Lakers Are Still the Rulers of Sacramento : Kings Have a New Coach, but Same Old Timid Bunch Loses Once Again, 114-98

If you’re going to be as bad as the Sacramento Kings were Tuesday night, you might as well hire a comedian to coach and a gorilla to lead the laughs.

Now, the Kings weren’t as bad in Tuesday’s 114-98 loss to the Lakers as they were last week in Los Angeles, when they trailed, 40-4, after one quarter. Another opening act like that, and the fat-cats who sit courtside at Arco Arena would have demanded an investigation from their state assemblymen.

Come to think of it, some of the fat cats here are assemblymen.

But less than two minutes into the game Tuesday, the Lakers led, 10-2. With 6:14 gone, it was 22-6, and new Coach Jerry Reynolds, the second banana the Kings had promoted Monday to replace Phil Johnson--who was fired after last week’s fiasco--was already thinking that he had stumbled into one nasty case of deja vu.

“I was a sick little buckaroo right about then,” Reynolds said. “ . . . I wasn’t nervous anymore, just sick, depressed and nauseous. I was ready to get the old resume worked up.”

Some background on Reynolds: He spent his life coaching at small colleges like Pittsburg State (Kan.), Rockhurst College (Mo.), and West Georgia State before being hired as a King assistant coach and scout. He’s also from French Lick, Ind., home of Larry Bird. No one on the Kings has a tenth of Bird’s ability, but Reynolds does have some of Bird’s sense of humor.

On Monday, when he was hired, Reynolds said he could always go back to French Lick and work in the piano factory if things didn’t work out here.

“I never worked there,” he said Tuesday, “but that’s the big industry back there, that and a hotel resort.

“Those are the good jobs. If you work overtime and do some piece work, you can do pretty well. Right now, that seems like a pretty decent option.”

The Kings, who had missed their first 21 shots last Wednesday, made just 8 of 26 in the first quarter Tuesday. Defense was a distant memory, as the Lakers made 65.3 % of their shots in the first quarter, a scintillating 75% in the second, when they opened a 28-point lead, 67-39, with 1:39 to play.

An example of the Kings’ passivity: The Lakers shot just two free throws in the first half.

An example of the Kings’ daze: With three seconds left to get off a final shot before the buzzer, guard Othell Wilson casually walked the ball up court. Reynolds just stood at the sideline, pointing at his head. With his finger, not a gun.

Yes, Reynolds thought it would be different. He envisioned that the Kings, smarting from last week’s humiliation, would be stoked to extract some revenge.

“But I think the Lakers have a way of taking the emotion out of a game pretty quick,” Reynolds said. “It’s like with two boxers, one might be all fired up, but a couple of jabs in the face takes care of the emotion pretty quick.

“We were pretty punchy out there for a while.”

The Lakers were expecting more of a game, too.

“We expected them to be ready,” said forward A.C. Green, who had a strong 37 minutes--17 points and 9 rebounds.

“We knew we had to try to get them before they got us.”

Not everyone in the crowd of 10,333 found the Kings very funny, even if management had imported the Gorilla, mascot of the Suns, from Phoenix.

One angry fan held up a “Axe Axelson” sign, referring to team president Joe Axelson, then defiantly ripped into pieces when a security guard tried to take it away.

“What happened to freedom of speech?” asked Laker trainer Gary Vitti, while watching that scene.

And the fans took out most of their frustration on Derek Smith, the former Clipper guard, who made just 3 of 15 shots from the floor and was booed loudly.

“I’m not a good player, and they (the Kings) gave me a lot of money--that’s all they (the fans) know,” a downcast Smith said. “They don’t know me, they don’t care who I am, about the two knee operations I had, the way I can play.

“All they know is the Kings went out and got this kid who’s supposed to be a great player, and he’s obviously not doing a good job. It’s pretty frustrating, because I was a pretty good player at one time.”

Smith is also involved in a feud with star guard Reggie Theus, but he said that didn’t account for Tuesday’s breakdown.

“We’ve had a new coach for less than 24 hours,” Smith said. “Nobody knew what the hell was going on.”

The Lakers, of course, took advantage of the confusion. Byron Scott had 30 points and 9 rebounds, matching his season high. Kurt Rambis came off the bench and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Magic Johnson had 16 points and 13 assists, and James Worthy missed only three shots (10 of 13) to score 23 points and also blocked three shots.

“They haven’t had much time to work together at all,” said a sympathetic Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. “It’s not a very fluid situation and won’t be until they establish some kind of guidelines. That’s what they’re going against.”

Said Reynolds with a sigh: “I would have booed, too. I looked at my wife in the stands, and I think I saw her booing me.”