I usually don't blog basketball (The Blog is largely baseball related), but I had to post something in response to the news that the Sacremento Kings are to fire Rick Adelman:

Are the Maloof's high?

You are going to fire the man who brought your team up from laughingstock status to one of the most completitve teams in the NBA?

Adelman, in eight years with the Kings, had a 395-229 record eight striaght playoff berths.  And while the Kings didn't make it to the NBA finals, they almost did during that great year in 2002, when the Kings lost one of the best basketball series in recent memory against the LA Lakers.  And though the Kings stumbled out of the gate, Adelman turned in one of his finest coaching efforts this season, leading the Kings to a 44-38 record, a 8th seed in the playoffs, and scaring the bejesus out of the San Antonio Spurs.

And they're going to let this guy walk out the door?

Madness.

Adelman won't have a shortage of suitors.  A good coach won't stay unemplyoed long.  And several teams in need of a solid coach to bring them over the top will be calling him.  I think that the Rockets will let Jeff Van Gundy to this season and bring in Adelman to manage Yao Ming and T-Mac.  An even better fit would be Adelman taking over the enormously talented Washington Wizards, as he has all the tools needed to bring them a championship.

As for the Kings, they will lose a lot of credability in the eyes of the fans.  Adelman may not have brought the Kings over the top, but he kept the team competitive and brought respect to the franchise.  While a title is important, respectability is equally important.  And there is a lack of quality coaches out there that can wrangle that roster.

Congradulations Sacremento.  You all just shot yourself in the foot.  And the rest of the Western Conference just let out a sigh of relief.