Malone fired

[John Galt]

Larry David you're one of the most thoughful posters on here and I really like reading what you have to say. But are you saying that the best course of action is to make the best of it with Corbin (even if that means limping to a slightly under 500'ish record)? It's gonna kill Vivek at the box office unless the team kicks serious ass on the court and I mean a real battle for the 8 seed.

What do you think they should do right now - if you were the GM (and I for one think you'd make just as good a GM as Brick).

For me, I actually would like PDA gone - not because he signed Landry, let Tyreke go, or let IT go... but because he is a douche who, as Cuz15 has put it - has the head coaching job here completely undesirable. But if PDA is staying, what should he do now?

 

[funkykingston]

If I were D'Alessandro I'd hire Karl and hope for the best.

If I were Vivek I would have told D'Alessandro that Malone was going to finish the year and then we'd reevaluate.

I understand the world and the mindset that Ranadive is coming from, but this isn't an instance of being ahead of the curve and shifting before anyone else. It's just making a mistake in an industry that you don't understand very well.

Sacramento has never been a franchise that star players would force their way to or sign with in free agency. And barring that, the only way to build a contending team is to get lucky in the draft, let that guy or guys develop, get the right pieces and the right coaching staff around them and let it gel. It is not about rapid changes, it's about being patient and letting something build.

 

[Larry David]

I have no idea. But I'm worried about a bad fix.

Sucks for fans. Sucks for players.

But unless Vivek wants to cement himself as a punchline, he can't fire the next guy he hires to coach for a while. If Karl is hired now and his is shot and has suddenly become a full blown retread chasing a wins record with poor health and energy, that's your coach for at least another 2 and 1/2 seasons. Or crappy Mark Jackson. Or mediocre Vinny. Realistically, Vivek won't be in a spot to fire the new coach at the end of next season ... not with any expectation that any coach of quality will work for the Kings. The next coach probably can't be fired until summer of 2017.

Unless they can make a quality hire now, mediocrity with Corbin ... and I'm thinking more like .425 ball, is might actually be best. And that really sucks.

.500 ball would probably be worse. Because PDA would asset he was vindicated and stay longer.

 

[Glenn]

Dealing with humans is different than dealing with computer code. Code won't talk back and actually mistakes can be made and no one would know. Vivek is not used to working in a situation where what he does will be scrutinized and, gasp, maybe even criticized.

 

[Bricklayer]

So it's pretty horrible that the Kings made this move: after we opened training camp; but so early into the season with a thought process that was essentially "should Malone be our coach going forward?" without giving enough concern to "of everybody available right now, including Malone, who would be best to coach most of this season?"

Because they screwed up and botched the firing that way, you would expect that the Kings would finish most of this season with Corbin, who is an inferior coach to Malone. But, because Corbin stinks, some players may be pissed, losing teams return to bad habits regression is a big issue. Because the Kings are talking to coaches and won't give more than a present tense backing of Corbin, there is a real risk some players check out for a while if things get ugly. the team is taking a ton of heat for good reason and last night's loss to a depleted Bucks team playing on a back to back hurt on the public perception of the front office and owner.

The next 8 games are
Lakers
@ Warriors
Suns
Knicks
@Nets
@Celtics
@ Twovles
@ Pistons

Then the Kings have a 6 game home stand.

The 6 games in bold are very winnable. The Kings go 4-4, things will calm down, and Corbin should be able to make at least the all-star game.

But, if thing go badly like 2-6 or perhaps even 3-5 but dropping 3 out of 4 on the road trip with some dispirited play ... I just can't see how somebody else isn't coach the team on January 7 (Thunder again.)

And for everybody pounding it better be somebody other than Corbin ASAP button ... what if the choices are green Mullin without good assistants, Vinny, Mark Jackson, and the team is legitimately concerned that Karl's health may make him a shell of his former self (like Adleman's last few TWolves seasons.) Corbin sucks and the team screwed up, but other candidates will be available this summer.

Are we sure that we want PDA to make a panic hire in early January if it ends up being crummy and he isn't going to fire his third coach when things go bad because he's effectively signing his own pink slip at the end of that year? That sounds fine if you don't want Corbin and want PDA to go ... but how you get there means the Kings will be starting totally over.

I have no idea. But I'm worried about a bad fix.

Sucks for fans. Sucks for players.

But unless Vivek wants to cement himself as a punchline, he can't fire the next guy he hires to coach for a while. If Karl is hired now and his is shot and has suddenly become a full blown retread chasing a wins record with poor health and energy, that's your coach for at least another 2 and 1/2 seasons. Or crappy Mark Jackson. Or mediocre Vinny. Realistically, Vivek won't be in a spot to fire the new coach at the end of next season ... not with any expectation that any coach of quality will work for the Kings. The next coach probably can't be fired until summer of 2017.

Unless they can make a quality hire now, mediocrity with Corbin ... and I'm thinking more like .425 ball, is might actually be best. And that really sucks.

.500 ball would probably be worse. Because PDA would asset he was vindicated and stay longer.

actually I am all for forcing them into a disastrous panic hire, and then watch the collars tighten. Works for me. I try to be nice to animals in the wild, but if a rodent takes up residence with me, I will exterminate it with prejudice. My fear for this franchise isn't the next coach, its a ship of fools being allowed to run on hurting us year after year and never letting us become what we should. I'll give up something in the short term to free us from the longterm consequences of that situation.

BTW, most of the coaches being mentioned aren't actual disasters -- we haven't had a winning record in 9 years. ANY coach who can get us to .500 or better is a step up. The danger is the front office. They are the ones who can **** up the roster. They are the ones who can meddle with the coaches, playing style, just generally ruin everything. They are the ones that need to go.

 

[swisshh]

I have no idea. But I'm worried about a bad fix.

Sucks for fans. Sucks for players.

But unless Vivek wants to cement himself as a punchline, he can't fire the next guy he hires to coach for a while. If Karl is hired now and his is shot and has suddenly become a full blown retread chasing a wins record with poor health and energy, that's your coach for at least another 2 and 1/2 seasons. Or crappy Mark Jackson. Or mediocre Vinny. Realistically, Vivek won't be in a spot to fire the new coach at the end of next season ... not with any expectation that any coach of quality will work for the Kings. The next coach probably can't be fired until summer of 2017.

Unless they can make a quality hire now, mediocrity with Corbin ... and I'm thinking more like .425 ball, is might actually be best. And that really sucks.

.500 ball would probably be worse. Because PDA would asset he was vindicated and stay longer.

I disagree in that I think Vivek is willing to fire the next guy he hires within 1-2 seasons.

Which is why the best move is hiring Karl. Even if it fails, it fails at a high level that causes the ownership and management to reconsider their ideas. Maybe even clean house.

 

[randymoss1881]

If we are firing the next guy we may as well enjoy cousins cause he will be leaving and gay will have opted out and left too.

I disagree in that I think Vivek is willing to fire the next guy he hires within 1-2 seasons.

Which is why the best move is hiring Karl. Even if it fails, it fails at a high level that causes the ownership and management to reconsider their ideas. Maybe even clean house.

 

[Glenn]

actually I am all for forcing them into a disastrous panic hire, and then watch the collars tighten. Works for me. I try to be nice to animals in the wild, but if a rodent takes up residence with me, I will exterminate it with prejudice. My fear for this franchise isn't the next coach, its a ship of fools being allowed to run on hurting us year after year and never letting us become what we should. I'll give up something in the short term to free us from the longterm consequences of that situation.

BTW, most of the coaches being mentioned aren't actual disasters -- we haven't had a winning record in 9 years. ANY coach who can get us to .500 or better is a step up. The danger is the front office. They are the ones who can **** up the roster. They are the ones who can meddle with the coaches, playing style, just generally ruin everything. They are the ones that need to go.

I am reacting as if we lost the team to Seattle. Not as strong but something like that. What I bolded in your note is the reason why.

I'm too old for this crap.

 

[rainmaker]

Now that I think of it, I've never heard of a FO interviewing a possible replacement coach in the arena, after a game with their current coach just having wrapped up a game.

That's exactly what PDA and Mullin did with Mark Jackson. Corbin had barely finished his first game as head coach for us and how do they respond after saying Ty will get every chance to succeed? They go with Cuz, into a back office and interview Jackson for close to two hours. Didn't even attempt to hide it with he and Mullin walking arm in arm.

Anyone ever head of anything like that happening before? In all the coaches I've seen hired and fired, I've never heard of or seen job interviews going on in the arena after a game, even if it was more of a "would you be interested" discussion. JVG has a policy to not communicate with FOs while a coach is in place. Disrespectful to the current coach no matter the situation.

Really, it seems our FO and owner haven't thought anything through. Nothing at all. Just don't even consider that actions have consequences.

 

[Livinthedream]

When has someone been fired for not being jazzy? Lots of firsts going on.

 

[swisshh]

If we are firing the next guy we may as well enjoy cousins cause he will be leaving and gay will have opted out and left too.

That is a scenario that happens if the next guy is a failure. It's really a scenario that started once they fired Malone. Now they have to find their way out of avoiding that total doom outcome.

 

[Gilles]

That is a scenario that happens if the next guy is a failure. It's really a scenario that started once they fired Malone. Now they have to find their way out of avoiding that total doom outcome.

Another 6th man statue?

 

[macadocious]

Yeah but the encouraging thing to me is that inside Dave has been beating the drum on twitter about George Karl. So maybe they really will get that done.

I'm currently feeling out my season ticket partners for their feelings about renewing. I have perfect seats in the current arena, pretty decent priority for the new arena, and I'm hoping to get my partners' blessing to just forget the whole thing - will just buy tickets a game at a time from desperate scalpers instead. That is, unless they hire George Karl or Rick Adelman before the deadline for that decision comes up. One of the partners has indicated a thumbs down (agrees with abandoning the tix) ... I'm really interested to see if either of the other two say "no - wait - don't - they must have a wonderful plan".

I don't think I'm the only STH who feels this way - not by a long shot. That's how bad I think Pete D'Allesandro has peed all over my team with this firing. Just not gonna write a $10K check to this freaking bunch of clowns. Not gonna. And not that my personal membership matters that much, but I think Vivek is going to realize pretty soon if he hasn't already, that he has been advised to make a colossal blunder here in basketball AND PR terms. If he was planning on pricey PSL's for the best seats, well lotsa luck with that now V. And maybe he will fire the gerbil over it.

Bottom line he has got to hire George Karl or Rick Adelman to make this go away. A season of interim Ty Corbin is going to cost him good will and real money.

You know where my tickets are, I have not talked to the guys, but I feel the same way right now.

 

[macadocious]

When has someone been fired for not being jazzy? Lots of firsts going on.

Tyrone Corbin, last year. He will be fired twice for lack of Jazziness.

 

[Chubbs]

Tyrone Corbin, last year. He will be fired twice for lack of Jazziness.

John Tesh, fired for lack of jazziness. 1992.

And if you haven't seen this, well, you are in for a treat. Stick with it. There's air dribbling. And jazz hands.

 

[VF21]

Jason Jones delivering the most true statements of anyone right now. People like Napear and Carmichael Dave want to try to talk fans into this being good and trusting the guys in charge. No thanks

Jason Jones is probably giddy with excitement over the Malone firing. He's a Laker fan at heart. Just sayin'

 

[Hansel]

My two cents about Malone firing.
First of all, I'm really disappointed for him, he didn't deserve it at all.
But, at the end, I think it was the right choice. Bad timing, but right choice.
You can't run successfully a franchise with GM and coach with different basketball ideas.
D'Alessandro or Malone had to go, Vivek (I suppose) chose the gm.
It was a huge mistake by Vivek to hire a coach first and then the gm.
Even if I think Malone is a great coach, D'Alessandro deserve some respect cause he's doing a great job as well.
Unfortunately one has to go. Bad timing I repeat, but it's better to do it now than later.

 

[Spike]

My two cents about Malone firing.
First of all, I'm really disappointed for him, he didn't deserve it at all.
But, at the end, I think it was the right choice. Bad timing, but right choice.
You can't run successfully a franchise with GM and coach with different basketball ideas.
D'Alessandro or Malone had to go, Vivek (I suppose) chose the gm.
It was a huge mistake by Vivek to hire a coach first and then the gm.
Even if I think Malone is a great coach, D'Alessandro deserve some respect cause he's doing a great job as well.
Unfortunately one has to go. Bad timing I repeat, but it's better to do it now than later.

But in basketball, it really isn't better to do it now. Not unless you have a permanent replacement lined up. Not if you're asking a team to make a change in style, mid-season, without the benefit of training camp.

It's not being a visionary. It's madness.

 

[Larry89]

I still can't believe this ever happened.

 

[funkykingston]

I still can't believe this ever happened.

Definitely. I click to Kings Rap and see a thread titled "Malone fired" and there's this weird Groundhog's Day-esque split second where I go, "Wait WHAT?!?" before I remember that it actually happened. It's weird.

 

[ESP47]

I think it's funny that were still talking about winnable games coming up and all that. Folks, it's over. Season is done. The front office put the kabosh on our playoff chances and .500 chances. Aside from a possible Karl hire, there's zero chance this team has any success this year. You can see it on Cousins face and that right there is the writing on the wall because if the big man isn't in it 100%, this team doesn't have a snowballs chance in hell.

 

[Kingston Jamaica]

I find it difficult to believe that Malone was fired without knowing exactly who the ownership and FO wanted to replace him now. If the given reason was the need of change of style, it looks utterly strange that the assistant coach continues.

 

[Chubbs]

I find it difficult to believe that Malone was fired without knowing exactly who the ownership and FO wanted to replace him now. If the given reason was the need of change of style, it looks utterly strange that the assistant coach continues.

Ya think?

And then the only rumor right now is that they are looking to hire Malone's former boss.

Is this real life?

 

[Spike]

Ya think?

And then the only rumor right now is that they are looking to hire Malone's former boss.

Is this real life?

 

[kupman]

I must say that I am surprised that this thread is still blowing up and posters are really this upset. It is now more the 2K posts of venom. Not a single person knows that this was a bad move. Posters only "think" that it was a bad move. It will be at least a year before we know the outcome of this move. If the team falls apart over the next 1-3 years or makes no progress, I could understand the upset at that point. Additionally, I find it highly unfair to Vivek and the FO to be so critical when the outcome is still TBD. For all that they have done for us in such a short time I think that they at least deserve a little bit of patience of the part of the fanbase as we wait and see the outcome.

 

[Glenn]

I find it difficult to believe that Malone was fired without knowing exactly who the ownership and FO wanted to replace him now. If the given reason was the need of change of style, it looks utterly strange that the assistant coach continues.

They had Corbin as a fall back. It's not that bothersome to me. It creates a problem for the team, I presume.

 

[sdballer]

I must say that I am surprised that this thread is still blowing up and posters are really this upset. It is now more the 2K posts of venom. Not a single person knows that this was a bad move. Posters only "think" that it was a bad move. It will be at least a year before we know the outcome of this move. If the team falls apart over the next 1-3 years or makes no progress, I could understand the upset at that point. Additionally, I find it highly unfair to Vivek and the FO to be so critical when the outcome is still TBD. For all that they have done for us in such a short time I think that they at least deserve a little bit of patience of the part of the fanbase as we wait and see the outcome.

By that logic, every outcome is still tbd so we should always wait. Let's give them 1-3 more years!!!

 

[randymoss1881]

I must say that I am surprised that this thread is still blowing up and posters are really this upset. It is now more the 2K posts of venom. Not a single person knows that this was a bad move. Posters only "think" that it was a bad move. It will be at least a year before we know the outcome of this move. If the team falls apart over the next 1-3 years or makes no progress, I could understand the upset at that point. Additionally, I find it highly unfair to Vivek and the FO to be so critical when the outcome is still TBD. For all that they have done for us in such a short time I think that they at least deserve a little bit of patience of the part of the fanbase as we wait and see the outcome.

It was a bad move unless Pop walls through that door. What kind of idiot just throws a season away which we did for no reason. Listen and look at the players they are dumbfounded at this move. DMC even played a rap on his Instagram calling this a sinking ship. We were on out way to 40-46 wins and building a great foundation and you tear it down for what. Even of we get Karl you think Gay won't remember being tricked into signing a contract. Do you think a player who doesn't trust everybody like DMC won't remember not being talked about firing his favorite coach than have the PR team lie to the media that he knew. I mean damn dude thinks it's his fault malone got fired. Guys arnt gonna forget this.

 

[rainmaker]

I must say that I am surprised that this thread is still blowing up and posters are really this upset. It is now more the 2K posts of venom. Not a single person knows that this was a bad move.

Yes we do, as does the rest of the NBA. When the large majority of Kings fans, Kings media and the national media at large all tend to agree it was a bad move, there's more than likely something to it. From fans to players to coaches to analysts, the response has been negative.

That's different than can we recover going forward. Maybe we will, maybe the worst is yet to come. But talking "what ifs" 1-3 years from now is deflection from the issue at hand and has nothing to do with this season.

 

[dude12]

I must say that I am surprised that this thread is still blowing up and posters are really this upset. It is now more the 2K posts of venom. Not a single person knows that this was a bad move. Posters only "think" that it was a bad move. It will be at least a year before we know the outcome of this move. If the team falls apart over the next 1-3 years or makes no progress, I could understand the upset at that point. Additionally, I find it highly unfair to Vivek and the FO to be so critical when the outcome is still TBD. For all that they have done for us in such a short time I think that they at least deserve a little bit of patience of the part of the fanbase as we wait and see the outcome.

There is a big difference of firing Malone in the off-season and firing Malone 24 games into the season. The players are disheartened. They may be able to pull it together and right the ship but why did the FO have to do this? They really ****ed this up on so many fronts.