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Kings make a big mistake
by Joe Cronin and Ken Gimblin May 10, 2006 |
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SACRAMENTO--The firing on last Tuesday Afternoon of former Kings Head Coach Rick Adelman, because he didn't seem to fit the "personality" of what the Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof were looking for doesn't hold water. The firing of Adelman certainly is not the cure all and General Manager Geoff Petrie said that the Kings were missing a dynamic in the coaching and a change was needed. Apparently the Maloofs and Petrie fail to see what the players, ex-coaches, and media see and that Adelman was not the problem. The old cliché "if the team is loosing fire the coach" doesn't apply here. This was purely about politics and personalities as to why Adelman was not given an extension and was show the door. The Kings had a straight up resurgence when they acquired Ron Artest and made a run at the playoffs. The Maloofs fail to realize that Artest liked working with Adelman, and more importantly when Artest joined the Kings, they were going no where fast sitting in 10th place in the Western Conference. It took the efforts of Adelman and Artest to make it happen on the floor for to get the Kings to jell together, and come back the way they did in the Western Conference standings. Adelman was on the right path and his demise certainly is two steps backward. He had the respect of the players and that direction showed even in the playoffs that if the organization really thought about it they could go places if they could pick up other one or two guys equal to the talents of Wells, Artest, or Bibby. Adelman's record speaks for itself for his eight years in Sacramento, and for all that time the Kings never missed a post season. The Maloofs were disappointed that Adelman had so much time but couldn't pull the trigger and get into a championship. It was the Maloofs who needed to get Adelman the weapons he needed to get there. It was already miraculous that Sacramento got into the playoffs against number one seed San Antonio and avoided getting swept with some impressive come from behinds in games two, three, and four. Game Two, they lost in overtime after Artest was lost to suspension but the Kings battled throughout and gave their best efforts out of respect for Adelman. Petrie said in his press conference on Tuesday that Adelman had to go, "I came to the conclusion that continuing this way just wasn't feasible. The dynamic that needed to be there to help it move forward just wasn't there." said Petrie. For what Adelman had to work with, the personnel he had on the club, it was amazing. Quite lucky as a matter of fact that Adelman got the team as far as he did, and he was able to get Artest to work together be happy and lead the troops, get Bonzi Wells pleased, and did what they did in the playoffs. Those two wins and that loss in Game 2 were from the players hearts to Adelman. It won't see that kind of heart this coming season. It's going to take maybe a couple of years to get the Model T to come out of the barn again on its own. If the Kings won a couple of rounds in the playoffs the Maloofs still would have canned Adelman and if they had miraculously gone all the way the Maloofs would have taken credit for it. Adelman is the fourth most winning coach in NBA history among active coaches with a whopping 752 victories. Adelman by far is the winingest coach in franchise history if you count, Cincinnati, Kansas City, or Omaha too with 395 wins. The Maloofs simply didn't get it they needed to get a few more players to build the Kings depth to compliment Artest, Wells, and Bibby. It wasn't Adelman's fault that the Kings couldn't go any further than they did he can't trade or buy players. Even Artest said chidingly he would like to play for the Kings for another year for free if Wells and Adelman would stay. Who knows now what will happen and what players would be attracted to play for an organization like this when Adelman a player's coach is now finished in Sacramento. The usual forecast for the Kings next season: Rebuild from the ground up. Joe Cronin and Ken Gimblin co-host Sportstalk on 1690 KFSG Sacramento. Quotes provided by: The Best Damn Sports Show Period. |
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