work to do to try to become a better defensive team."


Andrei Kirilenko had 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in a reserve role as Sloan tinkered with his lineup. Matt Harpring started for Kirilenko at small forward and had 10 points and nine rebounds despite missing much of the first half with a bloody nose.

"I just got an elbow right to the nose. It happens in basketball," said Harpring, who spent the second quarter with an icepack on his face.

Carlos Arroyo scored 13 points and had seven assists, and rookie Kris Humphries also scored 13 points for the Jazz, who have preseason games at Detroit, Philadelphia and New York.

As nice as it was to get a win, the Jazz didn't face the Kings' best.

"Both teams played like it was the preseason," said Raja Bell, who had 11 points for Utah.

Kings starters Mike Bibby, Brad Miller and Bobby Jackson all sat out the final period, and Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic did not make the trip.

The Kings, who have been back from China for less than a week, play at home Saturday against New Orleans. Coach Rick Adelman gave the starters a break with a 75-73 lead entering the final period.

"Hopefully in the last three games, we get some of our guys back and we can start playing a little bit normal lineup," Adelman said.

There were 72 fouls and 82 free throws in the game, leaving both teams struggling to get any consistency.

Harpring had just two points and three rebounds at halftime. He left the game late in the first quarter and spent the second sporting an icepack on his nose. But he was fine in the second half and scored four in a 13-0 run to start the fourth quarter that put the Jazz up for good.

Sacramento didn't score in the fourth quarter until Kevin Martin's free throw with 5:13 remaining.

Utah pulled its starters a few minutes into the fourth and the reserves helped the Jazz score 100 points for the third time in four preseason games.

Bibby led the Kings with 23 points, going 10-for-10 from the line. Miller scored 16 points and Jackson added 10 points.

Carlos Arroyo had 13 points and six assists, and Carlos Boozer and Raja Bell each scored 11 points for Utah.

Former Jazz center Greg Ostertag, who signed with the Kings in the summer, is still out with a broken right hand. -- The Associated Press

 

[Jasna88]

Thanks for links!

 

[6th]

Thanks for the reports, LMM. Can always count on you to dig out new articles for us and post them. It is much appreciated.

I think Adelman has been doing the right thing. I like that he is getting some quality playing time for all the rooks and camp invitees. He also indicated that it is time to get the regulars some good playing time together now. Yep! I agree. It is time for them to work together (a lot of minutes) and gel before the season starts.

 

[bibbyweb]

It seems that the rookies have enough talent to keep up with the opponents. But they still don't believe in themselves. So they are giving up in the 4th quarters, when the opponents seem to turn on the heat. They need to believe in themselves. But the good thing is that some of them seem to have some talent in them.

 

[VF21]

They're hopefuls, trying out for the Sacramento Kings. That alone could cause them to choke...

I think the main thing to remember is that if they make the team, they'll probably never all be on the court at the same time - unless it's a total and complete blowout.

And I think it's interesting that our opponents have kept their starters on the court for extended periods to make sure they beat our rookies?

All in all, I think Adelman has done exactly the right thing. I think we'll see more of the starters now, so they can actually work out the kinks and get ready for the real season.

GO KINGS!!!

 

[4cwebb]

I'm sure the W-L record doesn't matter much to teams, but more importantly whether players are playing well together. Some coaches will want to play their starters in the 4th quarter to give them court time, regardless of who the opponent has on the court --- after all, it's new competition and playing against players the starters don't see in practice everyday.

 

[Kingsgurl]

I'm sure we will start to see that soon, as well.

 

[WalMatt23]

I think tonight should be a good gauge of where the team is at. Didn't Grant and Jerry say that the starters would play most of the game tonight? I'm looking forward to some good basketball!

 

[Kingsgurl]

They said they thought they definitely would........or not. Depending on if Adelman decided to give the other starters a break tonight