| Kings Enduring An Erratic Journey Authored by Bob Souza - March 21, 2005 - 2:55 am
Would someone ever seriously refer to this year as boring? Dull? Ho-hum? Dry as dust?
Not if you want to get laughed off the planet – branded as some kind of demented moron who is just out to start a ruckus in order to gain some personal sick gratification.
Despite winning 5 of their last 8, the sailing has shown little resemblance to a smooth afternoon glide upon a silky and tranquil bay. More like the pinnacle scene from “The Perfect Storm”, where anyone’s body could get pitched angrily overboard at any time.
Just when it looked like things might be moving in a positive direction, oh no… Brad Miller’s leg decides it’s had enough. Kaput. In the dumper. See you guys for the playoffs.
Sure. Maybe.
With the departure of Vlade Divac, the major trades of Chris Webber and Doug Christie, and the long absence of Bobby Jackson, it figured to take time for the Kings to reassemble and reinvigorate. But that time is becoming preciously thin, and staggering into the playoffs won’t be good enough. Never is.
The loss of Miller hurts enormously. Missing are his size, tenacity, and shooting ability, and, perhaps more importantly, his role as the centerpiece of the offense. People are now left to their own ugly devices to try and create shots, through screens or whatever, and the result has been a group that appears totally out of sync at times.
The defenders still believe the best way to avoid injury is to get out of the way when someone drives to the basket – something they do with startling regularity. Hey, better than a 3-pointer.
Peja Stojakovic seems to have enrolled in brick mason school, often looking more lost than found. Cuttino Mobley has a broken toe – who can tell what that will mean long term. And Corliss Williamson has some kind of gimpy elbow. Weird stuff.
Plus this: the most reliable part of the pack, Mike Bibby, has been forced into extra minutes that you can just bet is gonna come back for a rump-bite before things are all said and done.
The new guys have done an admirable job in such a short time, especially Brian Skinner. His rebounding and shot-blocking prowess has been a pleasant revelation. Of course, to be a King this year means you will get hurt, which he did (sprained thumb) against the Warriors. Big surprise.
The 15-point win over Detroit to begin this last stretch was a nice homecoming. But since then, continuous struggles have taken over. A skimpy one point win over the Clippers in Arco Arena, and another slim victory in overtime down in Los Angeles over the same team could have easily been two dismal losses. Lucky?
There was a time when a game with Golden State could automatically go in the wins column – you almost didn’t need to play the game, except that they have rules about that. Not so anymore. The quickly improving Warriors, recent victors over the Suns in Phoenix, have beaten the Kings 3 times this year. Three times!! Most recently, it was before a stunned Sunday evening crowd at home. In Oakland three nights earlier, the Kings managed to get down by 21 points and were fortunate to even make it close.
Rick Adelman seemed thoroughly disgusted following the latest fiasco. He claimed that if the players showed as much intensity on the floor as they did complaining about the officiating, the outcome might have been different. Good point.
Then he (Adelman) went on to complain about the officiating. Hilarious.
Greg Ostertag was supposed to be an important cog in the machinery. But the guy was planning to get in shape using game playing time. Fat chance. How did he expect to get playing time when he’s not in shape to play? Good plan, Greg.
Maybe he should talk to Shaun Livingston who said: “You don’t know what to expect in this league. It’s the game of basketball, you just have to be ready whenever you’re called. You’ll never know when you’ll get your chance.”
Now there’s a concept.
The wild and wacky season goes on. Just hang on tight and go with it. Sure beats boring -- by a country mile!
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