Thread for articles from sacbee.com

[Max Power]

I thought one thread should be good for all the articles so we can reference them at a moment's notice. ===========


Lack of focus shows this team won't get beyond first round

By Mark Kreidler - (Published April 15, 2004)
OAKLAND - And not to get just overly dramatic about it so soon, but: One and done.

You went looking for the Kings last night, looking for the team once famous for its heart and its fight and its ability to grasp the moment. You got a team that the head coach didn't recognize, that the power forward with the lousy knee and the non-superstar game had to bite his tongue in the locker room afterward to avoid ripping apart, verb by verb.

Those are action words, not that anyone from the Kings would recognize them right about now. A 97-91 loss to the stinking Golden State Warriors, with so much on the line? You half expected Red Klotz to come out for the postgame interview session.

Sacramento is a No. 4 seed in the Western Conference playoffs this morning only because Nos. 5 through 8 are already occupied. The Kings played like a 9, maybe a 10. Film at 11.

The Kings wanted the two seed and Houston in the first round. They got the four, and the Dallas Mavericks, and their myriad matchup problems.

You could almost hear Don Nelson giggling all the way from Texas.

Stop me if I begin overstating things, but Sacramento right now is a team headed for a first-round exit. I say that understanding everything: That Sunday's playoff opener might bear no resemblance to the stink bomb the Kings threw down here Wednesday night; that Bobby Jackson's return, if he ever does return, could radically alter the matchup situations.

I know that Mike Bibby played the Warriors with a heavy heart, having learned only hours before of the death of a grandmother with whom he was particularly close. I know that Chris Webber was again mediocre, and that Brad Miller scored just two points in 28 minutes, two things that, while they do happen, aren't likely to often happen together.

All temporary conditions, theoretically. But there's just no getting past the other part, the part about the effort and awareness and sense of urgency that were missing completely in this game until it was far too late.

Or, to put it another way, "I'm dumbfounded," coach Rick Adelman said afterward. "I don't understand it. I guess it doesn't make any difference to us, second or fourth ... I'm just amazed."

There's a misconception floating around out there that the Kings are in trouble because, to select two examples, Webber isn't yet himself and Jackson is missing. Those are daunting facts, but they're physical issues.

Wrong avenue.

Look this way: The Kings are in trouble because they're asleep on their feet.

They're in trouble because they've developed the approach of a team that seems to believe it can flip a switch and get competitive, or use its home-court vibes to somehow right itself no matter how far wrong it's going.

It's fools' gold, all of it. Webber isn't going to get better, folks -- what you see is what he's got. Jackson may or may not make the slightest difference in a game even if he can return from the abdominal injury that is torturing him on a daily basis.

Nope, this is the team, and these were the stakes. On Monday and again Wednesday, the Kings went into a game against a lower-rated team knowing that a victory would get them that No. 2 seed. Losing in Denver, the day after the Lakers game and with the Nuggets trying to lock down a playoff berth -- that's forgivable.

This wasn't. This was Adelman's core players gifting a 32-point second quarter to the Warriors, getting outrebounded by guys like Adonal Foyle and Calbert Cheaney and 100-year-old Clifford Robinson. They played from behind all night after allowing Golden State a 14-2 first-half run, and when they played hard it was too late. And afterward no one seemed to have the slightest idea why.

"In every season you have bad moments and good moments," said Peja Stojakovic, whose 16 second-half points weren't enough.

"We just have to get back to that other team we can be," said Vlade Divac.

And you, Mr. Webber? Is there concern?

"There should be," Webber replied quietly, almost in a whisper, clearly crunching his words. "For every player here."

Adelman looked absolutely shocked after this game, and, heaven help me, I feel for the man. He gave this team all the rope in the world; he let his players play. He brought Webber back and essentially offered back the star platform that Webber desires.

He called his players together at halftime Wednesday night and asked them, "Why? Where are our heads?" And two quarters later, Adelman had his answer.

The Kings could've had Houston, a team they could beat and against whom Webber and Jackson might gradually find that higher plane. They get Dallas, which, as one front-office member noted, "gives us some matchup problems -- say, three or four of the spots on the floor."

One and done. And wholly earned.

[Maringa]

A couple of weeks ago while the Mavericks were struggling, you could have replaced some of the players names with the Mavs players (Webber injury, Finley injury), match-up problems, etc. The statement of waiting to turn it on for the playoffs, etc. (ie: applying that to Nowitzki), etc... The article described the Mavericks to a tee up until the 10 games when they turned things around.

The Mavericks were fortunate to have the bad spell several weeks ago vs. now...We seem to have the advantage - hope we grasp it!

[kg_veteran]

You could almost hear Don Nelson giggling all the way from Texas.

Great line.

They get Dallas, which, as one front-office member noted, "gives us some matchup problems -- say, three or four of the spots on the floor."

No question about this.

[ashjensen]

kings are nothing without the right chemistry. that mean miller and divac need to start in tandem again. webber must come off the bench. it's all about gelling. you can have morons like barkley and such crying all day about webber not starting but those are the facts. the kings dominate when miller and divac start together. chemistry

adelman won't listen. he'll likely be gone next year.

[hero = dirk]

"Now the Kings have three days to get their collective acts together before they open their first-round, best-of-seven playoff series against the fifth-seeded Dallas Mavericks on Sunday at Arco Arena. The 55-27 record is one everyone would have taken at the beginning of the season and no one wants now. That's especially because of the way the Kings limped home.

Sacramento was 11-12 after star power forward Chris Webber returned from rehabilitating his surgically repaired left knee. The Kings also lost four of their last five and eight of their final 12 games.

The Kings pondered their slump in the locker room after the game. But they might as well have been in there during the game, considering their lack of energy, intelligence and intensity against the Warriors, who had nothing quantitative for which to play."

-sacbee

muhahahaha

[kingrex]

The article touched on it, but I don't think quite emphasized it enough. This team has been, and it seems always will be plagued by injuries. It is a well-put together team, but just has never been totally healthy in the playoffs.

There is a chance that this team will get it together against the Mavs. The Mavs have not proven that it can play consistent defense, so there's a chance that Sacramento will get a groove going on offense. They may wake-up and run more plays for Peja which would require Miller to play more (because of his willingness and effectiveness at setting picks).

As a Mavs fan, we should fear the proverbial "wounded tiger". The Mavs and its fans better not take them too lightly.

[kg_veteran]

Nobody takes them lightly. They could certainly beat the Mavericks in a series. That said, they are the most favorable first round matchup. There's no way that the Mavs would have better odds in the first round against San Antonio or LA.

[mary]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ailene Voisin: Stojakovic needs to regain top billing

By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Sports Columnist

Published 2:15 am PDT Friday, April 16, 2004


For the better part of this swiftly deteriorating season, he was the elusive, high-scoring King, the player who never stood still long enough for the sweat to dry, who turned his back on defenders and left them swiping at open space and chasing an invisible man.
Peja running, Peja cutting, Peja shooting, Peja scoring. Peja and the Kings ... winning.

But as the season turned, the game plan changed. With Chris Webber thrust immediately into the starting lineup after returning from a 58-game absence, the adjustment shook the team, and Stojakovic, the former No. 1 option, sometimes performed as if he lost his place in line. His scoring dropped from 25.6 points per game to 20.8. His field-goal attempts dipped from 17.7 to 15.6. His energy diminished. His aggressiveness waned. For whatever reason, he assumed his old role as the nice guy who finishes second, the No. 2 option on a team that suddenly is missing a bona fide No. 1. ************NOTE: SOUNDS FAMILIAR, DOESN'T IT?******************

And Webber simply can't be the king. Not this NBA postseason. Not until he regains his stamina and his skills. Though he has teased with explosive performances - most recently against the Lakers - he is shooting 41.3 percent, with most of his attempts emanating from the perimeter instead of the vacant low-post area. Also, he is averaging 18.3 shots, almost three more than Stojakovic, who has succeeded on 48 percent of his attempts.

With the Dallas Mavericks visiting?

Peja, please come home.

For the Kings to have any chance against the mini-Mavs, Stojakovic has to adopt the mentality of the MVP candidate-Peja. He can't defer to anyone. He has to demand the ball if necessary, create for himself and his teammates without forcing shots and, for better or for worse, accept the consequences. Most importantly, he has to keep moving and hope that his teammates do a better job finding him than their opponents.

"In some of the recent games," Geoff Petrie said, "Peja hasn't been getting the quality of shots that he was earlier. We're just not executing offensively, and that affects everybody. We've got to somehow regenerate the offense that has always worked for us, sharing the ball and playing off each other. The bulk of our success has come from doing that. And Peja has had a fabulous year."

Stojakovic, 26, was so effective for so long, his team the league's finest for much of the season, that he is among the candidates expected to finish behind Kevin Garnett for this year's Most Valuable Player honor. And while he can be a difficult man to catch up with on the court, his mug shot is all over the league's Web site. In this, his sixth season, he emerged as a top-10 fixture in the NBA's significant offensive categories.

First in three-pointers and free-throw percentage. Second in scoring. Second in field goals made. Seventh in efficiency ranking, an evaluation formula that combines points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocked shots, turnovers, free throws made and attempted and field goals made and attempted.

Yet, with the playoffs approaching, there is another ranking - that of minutes played - that is of concern. If Peja appears tired, he should be. He not only ranks seventh in minutes played with an average of 40.3 per night, he shouldered the bulk of the scoring burden during Webber's rehabilitation.

Of course, Peja will never admit that he has short-armed jumpers because he is physically depleted, that an inordinate number of driving layups have been swatted away of late because his legs lack lift, that his rebounding and sprints along the baseline have declined because he is flat-out tired. No, never. Not unlike Mike Bibby, Peja suffers from insomnia at night if he can't exhaust himself in a gym by day.

His only concession to the grueling schedule and expanded duties is a scaled-back pre-game warmup ritual; he no longer engages in lengthy shooting sessions two hours before tipoff.

"I feel good," he insisted. "Sometimes my shot doesn't go, but I never even think about that. I ask, 'What else can I do?' I still believe I can improve as a player, like rebounding."

Though the Kings have little to be excited about entering the postseason on the slide, Stojakovic's final few games offer at least a glimmer of encouragement. Particularly against the Warriors, he appeared lively, the bounce back in his step. He hit threes, grabbed boards, ran the floor, utilized Vlade Divac's 7-foot-1 frame on those familiar pick-and-pops, penetrated and passed to teammates for layups or open jumpers.

Clearly, Peja is a more confident, complete player this season, more effective at using screens, reading defenses and, according to Petrie, will be even more lethal when he develops additional dribble moves that enable him to get his own shot.

Meantime there is a postseason to play and a chance at a championship, however improbable. There is no chance at all, however, if the Kings fail to fully exploit the incredible stroke and expanded abilities of their 6-foot-10 small forward.

Peja is No. 2 in scoring.

He should be No. 1 on the Kings' shot chart.

[jayC]

A few things to keep in mind Brad Miller's play declined after the all-star break he did it at indiana last year too. No question the mavs relish playing the kings after not too long ago it looked as if San Antonio or LA was on tap. Can't overlook the Kings.

[Mavs Rule]

Great point about Miller. We all remember what happened to the pacers last year in the playoffs.

[ashjensen]

brad miller was injured and hurt after the break. plus webber came back and that burt the kings. peja became 2nd fiddle. same with miller.

webbe's not that great anymore. miller and peja are the kings future. hopefully adleman will get canned too. he plays favorites with webber and dosen't listen to the kings fans. most king fans want webber to come off the bench with miller n divac starting,

ashley

[mary]

Miller is still having problems with his shoulder. He couldn't finish practice Friday and took a trip to the hospital to have it examined. BoJax is doubtful for Sunday.

[Max Power]

Mavs' run-and-gun strategy still may work in the end
By Mark Kreidler -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, April 19, 2004

About the time Chris Webber dribbled around the arena, over the Maloofs and down the lane to complete that ludicrous up-and-under thingy he spun into the basket at full speed in the fourth quarter, you realized you were watching a cartoon of an impressionist painter's rendition of an NBA playoff.
It was a brilliantly vivid image. It was marvelous, if ragged, theater.

And in other news, it's hoops suicide.

The Kings went at the Dallas Mavericks' preferred throttle range Sunday - wide open, for those keeping book at home - and they made it work to the tune of 116-105, the kind of game they haven't put together in, oh, let's say two months.

And if you didn't know better, you'd have sworn those were thin smiles the Mavs were wearing under their semi-disappointed comments afterward.

Know why? Because the Mavericks kill people dead with that game plan - later, if not sooner. Because the Mavs, with all their flaws, with their sub-mediocre road play this season and their what-me-worry? defensive posture, are never more in the thick of a game than when their opponent decides it really enjoys going up and down the floor.
Or, to put it another way, "Obviously, this team feels comfortable in a high-paced game - the more possessions, the better," Dallas guard Steve Nash said.

Or, to put it a third way, "Not really," Vlade Divac answered directly when asked if he'd be comfortable playing the rest of the series at this tilt.

In taking Game 1 on their home floor, the Kings demonstrated how to win a game and risk a playoff. It's not breaking news. Coach Rick Adelman knew it the day before this series began, and he knew it again Sunday. He warned of the danger both before and after his team's victory.

There was a point on Sacramento's evolutionary timeline at which the Kings were the team that wanted to bait every opponent into playing backyard ball, and Adelman looked like a master back then. But it was a few years, a few injuries and millions of steps ago.

Now, "They're better at it than we are," Adelman said of the Mavs' breakneck routine. "I mean, they're better at it than anybody in the league.

"So you've got to understand that the more you take a quick shot and miss it, the more you bail them out."

The Kings and Mavericks cranked up 174 field-goal attempts in 48 game minutes Sunday, and welcome to exactly what Mavs coach Don Nelson was hoping for out of this series. Oh, he'd like to cut down the silly plays and the extraneous blown offensive possessions - he'd like for Dallas to play like the composed team it hasn't always been this season - but all in all, this was basketball the way the Mavericks want to play it.

And the problem, for Sacramento, is that the style can't be trusted. The Kings looked almost at home running the floor with the Mavs in Game 1, but the question is whether Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, Divac and the crew can possibly slam up and down that way for seven games - or six, or, shoot, two or three.

"The faster the better for us," said Nash, whose team led the NBA in scoring at 105.2 points. "That (pace) is not what beat us today. We made too many little mistakes, and offensively, we maybe didn't run enough."

Word to the heavy-legged: This is a Sacramento team, after all, playing a long series without sprint-master Bobby Jackson, playing with a tired Divac and a clearly weary Stojakovic. Webber's injury is old news. A track meet suits this bunch not at all, no matter how glorious it looked for four quarters.

Dallas essentially played the Kings even through three periods despite some horribly ragged work, and that's the thought the Mavs took with them back to their hotel Sunday evening. In the third quarter, when the common wisdom held that the Kings really applied the defensive pressure, the Mavs still jacked up 24 shots. They shot lousy, was all.

"We got what we wanted offensively," said forward Antoine Walker, whose 3-for-11 work from the field didn't help. "We were getting good shots. ... We're leaving today feeling very comfortable."

The Kings felt just fine with themselves afterward, and coming out of the month or so that they're coming out of, you can understand. Sacramento played this game with more spice and more energy than it has showed in weeks.

And in that fourth quarter, with Dallas having hung around for 36 minutes, the Kings really went out and won a game - took control of it and never gave it back. It was good stuff. It was fine theater.

It's a mirage.

Or, to put it a fourth way, "We cannot get into an up-and-down game with these guys," Adelman said on the eve of this series. "We're going to lose that battle eventually."

That's later, if not sooner. It was a great way to win a game, the Sunday plan.

It's just a lousy way to attack a series.

[kg_veteran]

Some of the wear and tear that might come from a "run and gun" series will be negated by the lengthy breaks between games, but I couldn't agree more about the pace of the game. As long as it remains up-tempo, it favors Dallas. The Kings have to try and slow the game down a bit. They're not going to win a series played PTTM.

[Novice#41]

Mavericks embarrass Kings
By JOE DAVIDSON
THE SACRAMENTO BEE
Last Updated: April 25, 2004, 06:49:46 AM PDT

DALLAS -- There was a point in the third period Saturday night, the game slowly slipping away, when Chris Webber met the blank expressions of Deion Sanders and a host of other athletes with championship pedigree on their fingers. The next time the Kings forward took a sideline peek, they were either bored or gone, or both.
The Kings stumbled back into some troubling habits just when it appeared the recent tailspin had been smoothed out, if just a little.

They were skunked in virtually every statistical category and clearly in effort, buckling to the desperate Dallas Mavericks 104-79 in Game 3 of this Western Conference opening-round series at rowdy American Airlines Center.

Sacramento still leads the best-of-seven series 2-1, but it is suddenly a perilous advantage, with those cracks in the seams that were masked with victories in Games 1 and 2 snaking down the side of the ship.

"It's a tough pill to swallow to come out and lay an egg like that in front of some gladiators (like Sanders)," Webber said. "I'm disappointed. The biggest thing we've got to recognize is a sense of urgency. I knew (in the second-half warmups) that we were in trouble, with our body English."

The Kings looked a lot like the beleaguered bunch that lost six of its last seven road games entering the playoffs, with minimal offensive flow, a penchant for forcing passes or throwing it right out of bounds and offering little defensive resistance.

Four Mavericks reached double figures, led by an undrafted rookie free agent in Marquis Daniels, who was poised beyond his years and exploited a size advantage over Mike Bibby and attacked relentlessly.

He scored 22 points, with Dirk Nowitzki contributing 21, freshly minted Sixth Man of the Year Antawn Jamison supplying 20, Michael Finley finally enjoying his playoff breakthrough with 18 and another rookie in Josh Howard pulling in a game-high 14 rebounds.

Webber and Bibby were the only working parts on the Kings offense, scoring 30 of the club's first 41 and totaling 22 each.

Webber had more moments of superb play -- spinning, jump-hooking, dunking -- in his road back from a knee injury that originated on this very floor, during Game 2 of last year's playoff series.

Bibby gutted out a tender hip flexor injury suffered late in Friday's practice, though he down played his ailment as no big deal, saying, that although he feels the strain a "little bit, I'm fine. No excuses."

Outside of Webber and Bibby, no other Kings player was in sight. Seasonal leading scorer Peja Stojakovic attempted just nine shots, making two, had seven points, and a team-best eight rebounds. Doug Christie, brilliant in his versatility and offensive aggression in the first two games, didn't score his first points until there was 5:46 remaining, to cut it to within 93-69. He finished with five points. Vlade Divac had four, Brad Miller five and Anthony Peeler two and the Kings fell at Dallas for the sixth consecutive time dating to last season's playoff series.

And the hideous numbers: 11 assists for a Kings team that led the league in that category, 10 missed 3-pointers and 26 turnovers. Dallas collected 23 offensive rebounds and picked up 19 steals, which Dallas coach Don Nelson muttered, "must be some kind of playoff record."

"The Mavericks showed up tonight," Nelson said. "I was glad to see that. A big factor in the game was that they didn't play very well. We know that feeling; we didn't play very well in Game 1."

Dallas, owners of the NBA's best home record this season, led 9-0 and 13-3 in easily their best start of the series. A Stojakovic bucket tied it at 33 in the second, and that was about it for the Kings.

They couldn't take advantage of Steve Nash gaining his fourth foul in the first half, and the Mavericks ripped it open in the third, with Nash hitting a 3-pointer, Daniels converting a three-point play and Finley hitting a three to make it 79-55.

"I've got concerns with our team," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "We're not cutting, we're not playing the weak side. … We have to get Peja more involved. I told the team that we're not down 3-2 in this series.

"We still have the advantage. We're still up 2-1."

[Novice#41]

Kings no match trying to guard Daniels
By Mark Kreidler -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, April 25, 2004

DALLAS - The troubling image Saturday might not have been Dallas rookie Marquis Daniels stepping up from outside and hitting jump shots, nor for that matter winding up with 22 points in the Mavericks' 104-79 rout of the Kings.
Daniels, after all, has scored in double digits in 14 straight games and averaged 19.9 points in that span. An undrafted free agent one summer ago, he's no longer an unknown quantity.

No, the trouble, for the Kings, might have come in watching Daniels consistently post up or blow by Mike Bibby en route to several close-in baskets in his 11-point burst in the third quarter, when the Mavs put this game away.

Reason? It suggests that Rick Adelman and his coaching staff now have another defensive matchup with which to concern themselves.
"He hit some tough shots and he got a lot of layups," said Bibby, who tried to answer offense with offense by scoring 22 points. "He played a nice game."

More than that: Daniels was the Dallas star on a team full of scorers. He converted 10 of his 20 field-goal attempts and logged a game-high 42 minutes. More significantly, he was the player of the moment when Dallas used that 34-17 third quarter to blow open the game.

"I just wanted to be more aggressive," said Daniels, who was just 11 for 30 from the field in the first two games of this series. "Once I hit my first couple of shots, coach called for me to get more."

That would be Don Nelson, the highly regarded strategist - or trickster, depending upon your mood - who had patiently explained a couple of days ago that he had no more rabbits to pull out of his hat when it came to creating mismatches against the Sacramento defense.

Instead, Nelson rode the hot hand Saturday. And once it became apparent that Bibby was having trouble staying with Daniels and that Bibby's teammates weren't moving at the speed of sound to help on defense, the coach figured he had himself a winner.

"I gave him some opportunities, and we talked about some mistakes he was making (in the first two games), like bringing the ball too close to the basket," Nelson said. "He took what was there and really settled down in the second half."

The talk before the game centered on Bibby's strained hip flexor, but the Kings' point guard seemed mobile enough on offense, where he cut into the lane several times for baskets. It was only in attempting to defend Daniels that Bibby looked a step slow.

Daniels is a great story, though one that is becoming increasingly known.

Undrafted out of Auburn last summer, he played his way onto the Mavs' roster by working stints at the Summer Pro League in Long Beach and the Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City. Nelson tossed Daniels into the starting lineup near the end of the regular season and hasn't been able to get him out since.

"We did more things through him (Saturday), and he responded with an excellent game," Nelson said.

Call it a trend. And add it to the list of matchup problems for the Kings to ponder.