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**DaUnbreakableKinG** · 05-04-2005, 11:18 AM

Pondering a full-strength Jackson, Miller

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SEATTLE - Maurice Evans caught the ball behind the halfcourt line, took one dribble and jumped as the final seconds of the third quarter ticked away.

He hung in the air, double pumped and let go a heave that first found the glass and then the net. But the shot didn't count, a worthy effort ruled late because there just wasn't enough time. It was much like the Kings' season that ended here Tuesday night, with the Seattle SuperSonics closing out the first-round series with a 122-118 victory.

If real sports were played on a video game machine, it would be interesting to add a few weeks to the Kings' virtual season. Instead of returning in the regular-season finale, guard Bobby Jackson could come back from his 57-game hiatus (left wrist ligament tear) in time to meet his new teammates, and maybe scrape all the rust off his shoes. Center Brad Miller, his leg contusion and fracture leaving him out of the season's last 26 games, would have time to - who knows? - practice more than a few times before hitting the floor.

Maybe they'd have chemistry instead of being an ongoing experiment. Maybe they'd find themselves headed to the second round and not to their respective vacation spots.

"A healthy Brad and a healthy Bobby, in rhythm, would have definitely changed this series," Evans said after Tuesday night's loss. "We were out of sync throughout the series. We had enough talent here to win the game."

**DaUnbreakableKinG** · 05-04-2005, 11:21 AM

Mark Kreidler: Expect more of the same next season

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SEATTLE – Sure, there's always a chance of some seismic shift along the bench.

But let's assume for the sake of the argument that what Geoff Petrie told me Tuesday evening holds true: There will be no changes on the coaching staff.

And considering this was Adelman's best coaching job ever, under the circumstances, there is something totally acceptable about that.

So let's get to the nubs: Upon whom, exactly, does this franchise build?

The questions are fair ones right now, while the wound is still fresh. When Mike Bibby and Peja Stojakovic almost double-handedly shot the Kings past the SuperSonics before fading and yielding to Seattle's 122-118 victory and a first-round playoff exit, you had a graphic example of why Petrie (a) traded Jason Williams for Bibby in the first place, and (b) told Stojakovic that he isn't going anywhere for a long while.

And that's fine with Stojakovic, who told me after the game that he is happy playing in Sacramento and doesn't plan to revisit his words of last summer, when he politely requested a trade. That ship sailed without Peja, and he's OK with it.

He's also still capable of truly great performances, although possibly not for 40-plus minutes per game. Both Stojakovic and Bibby ran out of gas again in the fourth quarter against Seattle (a combined 3 for 13 from the field), suggesting that Adelman needs some complementary help if his duo is going to make serious noise in the coming year.

I'll take them both, and add Brad Miller for atmosphere, not to mention (when healthy) great offensive coggery. Petrie reiterated Tuesday that Bobby Jackson's contract option will be picked up, and why not? Jackson is relatively cheap and has every reason to come back full throttle in October.

The variables? Well, here's where it gets dicey.

Cuttino Mobley isn't really a fit here. He's a shooter who doesn't do a whole lot else, and he's trying to make that work in the Petrie-Adelman offense in which flow and continuous ball movement are so critical. It was a little shocking, but undeniably true, that the Kings' offense got better and more efficient in Game 5 only after Mobley went out because of a sprained foot.

And yet the Kings would undoubtedly prefer Mobley to exercise his option to pick up the final year of his contract. Why? Because if he opts out and leaves in free agency, Sacramento gets nothing for him – and still sits too far over the salary cap to make any use of his money coming off the books.

Maurice Evans is a free agent, and he opened plenty of eyes this season. The Kings ought to hope that Evans realizes he was in the right system, and decides to hang around. Greg Ostertag and Darius Songaila have their choice on options for next year as well; Songaila is a player of promise, and the affable Ostertag, though I think he's the wrong guy for what Sacramento likes to run, is still a shot-blocker and a foul-giver on a team with no size.

**DaUnbreakableKinG** · 05-04-2005, 11:23 AM

Soft middle, hard landing

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Defense ails Kings as season is ended

SEATTLE - The end for the Kings came as it started.

Their inability to grab a defensive rebound or plug the middle and prevent Ray Allen from reaching the basket when they trailed by just two points with less than 15 seconds left summed up the season that ended in a 122-118 loss to the Seattle SuperSonics in Game 5 of their best-of-seven, first-round NBA playoff series.

Peja Stojakovic, whose 38 points had helped give the Kings a legitimate chance at victory, drained a three-pointer with 36.5 seconds left to bring them within 120-118.

Then it was down to the defense, and that has never been a warm place for the Kings. Allen worked the clock with the dribble, then drove hard right around Maurice Evans, who replaced the injured Cuttino Mobley during the second quarter.

Allen made it around Evans, who had pushed him toward where his defensive help was supposed to be. Unfortunately for Evans and the Kings, neither Stojakovic nor Brad Miller stepped up quickly or aggressively enough, and Allen made it all the way to the basket for the game-clinching points.

"He knew as a veteran, he was going to get calls, and I had to try to lay off him, and then try to get to him as late as I could," Evans said of Allen's play. "I pushed him to where the help was. That was our game plan. But he was smart and kept on going all the way to the basket."

Added Miller: "That was on all of us, but I should have gotten over there earlier. It was just one of a lot of little stupid mental mistakes we made all game that ended up killing us."

Allen scored a team-high 30 points to lead seven Sonics in double figures.

The Kings, who lost an opening-round series for the first time since dropping a best-of-five set to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000, received a huge effort from Mike Bibby (35 points, 10 assists and four steals), but they couldn't make enough defensive stops against the Sonics, who advanced to meet the winner of the Denver Nuggets-San Antonio Spurs series in the Western Conference semifinals.

"We never could get a handle on them defensively," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "We played hard, there was no doubt about that."

As he did all series, Seattle's Ray Allen (34) leaves Kings defenders such as Peja Stojakovic, Maurice Evans and Brad Miller behind to score a basket.

SuperSonics forward Reggie Evans, left, and Kings forward Kenny Thomas scramble for a loose ball during the first half Tuesday night.

Seattle's Nick Collison grabs one of his gamehigh nine rebounds as the Kings' Darius Songaila tries for the ball.

Ray Allen taunts the Kings' bench after hitting a three-pointer.

Twix · 05-04-2005, 12:09 PM

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Originally Posted by Sacbee article

The problems? Right now, they are issues of identity and cohesion, the two things that did in the Kings in this first-round series. And, of course, a little muscle around the basket wouldn't hurt.

Bibby and Stojakovic were alternately brilliant and hard to locate. Veterans Miller and Bobby Jackson, just returning from injury, couldn't be depended upon. And coach Rick Adelman often didn't know what to expect from the newcomers.

"This just hasn't been a fair test," said Jerry Reynolds, the team's director of player personnel and a broadcaster. "Before this, we had a case where a bunch of guys had been together a number of years, knew their roles and knew the pecking order," Reynolds said. "It was a team that had personality, and that just doesn't happen overnight."

^I think this is the reason why Kings lost in the first round too.

The article also started off by talking about Vlade...I think it was because of Vlade's departure, it helped pave the way for Doug and Webb to get traded. I think if Vlade would have stayed with the Kings, Doug and Webb may have not been traded and the Kings will be trying an extra year of that core.

Thanks for the articles, Ilir.

**DaUnbreakableKinG** · 05-04-2005, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twix

^I think this is the reason why Kings lost in the first round too.

The article also started off by talking about Vlade...I think it was because of Vlade's departure, it helped pave the way for Doug and Webb to get traded. I think if Vlade would have stayed with the Kings, Doug and Webb may have not been traded and the Kings will be trying an extra year of that core.

Thanks for the articles, Ilir.

No Problem Twix.

I agree with you. If we could somehow bring Divac back as an assitant coach I think we would be a lot better.

maKINGSofgreatness · 05-04-2005, 07:05 PM

Am I the only one who thinks it feels really weird to lose not in game 7?

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