An NBA team is a lot like a fine automobile.

You have the point guard who acts like an engine, running everything. Then there’s the shooting guard and small forward who are sleek and smooth, like the body of the car.

You have the power forward who is dependable and takes a pounding down low, similar to a car’s tires. And then you have the center, who is much like the steel infrastructure of the auto; powerful and made for defense. Together, when all those pieces fit correctly, it can be pure enjoyment. But even with the finest car in the land, there is still one final piece to the puzzle that’s needed: the right driver to operate it.

In today’s NBA, a team’s coaching staff can be the difference between being good and being a champion, which is why those in the Kings organization know that their car is in the perfect hands.

The Kings’ coaching staff of Rick Adelman, John Wetzel, Pete Carril, and Elston Turner is one of the most experienced and most cohesive units in the NBA. Besides having a history together, they actually enjoy each others company, something that is evident by watching them work. Their results speak for themselves; three consecutive winning seasons, three consecutive playoff runs, and an appearance in last season’s All-Star Game.

“We’re very cohesive, there’s a lot of different ideals which come to the table,” said Turner, who is the youngest member of the staff. “I’ve always had the idea that if the coach and all of his assistants always agree, then his assistants are pretty much useless. We have different ideals, but we just iron things out. Everybody here likes everybody.”

Unlike most teams, the Kings’ assistant coaches don’t have specific roles that they are limited to performing. Each member of the staff has a hand in most aspects of the team, with the final decisions coming from Coach Adelman.

They all have different personalities that make them unique, but also make them function well as a unit. Together they form one of the best coaching staffs the franchise has ever had.


The General
There really isn’t any type of situation Rick Adelman hasn’t seen or been in during his basketball career.

Seven seasons in the NBA as a player, twelve seasons as a head coach (four with Sacramento), 500-plus career NBA victories, and two appearances in the NBA finals can give you that kind of knowledge. It’s what helps Adelman guide the Kings.

As the 19th head coach in the history of the franchise, Adelman has helped revive a team that used to be one of the worst in the league. He has taken a squad that was once just considered young with potential and molded it into a championship contender, one that ranks up there with the likes of other NBA elite.

Surrounded by a coaching staff that he knows he can count on, Adelman is the equivalent to a five-star general that must make battlefield decisions with the counsel of his top commanders. Who to play, what plays to call in key situations, who should be in the rotation-are all decisions that Adelman makes in the heat of the moment.

Adelman received the IBM Coach of the Month award for January photo courtesy of Rocky Widner/ NBAE/Getty Images

“We’ll toss in advice and ideas,” said Turner, “And Rick takes it all together and makes the final decision. It usually works out right”

As the head coach, Adelman is the person who will take the heat when things go wrong. He is the one who has to face the media after a tough loss and explain the thinking behind his moves. He’s also most likely to be the first to get blamed if the team does not succeed, which was the case during his other head coaching stints in Portland and Golden State.

But while being the head coach of a sports team can be a thankless job sometimes, it can also be one of the most rewarding.

When Adelman recorded his milestone 500th win in December against the Orlando Magic at ARCO, he was given a special postgame ceremony at midcourt, then presented with a gold Rolex in the Kings’ locker room by Joe and Gavin Maloof.

“It’s something you don’t think about too much,” said Adelman. “What it means is I’ve been fortunate to have had really good players in two different situations (Portland and Sacramento). They’re so similar because I have great people around in me in both places.”

Adelman is known around the league as a basketball teacher with an ability to mold the team’s style of play around the strengths of the players. He was hired after the Kings drafted Jason Williams and traded for Chris Webber, and immediately recognized the potential the team had, opening up the offense to use the weapons to his advantage. As the roster has changed ever so slightly over the past four years, so has Adelman’s style of play, in an effort to better equip the team for the playoffs.

His ability to adapt is one of the reasons that he may one-day become the all-time winningest head coach in Kings franchise history.


The Right-Hand Man
John Wetzel has seen every single win.

From the first victory in Portland in 1988 to the 500th against Orlando, Wetzel has been right there besides Adelman every game, giving advice and helping make tough decisions.

Wetzel has been alongside Rick Adelman for every game photo courtesy of Rocky Widner/ NBAE/Getty Images

A former coach of the Phoenix Suns during the early 80’s, Wetzel is an NBA veteran of 29 years, both as a coach and a player, and is one of the most respected assistants around.

“He was the first one I wanted when I was hired here,” said Adelman in a recent Sacramento Bee interview. “To me, he’s the best assistant in the league. He has terrific experience and knowledge of the game, and he’s loyal. So many assistant coaches promote themselves, want to be head coaches. John isn’t like that. He loves his role.”

As is the case with all of the Kings’ assistant coaches, ‘Wetz’ does a bit of everything. He coordinates advance scouting so that the Kings will always have an up-to-date report on their next opponent, which Wetzel will break down before the teams play. Like the other coaches, he also works individually with players before and after practice, making sure that mechanics and other issues are worked out before games.

One of Wetzel’s other main duties is to walk the team through an opponent’s offensive and defensive sets during the morning shootaround before a game, familiarizing the Kings on the style of play their opponent will use that night. Wetzel is responsible for the Pacific and Eastern Division teams, while Coach Turner takes the Midwest and Central Divisions.


The Former Defensive Stopper
Elston Turner is the youngest coach on the staff at 42, and is the most recent to have played in the NBA, which is helpful in forming a bond with today’s players in that he can relate to many issues that they face.

Turner is the youngest member of the staff photo courtesy of Rocky Widner/ NBAE/Getty Images

Turner played eight NBA seasons from 1981 though 1988, and was noted for his defensive tenacity, a quality that he’s been able to pass on to the Kings.

After retiring from the league and playing some in Europe, he joined the Trail Blazers organization as a scout for four years before coming to Sacramento. His current responsibilities are similar to Wetzel’s in that he breaks down film of opponents so that he can show the team their tendencies, specifically teams from the Midwest and Central conferences.

But like the rest of the coaches, Turner doesn’t limit himself to one area of coaching.

“Other teams have one guy responsible for a whole area. I kind of oversee the defense when I’m watching film and tapes, I monitor it and always look at defensive situations, but when it comes to implementing something, everybody has a say .”


The Offensive Guru
Pete Carril is perhaps one of the most recognizable names in all of basketball, let alone the Kings coaching staff. Many know him primarily from his days at Princeton, where he left as the winningest coach in Ivy League history. But Carril has made his mark in the NBA also.

Pete Carril reminsces with former-King Corliss Williamson photo courtesy of Rocky Widner/ NBAE/Getty Images

Pete joined the Kings six seasons ago, reuniting with his former player and current Kings President of Basketball Operations, Geoff Petrie, and immediately made an impact on the style of basketball that the Kings play. A master of the back-door cut, many of the Kings half-court sets have Pete Carril’s handiwork written all over them.

Carril spends a lot of time looking at the Kings offense, trying to find ways to tweek it here and there so that opposing defenses won’t know what’s coming. He also stays late after practice working with younger players, such as Hedo Turkoglu, giving them pointers so that they have a better grasp of the Kings’ offense.

“I spend a lot of time with individuals and give some offensive thoughts to Rick, which he takes or rejects,” said Carril, laughing. “Really, I just to try to throw in whatever I can.”

In a testament to his coaching background and the level of expertise the Kings staff has as a whole, Carril was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997.


The Unit
Adelman, Wetzel, Turner, and Carril; four men who hold the reigns to the Kings in their capable hands. As the team continues to play well, these four coaches will remain behind the wheel, continuing to take Sacramento fans on a trip to places they’ve never been before. How far will this year’s journey go? Who knows, but with this coaching staff at the controls, all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.