We are stumbling out of the gate and at one point it looked like we were coming out gracefully. Whatta mess. This is not good leadership. Whose job was it to have another coach lined up? Or did anyone even think to have another coach lined up?
It's time to fix the organization and to stop patting one's self on the back. There's a basketball team to be run.
I think what galls me most is that there's this palpable hubris about the entire debacle. I just have this sense of Ranadive and D'Alessandro sitting back and thinking that the Kings fans are only upset because they lack the vision to see their grand design. And you already have the GM crafting the narrative that all these other moves that fans were against are bearing fruit which is just bizarre since his examples (extending Cousins, extending Gay) were largely lauded or met with cautious optimism. The fans that were outright against those moves were absolutely in the minority. The fans upset by the firing of Malone are the overwhelming majority.
This season is now a total loss. And I say that not to be over dramatic. There is of course a very good chance that the team (even with Cousins back) plays worse under Corbin than Malone. That would make this season a loss. But the other side of the coin is that the team improves under Corbin and then a new coach takes over next season putting everything back to square one making the season a loss anyway. The only other reasonable option I see is that Tyrone Corbin improves the team AND is the guy going forward. I like Corbin a lot but how many people would put money on that scenario?
I'm frankly tired of beating the "we're not Golden State" drum but one last time just for kicks here goes:
HEY PETE - do you actually understand why the Dubs firing Jackson and going with Kerr worked out so well? Well, as I already stated it was in part because they fired Jackson after the season. It gave Kerr the offseason to assemble a staff and training camp to install his system but it also didn't create the hugely disruptive event of firing a coach DURING the season. Again, that's a tactic for complete losing teams not super global, positionless, NBA 3.0 teams of the future.
But more than that it was because the Warriors players already experienced success. They were a playoff squad that had learned what it took to win in the postseason and prepared to move into the upper echelon. That team needed a few tweaks to be a true contender. This Kings team needs to learn how to win. How to close out games. And most of all how to trust each other. Hard to do when everything gets blown up and the coach you respect gets swept aside because despite winning more games than anyone expected, it wasn't done in a flashy enough style.
And finally it worked because Steve Kerr was the right guy. Great communicator, tough as nails but also open, honest and focused with resolve as well as humility. Anyone think Chris Mullin is the next Steve Kerr? Personally I think Nik Stauskas right now is closer to being Klay Thompson than Mullin is to being the next coaching darling.
Vivek wants to tell us D'Alessandro is the smartest guy in the room and the chess player that can see four moves ahead.
Right now I'm seeing four seasons ahead, when the Kings go into complete rebuilding mode yet again.
