Kings (5-10) at Trail Blazers (8-6)
Scoring: Kings 10th (98.9), Trail Blazers 14th (98.4).
Shooting: Kings second (48.7 percent), Trail Blazers 11th (45.2).
Scoring defense: Kings 29th (104.9), Trail Blazers 13th (96.1).
Shooting defense: Kings 30th (48.5 percent), Trail Blazers 27th (47).
Three-point defense (being tracked in the House of Maloof): Kings 30th (43.2 percent), Trail Blazers tied for 25th (38).
Turnovers (ditto): Kings 22nd (15.9), Trail Blazers first (12.4).
The link: Trail Blazers coverage in the Oregonian.
The almanac: On this date in 1938, Oscar Robertson was born in Charlotte, Tenn. On this date in 1960, Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors grabbed 55 rebounds against the Celtics to set a single-game record, en route to averaging 27.2 rebounds for the season-long mark. On this date in 1986, Maurice Podoloff, the first chief executive of the NBA, died at the age of 95. Podoloff was NBA president, before the title was changed to commissioner in 1967, from 1946 through his retirement in 1963. On this date in 1999, the Heat beat the Hawks to make Pat Riley the third coach in history with 200 wins with three teams, joining Lenny Wilkens and Bill Fitch. On this date in 2001, Terry Porter of the Spurs became the only player to record 15,000 points, 7,000 assists, 1,000 steals and 1,000 three-pointers.
That's how it goes. Fairness doesn't always enter into these things, which is why the move will generate sympathy for Jordan in D.C. and around the league, and why he will have offers to be a No. 1 assistant next season and maybe even interviews to become a head coach. He is respected.
But embarrassments mount, change is inevitable, and no one has yet come up with a way to fire a roster. The Wizards allowing 122 points Saturday to the Knicks, a team that had just traded its two leading scorers and used seven players qualifies as embarrassment. That did in Jordan.
In truth, he was a success story to make it this far, the rarity of a coach who was hired before the general manager in a house cleaning and then lasted to have the longest tenure in the Eastern Conference and the third-longest in all behind two of the league's mountains, Jerry Sloan in Utah and Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. Behind only two future Hall of Famers -- that in itself makes it a good run.
The move is obviously headline news in Washington, his hometown, and worth noting in Sacramento, where Jordan was an assistant under Garry St. Jean and later the head coach before the roster turnover that led to the Rick Adelman / Chris Webber / Vlade Divac era. Mostly, though, it's the reminder that a roster doesn't have to be in good shape before the bosses will want to hold someone accountable for too many nights of poor effort.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.