'SNIT' HITS THE FANS FOLLOWERS OF KINGS BECOME FRUSTRATED.

Byline: Ramona Shelburne  Staff Writer

SACRAMENTO - It didn't take much to get Bob Tootle talking about his relationship with the Sacramento Kings.

Like most Sacramento fans, Tootle's love is unconditional. He bought season tickets with a group of friends when the Kings arrived in 1985 and suffered through 13 consecutive losing seasons without ever uttering a ``boo.''

``One time, we were at this game against the Celtics and the team is just getting killed. It's a terrible game, but the place is still going crazy,'' he said. ``I'm thinking to myself, 'People pay $40 for this?'

``But they were the best and only show in town. You had to literally yell into someone's ear standing right next to you in order to hear.''

Perhaps, though, Kings fans are growing up.

On March 9, franchise player Chris Webber, who missed the first 50 games of this season due to offseason knee surgery and eight more as a result of two league suspensions, was booed by fans at Arco Arena.

Two weeks later, it happened again against the Houston Rockets, when Webber missed four of 18 shots. Almost immediately, local sports-talk shows were flooded by callers ripping on their once beloved star.

These are the same fans who ask 11th and 12th men for autographs and cheer former players such as Tony Delk, John Barry and Corliss Williamson, fans who sold out Arco Arena for 497 consecutive games from 1985-97 even though the team went 359-625 (.365) during that span.

But the Kings reached at least the second round of the Western Conference playoffs the past three seasons, giving Sacramentans a taste of the national spotlight and aggrandized the city's sense of self-worth.

It seems as though notoriously softhearted Kings fans, whose team plays host to the Lakers today in a matchup critical in the conference playoff race, have finally come to expect postseason results.

``I think (the fans) are more critical of the team this season. Their expectations are higher because they've had such a good team the last few years,'' said Ailene Voisin, a columnist with the Sacramento Bee who has covered the Kings for six seasons.

``Three years of frustration, losing to the Lakers in the playoffs two years ago and Dallas last year, have built up here and it really has the whole city in a bit of an emotional snit.''

Comparatively speaking though, Sacramento's emotional snit is just another day in major media markets like Los Angeles.

At a recent Kings practice, there was one local newspaper reporter, one local radio producer and one local television reporter. At a typical Lakers practice, there is at least triple that number.

And while the Lakers routinely air out their internal grievances to the media at the same time they block out those distractions, the Kings have struggled to adjust.

Players have claimed they want more of the national spotlight but have noticeably shirked from it down the stretch as they lost their once-commanding lead in the Western Conference.

The Kings, who started 43-13 without an injured Webber and seemingly had a top-seeding and home-court advantage wrapped up throughout the postseason, have lost nine of their past 15 games - including a 101-96 defeat in Phoenix on Friday night - and could end up as low as fourth in the playoff seedings.

Webber has bristled at the harsh treatment from home fans, even threatening to ask for a trade if he continues to be booed at Arco Arena.

``You just got to respect the fans, they love this team. ... But (booing Webber) was kind of B.S. on their part,'' teammate Brad Miller said. ``I'd like to see a person in the stands come back after having done what he had done and try to play basketball. Most people that have that (surgery) done don't even do anything the rest of their life. They're limping around the rest of their lives. ... He's doing what he can do and he's getting better, and people have just got to realize that.''

But as the only major professional team in the city, there may be no way for the Kings to escape the fans' increasing frustration.

``I think they just want it so bad that when they lose two or three in a row, all of a sudden people are calling in talking about lottery picks,'' said Jason Ross, sports director for KHTK radio, the Kings' flagship station.

``People here have a passion for the Kings. They are by far our most popular call. Sometimes people get pretty riled up about the 49ers or Raiders in the fall, but during the winter, it's nothing like the Kings. ... And when they lose, the first two names mentioned on the postgame show are Webber and (coach) Rick Adelman.''

And then there's the pressure. Will the Kings fold again in the playoffs this year? In 2002, the Kings squandered a 3-2 lead over the Lakers in the Western Conference finals, and some say the city has yet to recover.

``When they lost to the Lakers two years ago, the whole city was just gloom and doom for three or four days,'' Ross said. ``People were devastated. ... They just want it so bad this year and are starting to understand that even if the Kings pull out the Western Conference title, their success this year will be judged by what happens during the playoffs in May and June.''

Ramona Shelburne, [phone]

ramona.shelburne(at)dailynews.com

LAKERS at SACRAMENTO

Tipoff: 12:30 p.m.

TV/Radio: Ch.7; 570-AM, 1330-AM (Spanish).

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Fans of the Kings have always been loyal, but their patience is being tested by the team's recent slump.

Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press

(2) Chris Webber has threatened to seek a trade if he continues to be booed by fans at Arco Arena, where the Kings will go against the Lakers today in a West showdown.

Chris Carlson/Associated Press