| The End Of An Era Authored by Dave Carmichael - December 9, 2005 - 2:35 am
Just like that....it was all over. All the good times, the
behind the back passes, the chest bumping and playing to the crowd....gone with a whimper. The classic version of the Sacramento Kings may have been on life support, but on December 8th, 2005....the Sacramento Kings as we know them....died.
For the first time since the spring of 1998, the Kings have lost 4 in a row at home. The Houston Rockets came into town, on the heels of the Cleveland Cavaliers winning at Arco just two nights prior, and enjoyed a 25 point swing in the last 15 minutes of the game...winning 106-95.
Say it again: FOUR straight losses, at home. Arco Arena. The most feared place to play in the NBA.
Its time to face some hard truths. Let's run down the list:
The Kings had a 14 point lead at home.
Houston had not won two games in a row all year.
Houston had lost 6 of 8 on the road.
Houston outscored the Kings more than DOUBLE in the 4th quarter.
The Kings are in last place in the Pacific Division.
The Kings are 7-12.
The Kings are under .500 AT HOME.
Nick and Jessica broke up (making sure you are paying attention)..
Owners Joe and Gavin Maloof, noticeably absent at more than a few home games this year, were in attendance tonight. Yes, it was a nationally televised game, but odds are they had change on their mind. Not only were they in attendance, but much of their time was spent in the tunnel, watching the game near GM Geoff Petrie.
The winds of change may be blowing through Sacramento.
If we were talking about any other GM in the NBA, I would tell you that Rick Adelman has coached his last game for the Kings. In fact, if the coach were still at the helm by the time you read this article, it would be a minor miracle. They say you can either fire the coach, or the players. A quick glance at the roster tells you that Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic, and Brad Miller are the only players with more than 2 seasons in the Capital City.
The players were fired.
At this point, with the need for a new arena requiring a solid, on court performance, time is of the essence. There can be no "wait it out" period.
All signs point to one thing:
Rick Adelman must be let go.
Its an unfortunate situation, no doubt. Adelman has done nothing but lead this team to the playoffs year after year. The Kings have never known a coach with the success ratio Adelman has, and there isnt even a close second. Kings fans will remember names like Motta, Russell, and even the loveable Jerry Reynolds, to name a few.
None of the Sacramento era coaches could light a candle to what Adelman has done. Not only has he been the steady, guiding force both on the floor and in the locker room, but he has handled himself with class and dignity. No matter what move the Kings' braintrust makes, rest assured Coach Adelman will behave with the same grace that the city has enjoyed throughout his tenure.
However, facts are facts. The team is lost. Players have no answers. For a brief time in the third quarter,of the Houston game, the Kings were running on all cylinders. Arco Arena has been so very hungry for something to cheer for this year, to believe in their team. The fans are like a cocked slingshot, just waiting to fly out of their chairs and rumble the neighboring suburbs. The passion has not left the building, it just rears its ugly head in another form: disgust. The fans believed in their team alright, but they believed the Kings would squander the game. It was almost.....expected.
Midway through the third, the Kings enjoyed a 14 point lead. Then came a bad shot. A turnover. Another. An 8 second backcourt violation. A backcourt violation??
Slowly but surely, the Rockets stepped back into the game. In a place where the Kings of the past would expect to win despite being down 14 in the 3rd, they now expect to lose, even if they are up 14 in the 3rd. These are uncharted waters, and it has moved way beyond a wake-up call, or a poor start out of the gate.
It has now become a full-fledged crisis.
With 5 out of the next 6 on the road, and a home game afterwards against Dallas, its not getting any better. Keep in mind, 3 of those road games come at Minnesota, San Antonio, and Detroit. The schedule Gods do not give favors to embattled teams. They merely look down and smile.
The media is filled with blathering writers and trying-to-hard talk show hosts that will say the team has quit, that they have tuned out their coach.
Message boards have long called for the coach's head, with loyal fans desparate to cling to some sense of hope that the season can be turned around.
To call a team's respect of their coach into question is a tough bridge to cross, but one thing is clear: if they havent tuned him out, they're definitely not getting a clear reception. A coach has a finite shelf life in today's NBA, and unless your name is Popovich or Sloan, a coach generally wont make it through two sets of Olympics, or two presidential elections.
Adelman passed that a while ago.
Talk will now turn in the coming hours from firing the coach, to who will replace him. Assistant Coach Elston Turner seems the even money favorite, with ex-King Terry Porter sighted around Arco Arena lately. Monarchs coach John Whisenant remains an intriguing dark horse candidate as well, coming off a championship season where defense reigned supreme.
Rather than focus on the cloudy future, prudence says to look at the past.
Just because the "Fire Coach Adelman" bandwagon is sagging from excessive weight, does not necessarily mean a pink slip is inevitable.
The loyalty and friendship that Geoff Petrie and Adelman have is well documented, and should not be underestimated. As we said earlier, any other team, and this is a slam-dunk. But this is not any other team.
These are the Sacramento Kings.
You know, the team with a chalk outline around them?
One way or another, an era has come to a close. |
