The End is the Beginning is the End

It’s why when I wrote my preview, i talked about beer goggles. Given everyting that’s happened, it’s amazing there hasn’t been something worse to come along (a la an Al Harrington trade scenario that the Knicks totally bailed the Dubs out of).

I blame the Maloof’s, and Joe in particular, for his stupid public statements. That’s what really kick-started this nonsense. This team wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t doing everything well. It also was a long season, and to condemn a coaching staff 10 games in wasn’t just a stupid move from every angle; it was an outright retarded way to approach it. The family wanted to dump Theus because they weren’t better. They wanted the team to persevere injures (rebuilding teams don’t do that Joe), and they expected Theus to put in a better system like Rick Adelman. That, also, is not happening. Rick Adelman is one of the 5 or 6 best coaches in the NBA, and he takes more lumps than he should. So does Jerry Sloan, and he’s one of the 3 or 4 best. Criticism comes with coaching, but when it’s unrealistic and off base, then all it does is exacerbate matters, and that’s all that statement did.

I don’t think firing Theus makes sense, but if the players won’t play for him, I say jettison Reggie now and save him the agony. He’s done too much for this team to be treated so badly, but as JJ noted in that excellent summary, it won’t matter if the players won’t listen. They are being part of the problem (B Jax, Moore, Miller especially) because they expect better. It ain’t happening, because they aren’t as good as they all think individually they are.

I would love to see Whiz at this point be an interim coach for a ton of reasons, but for nothing else other than these following reasons:

• We can shutup about how he won a title w/ the Monarchs—the WNBA is not the NBA—and never will be, and it isn’t necessarily transferable
• Some of his “greatness” stemming from this area maybe will get people off the high horse about the “greatness” the Maloof’s bring as owners—right now, they’re mostly mediocre, and I’m being kind saying that
• Last but not least, Whiz can take over a team that doesn’t lsiten to their coach, doesn’t play defense, doesn’t have the willingness to move the ball on offense, and doesn’t really get how to put themselves in a position where the system that is in place could work for them

Bottom line, I say make Reggie a martyr. He’s made mistakes, enough to get fired in some respects, but he hasn’t been given enough time. This isn’t the Wizards where Grunfeld didn’t hire Eddie Jordan, and got tired of the start, this is the Kings were you knew this was a rebuilding team. Okay, so maybe they might not win 25 games this season. And? What’s the point? This isn’t acceptable. Get better talent when it’s available, and don’t make dumb trades that set back the roster, don’t hire coaches over the objections of your GM, and don’t make ludicrous public comments that set the spark of a 2 million fanbase bonfire. That is why I blame the Maloof’s. It’s their team, they own it. At some point, they’re responsible for all of it.

I won’t get into the whole “does Reggie deserve to be fired” arguement. Reggie has done plenty to merit a coaching change and he put in enough work to deserve playing out the season. The bottom line is the team has checked out mentally. The coaching deathwatch has on and the next embarassing home loss is Reggie’s last. With Whittman getting the axe today, Petrie is going to be compelled to try to salvage the remainder of the season before things really get out of hand if it already hasn’t gotten there yet. Speaking of Eddie Jordan, I agree that there is a good chance he might jump into the coaching seat for a 2nd time here in Sac. It has been documented that Petrie didn’t want to fire Eddie the first time and with Jordan being a disciple of the Princeton offense he would seem like a front runner as long as he is available and the Kings have a need…

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=sheridan_chris&page=HotSeat-081208

A young rebuilding team losing is one thing. My favorite team getting spanked like they’ve never played basketball before? That’s a whole different problem. But where does the real problem lie? It’s never one person’s fault, but more of an amalgamation of different problems.

So, where do the problems start? I think they do, in fact, start with Reggie. This team’s defense and offensive system, or lack of either, are his biggest flaw. Reggie is not much of a defensive specialist, plus he doesn’t have a whole lot of defensive players. This does make defending other teams tough. So, first and foremost, the offensive system is his biggest weakness. He has great offensive players, but they aren’t getting it done. We’ve seen flashes of what I can only refer to as “complete offensive brilliance” but nothing spectacular or, more importantly, consistent.

Now, another part of the problem: the front office. Do they want W’s or do they want the youngsters to play and develop. We can’t have both. The Maloofs have said they want to see the youngsters play but obviously don’t understand that they won’t get the wins they also want. Their impatience will kill this franchise. So if Theus plays the youngsters we lose, because that’s what young teams do. And if he plays the vets to try and win, the Kings still lose because our vets just aren’t good enough for any extra wins. So now, we have Theus’ inadequacies as a coach as well as the Maloof’s impatience regarding their team’s development. This is a horrible combination.

Problem three: the players. These guys need to be held responsible too. There are two players I’m giving immunity to: Shock and Hawes. They are the bastions of heart and consistency on this team. Granted, JT has made mistakes, but he’s a rookie. Greene has made a valiant effort but just isn’t there yet; his only deficiency is his Greene-ness (forgive the bad pun). K9(woof!) doesn’t count for obvious reasons. Williams hasn’t gotten to play much, and Quincy’s bad shots are not just his fault but the fault of his coach for putting him in in crunch time. Bobby Brown is another rookie working his ass off, but still a rookie. Cisco hasn’t really had the chance to do much of anything, and neither has Kevin. Although Speed has been somewhat disappointing thus far, this might be due to the fact that he hasn’t been able to build a rhythm. Salmons has tried his damndest but it just isn’t enough. Part of the problem he brings to the table is his selfishness. But, that’s just the player he is and has become in his career. It’s to ingrained. Beno just isn’t the PG we need. He’ll be a great backup to Rubio, but that could eventually be Brown’s job.

This leaves me with three players, all of whom Pookey mentioned: Miller, Moore, Jackson. When it comes to Miller, I just don’t see the heart any more. However, this may be due to being dragged down by the other two culprits. Moore has become the butt of many StR jokes for all the “little things” he does. Taking charges and screaming loudly don’t count. He’s not doing the things a PF SHOULD be doing: rebounding, challenging shots, scoring inside. He’s getting outproduced by the rookie, period. And on top of that, doesn’t there seem to be a sense of entitlement with him now? Like, he deserves the starting spot because he’s worked so hard for years and got lucky enough to play with Jason Kidd? I used to like Moore for his humility and effort, I’m just not seeing it any more. As far as BJax is concerned, his return has been bittersweet. He has been a SacTown favorite for years and has a reputation as a classy player with a great attitude. Leaving the court early for not getting minutes is not classy, period. If he’s mad for not getting any minutes he has no one to blame but himself. Yes, Jackson has carries us a few times this season, but he is still shooting terribly. Jack up enough shots and eventually some go in. That, apparently has stopped, as witnessed by his outing against Utah. He hasn’t deserved those minutes and shouldn’t be complaining.

Crappy veteran attitudes will kill the chemistry of a team full of youngsters. Add to this Theus poor coaching and impatient ownership, and we’re screwed. Plain and simple. For awhile, I was okay with losing. I hoped for a high draft pick that would land us Ricky Rubio. But now I’m worried. I like Rubio. Why would I want him to waste away in Sacramento?

Before the season started the experts project the Kings to be a 25-30 win team. They looked at our roster, and said based on that we were lottory bound. That was before we lost all 3 SG’s in November, the month where we had more games than any other NBA team , and no days to practice.

So, here we are 5-16 or about 1 to 2 games below where people said we will be, without knowing what kind of miserable November we would have. So, now everyone wants to micro-manage every game, pick apart every decision, and find something or someone to blame. Yes, if Theus had made a different substitution or called a different play in the time out, we MAY have won a game or two more. But, blaming Theus for the failure of the Kings to win, is like blaming the chef on the Titanic for leaving the sink running, and causing the ship to sink.

Theus shouldn’t be judged by wins & loses alone. His mandate was to win & develop the rookies. And, as far as i can tell the rookies are doing better than expected, so I say give him time with at least a healthy roster, to see if he can get the team to 30 wins.

I think Reggie has learned a lot from last seasons mistakes and that he is in an unenviable position of having a leadership problem in the locker room. Lets look at the 4 veterans the Kings have on the roster-

Brad Miller- Suspended for smoking the hippy lettuce- pillow soft defender- known for erratic behavior on the court leading to technicals and bitch slap fouls.

Mikki Moore- Career cheer leader who values snakes more than passes…or rebounds. Known to speak out in the media, play invisible and take charges instead of using his 7 foot tall frame to block a shots. Good life experience- in a hobo kind of way but the Kings aren’t exactly filled with guys who weren’t drafted, spent 10 years playing in Tel Aviv only to go blind in one eye before finally getting their chance.

Bobby Jackson- Ex-star 6th man who has lost his legs. Even when he was good his shot selection was horrible- the shots just went in then. His failing body isn’t a new issue, he wasn’t good last year or the year before either. Now he walks off the court before the horn sounds.

John Salmons- Too busy being a spiritual leader/moral influence to lead on the court. I am glad the Kings have a guy like this on the roster but he is a good man, not a leader of young millionaires.

I thought coming into the season the mixture of youth and veterans would be enough but we are learning a lot about a couple of these guys and it isn’t pretty. Step up Martin or Garcia because this is the world you will be living in for the next 5 years.

Did a quick scan thru last season’s results to compare blowout losses last season to this season. It was quick so I don’t guarantee 100% accuracy.

Last season losses by 20+

• 9 games total
  7 road
  2 home

This season losses by 20+

• 6 games total
  3 road
  3 home

Last season 25+

• 3 games total
  0 home

This season 25+

• 4 games total
  1 home

So at this point we’ve already surpassed last seasons home total for both 20+ and 25+ blowout losses and the overall total for 25+ blowout losses. We’re 25% into the season and have 66% of the total 20+ blowout losses already. Yikes!

One more comparison:

Blowout losses as a percentage of total games played(BOL / games played)

Last season: 9/82 = 11%
This season: 6/21 = 29% Almost a third of our games are blowout losses.

What are the differences from this season so far and the last half of last season where the Kings played well and pushed a win total to 38.

Off the top of my head:

1. = RON ARTEST. Like him or not, the main change from last year is that Ron is gone.
2. = INJURIES. There have been nonstop injuries so far this season. Martin out all but 9 games. Cisco out for all but the last 4 or 5 games. Miller and Moore out for 4 or 5 games. Salmons out… etc.
3. = YOUNG GUNS. Young players like Spencer, Thompson and Greene have been getting big minutes so far this season. Spencer rarely played 20 minutes a game last season.
4. = BRUTAL SCHEDULE. The Kings have played above .500 teams in 12 of the last 14 games including the last 9 in a row with two Lakers games coming next.

For a team with loads of injuries, young players, a very rough schedule and a lack of identity, it’s not surprising the Kings are where they are at this point of the season. The main worry I think we all have is the lack of competitiveness. Too many blowout losses and games with a lack of effort on defense. Personally, I don’t think Reggie should be fired. I don’t see how this could all be his fault. If the Kings get healthy, play a stretch of games against some sub par teams and still get blown out and play lackluster than I will be the first to say that some drastic changes need to be made. After the Boston game on December 28th, the schedule seems to even out a bit and becomes easier. If the Kings can’t get some wins in January and start getting an identity after that month, then I see changes as being very warranted.

Sigh…

Do you still “think if the Kings hang tight with the Lakers or (gasp!) win outright, Theus has the job for the rest of the season.”?