BoB said he was one of the people that was invited by PDA & Co to be at the conference.
FO disconnects:
#1) Their belief that Sacramento fans want a return to an up-tempo style of play.
WRONG!
Hey, genius - go ask any group of Sac fans why they liked that team. They will mention many things, and uptempo style of play will not be one of the top reasons. Main reason will be BECAUSE THEY WON A LOT!
Kings fans NEED a winning franchise. After being so long an NBA embarrassment, we (as a region) still have self-esteem issues. A winning team goes a LONG way to providing value to an area. How can PDA not know this, after witnessing first-hand how fast Sac came out and was supporting the team this season all over this region? We CAN'T go back to years of wallowing in losses. I warned everyone before it happened that the goodwill had been used up and Sac fans had lost their patience after the Lakers loss and that the FO was playing with fire - that was
before they fired Malone.
#2) From Grants rant and the follow-up show, he revealed that the FO was surprised by what he was saying (which of course was only what fans and people around the country had been saying). They likely jumped on him for expressing the points that everyone is saying.
This shows an EXTREME disconnect between the FO and the fanbase (and the general NBA environment).
What the hell is the FO doing, isolating themselves so much that they are SURPRISED when Grant publicly discusses the points that everyone (except the FO, apparently) is wondering about?!
How exactly does the FO operate? Do they only allow yes-men and sychophantic agreements within the organization? (From
what was revealed with previous firings (Abdur-Rahim) this seems to be the way they choose to operate)
#3) The FO has been loudly chasing Josh Smith, Derron Williams, and how many others who are horrible fits with the team and have little to offer anymore, and were paid a buttload of money. How could they be SO wrong to actually fire their coach (partially) over not wanting Josh Smith, when the rest of the league didn't even give up ANYthing for the guy? That reveals a level of FO disconnect that suggests they do..... not...... know..... basketball.
#4) Their repeated insistence that "they are smart".
Guys - hate to break it to you, but "being smart" is a dime a dozen and doesn;t get you anywhere in most places. There are many of us on this board (myself included) that have high IQ's, but I have never imagined to use that one statistical data point to lord it over anyone I encounter in a business setting. Could you imagine how laughably embarrassing (to me) that would be if we used that in everyday communication?
#5) Their inability to recognize that the Kings as constructed can not currently win with an up-tempo, open-court style of play. The only way they can win is by focusing on defense, rebounds, and inside play.
This is the most baffling disconnect of all, because this isn't theory. This has been PROVEN on the court this year! This doesn't take a big-brained, visionary to realize - this was just seen and proven this year!
Cousins is required for the Kings to be successful, and up-tempo is not him. They seem to believe they can (and should) win without him, which would be laughable if it wasn't so apparent to anyone who's watched the Kings the past 3 years (apparently the FO doesn;t watch the games like the rest of us do).
#6) The FO believes that Cousins' attitude (and being "on-board") is not vital to being a successful team. This is not theory - this has just been proven by Cousins not being with the FO decision or style of play. It's one thing to think you can fire your head coach who believes in a defensive style of basketball and instill another coach who's more conducive to your style - it's another to not care about your star (mercurial) player's buy-in on your decision is not important. They can't just swap out Cousins with an equitable star player who's more on board with the FO's plans. They are stuck with Cousins, and they apparently don't think he needs to feel respected for him to play well (and hard).
Wow, talk about a FO disconnect - it's like they haven;t watched a year of Cousins' play before....
#7) The FO seems to think the NBA is just shifting data points around, like some big videogame.
They have wantonly ignored one of the main causational factors for NBA success - the whole team buying into a concept, and killing themselves out on the floor every night and day to work together for that goal.
The Kings had that for 15 games, and we all saw what it could do, and (to quote VF21)- then the FO peed all over it.
The hubris that's required to think that the players are automatons who will play hard for anyone whenever we tell them to, reaches racial/classist levels of disconnect.
These NBA players are not typical employees who you can just force to work harder or you fire them, like in the sharktank business world. You can't put ultimatums out and pressure people into working harder. You need them to buy in and work together, fighting alongside them, for them to gel as a team and put the effort in it takes to win in the NBA. Better effort can beat better talent many times in the NBA, we've seen it night-in, night-out for decades - but the lesser talent has to all work together and want to win. But they can't just do it by back-court pressing. They do it by every guy playing harder than normal, and better than his average.
This FO has proven they are oblivious to that - completely.