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Adelman's Aftermath: Is Bibby Next?

By Tom Ziller

Wait... I know Game 2 against the Spurs sucked. There was no way the Kings should've lost that game, but they did.

But wow. It was apparently Rick Adelman's Grady Little moment? From Sam Amick:

But as it turns out, one defensive mishap in particular may have played a role in Adelman's departure.

Following the Kings' Game 2 loss in the first round to San Antonio - in which Brent Barry was left alone in the corner to hit a high-bouncing three-pointer and force overtime - the Maloofs were extremely frustrated at the missed assignment. It only emphasized an element that had pained them for so long.

I can't say I disagree with this - that play was very emblematic of Adelman's Kings: star players not being held responsible for lapses on defense. Adelman has always gotten more angry when someone doesn't shoot when they have an open look than when someone loses their man on defense.

But does this mean Mike Bibby is next? I mean, is any coach going to change his ways at this point? The guy is a few days short of 28 years old, and he's been in the league since 1999. I doubt he's going to become a responsible defensive player overnight.

So will the Maloofs shop Bibby? If they really are in it for defense, I wouldn't put it past them.

But wait, there's more:

And while their general sense was that change was needed, there were other factors from this season as well, including the use of power forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim and point guard Jason Hart and the development of rookie swingman Francisco García.

(Emphasis mine.) Wait - they wanted more Jason Hart? And there were rooting for the Kings, right? Right?

I agree on Shareef and Garcia - Abdur-Rahim got taken advantage of by Kenny Thomas, and Adelman facilitated that by cow-towing to K-9. And Frankie Go was playing fantastic until he hurt his ankle, and he never got a chance after that.

I don't know. All of this adds up to:

  1. Bonzi, a solid defender (especially when alongside Artest), could be back.
  2. Bibby might be gone.
  3. Don Nelson doesn't make sense - you look up "no defense" in the dictionary and you see Don Nelson staring back. (It ain't pretty.)
  4. Shareef Abdur-Rahim ain't going nowhere. (Hallelujah.)
  5. Brent Barry of all people got Rick Adelman fired.
The regular rumor mill sites don't have anything we haven't heard - P.J. Carlesimo might figure into this, Terry Porter is a possibility, everyone loves Eddie Jordan. Again, mixing Carlesimo - who got choked out by Latrell Sprewell - with Ron Artest might not be a good idea. Eddie Jordan is not exactly a paragon of defensive virtue. And Terry Porter might be looking to purchase the Portland franchise or might be looking to join Flip Saunders's coaching staff.

I won't cry over Adelmania's end, but I might cry over the Maloof's choice.The uncertainty is unsettling.

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