ESPN says Kings have decided to KEEP George Karl

this outta be good or nauseating take your pick
Reeks of damage control, which has been about 90% of Vlade's job so far. IF however, he was the one that talked Vivek into keeping Karl then he's got to take some of the blame.

That being said, it wouldn't surprise me if the Kings minority owners threw up a stink about potentially hiring another high profile coach (high cost) and Vlade knew it was either Karl or some coach they would get on the cheap.
 
Before this season started, I truly felt this team was finally going to turn the corner.

Talk about the ultimate bait and switch.

Anyone else feel completely sick committing to season tickets...

$126k over the next 3 seasons of this? I feel I literally could die right now.
Roll call... yep - right here. sick inside over it. So glad I did not buy the 3-5 year club seat contract. I'd feel pretty betrayed if I was in the club deal. I did pony up for a second pair - speculatively... and that turns out to be a blunder but lucky just a one-year $4K blunder.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
But now ask yourself did the front office ever say anything of the sort? See, that's the thing here: if you actually trace all this back we've got a lot of local media speculating, but almost no player or front office quotes to back it up. Which BTW does not mean they weren't thinking it. Just means we've got speculation and then "sources" rather than the front office intentionally smearing egg on its own face.
Kings' announcers were speculating (or being told more like it). I think those guys know more than anyone on this board about what is going on within the team. The evidence comports with notion that the Kings FO were on the razors edge of firing Karl, not that the media didn't know what was going on. The FO looks likes fools.
 
I talk the way Karl does and it is because I take many dehydrating meds and have a bridge. It takes awhile to get everything lubricated well enough to talk. The problem with it that an NBA coach dealing with incredible athletes needs to project a better image. I hope this all means he will further delegate. I hope the pace thing is shelved for the most part. We have great athletes being run into the ground.

I didn't see us coming out of this well no matter what was decided about the last 30 games. Perhaps showing support of a coach for once will make it easier to hire future coaches. I realize the coaches who lost their jobs were not of high caliber but I can see a Thibs for example thinking "this is the organization that has had 8 coaches in the the years since Adelman and, if Karl were fired right now, 4 coaches in the last year."

The latter of course is speculation.
I have a bad feeling the pace things won't change. Karl's agent just issued a statement that basically said "If you just let Karl do it Karl's way then everyone will be happy."

Well, we've had a year of that and we now know better.
 
If there was ever a time to fire our coach, this was it. You would think we would succeed at that, given our "fire our coach" mentality in recent years, but alas we have inexplicably decided to suck at the one thing we have been the best at.

The show goes on. Serves me right for buying league pass and expecting good things. I won't make that mistake twice, well for league pass anyway as I've been expecting good things now for 10 years and have been disappointed each year, though in amazingly different fashions.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
So, the conversation between Karl and Divac was shorter than the time it probably took Spears to write his tweet? What could Karl have possibly said in between pauses in eating his philly cheesesteak?
Nothing.

I would imagine that was much closer to Vlade calling Karl to tell him what the verdict was from the front office meeting over his fate.
 
If Vivek really wanted Karl gone he could pony up and cover his salary without obligating the minority owners. $10 million is like $10,000 to you or me.

It is also unreasonable to think Karl would agree to 50% or 70% or even 90% guaranteed contract (buyout). If Vlade/Vivek had this expectation he would go away for less than contractually due they are fooling themselves. If I am Karl and being forced out I will be collecting every last penny I am owed. I will not make it easy on them.

Any statement leaked regarding pending firing that did not factor in these issues reflects upon how this organization is being run: (1) you already know the minority owners are going push back on paying a third head coach so you better have contingency in place (2) Karl expects to be paid in full.
 
Roll call... yep - right here. sick inside over it. So glad I did not buy the 3-5 year club seat contract. I'd feel pretty betrayed if I was in the club deal. I did pony up for a second pair - speculatively... and that turns out to be a blunder but lucky just a one-year $4K blunder.
I'm reaching out to my account executive right now for Vivek's direct contact info. He sure as hell didn't have a hard time calling and soliciting us. I'm sure I'll only get an assistant's assistant, I don't really care at this point. Someone in this front office is getting an earful.
 

funkykingston

Super Moderator
Staff member
Stepping back a bit and looking at it I can absolutely see Vlade's rationale.

Even if the Kings improved play under Corliss (if indeed he would be the interim coach) it's very unlikely that Big Nasty is the guy going forward. There's a very miniscule chance that Corliss could be a fantastic upgrade and earn the job but more likely Vlade would be looking for a long term replacement in the summer.

Even if Corliss were good he wouldn't get consideration. He'd have to be flat out great. Because Divac knows his job and his legacy are tied to getting things right and hiring a first time coach after a 30 game stint is a huge risk.

So he lets Karl finish the year. There's a small chance that GK can make enough adjustments to turn things around and have things looking good for next season.. Small chance, but greater than the chance of Williamson being the savior. If Karl could somehow pull that off, then you've potentially got a way to move forward with some continuity. If not, then you're still doing the same coaching search over the summer that you would be anyway.

Do I think Karl can pull that off? Nope. Not at all. I think he's too set in his ways and too stubborn to do so even though he has the acumen or at least had it at one time.

But it makes more sense to let him try than yet another firing and hoping another interim coach can make things better instead of worse.

Sheesh.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Absolutely unreal.

I've been on the side of "not everything Karl's fault" for awhile now, but we simply could not have handled this worse. A bunch of leaks everywhere about Karl being on the way out, the team obviously quitting on him the past couple weeks with no effort. He didn't deserve it, but he should have been gone with the way everything has gone down in recent weeks.

Btw, nobody can say anymore that Karl isn't Vlade's coach. He's lost the "Well he didn't hire him" excuse now.
Totally disagree on your last sentence. Vlade didn't hire him, and right now, he's trying to make the best out of a lousy situation, which for the most part is impossible, unless god steps in and used a miracle to turn the team around. Vlade is probably trying to choose the lesser of two evils. One is to let Karl finish the season, and then fire him. The other is to fire him now, and install Corliss as the interim coach. Which is a disservice to Corliss, and could put Vlade in a very uncomfortable situation at the end of the season if the team suddenly plays much better under Corliss. Do I relieve him, or do I sign him to a long term contract based on a very small sampling of evidence. I'm sure that Vlade has a better read on this team than we do. He see's it up close and personal. He can talk to the players who seem to trust Vlade.

Does anyone think that this team is suddenly going to turn things around because we fire Karl? What evidence is there to support that? Should Vlade make his decisions by holding his finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing. If your going to make decisions on what's popular at the moment, then you don't need a GM. Let's just take a vote once a month and see what we should do. I'm not saying that Vlade is right. I don't think there is a right answer right now. I agree, not having to listen to Karl after a game would be a blessing. Not seeing a bunch of midgets on the floor on a regular basis would be a gift from heaven. I do think Karl is gone, it's just a matter of when. Maybe holding our nose till the end of the season is the best way to go. Either way, my guess is that the results of the team will be the same. Unfortunately!
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
It doesn't matter whether the leaks came from the FO or were legitimate in the first place. Regardless, the FO should have put an end it days, if not weeks, ago. But no, the info/rumors kept coming out and nobody stepped up to squash it until now. It's heads you lose, tails you lose for this FO.
 
Just finished listening to Amick and Lowe. Amick specifically states this does not mean Karl was given the OK to coach the rest of the season. This story unfortunately still has many chapters yet to be written.
 
They have guaranteed an unsuccessful outcome now.
Here are the possible outcomes:

a) Karl continues to coach, they continue to suck - Kings stupidly keep him and his hopelessly-flawed systems, maybe even trade Demarcus for promising hopes, and everything is crushed.
b) Same thing, except the Kings have to find a good coach during the offseason, but whoa ! - now no good coach will come here because of how horrible Sac looks, after the confirmation this year of all the outrageous stupidity of last year's coaching debacles.
c) They fire Karl, Corliss (or any interim) takes over and they start winning some - next season they look for a good coach and again, the same problem.
d) They fire Karl, interim takes over and they continue losing - next season, no established coach would dare think of coming here.
(oh - I forgot an option)
e) They keep Karl, just to fire him later this year - woohoo! Now it's impossible for you to look good!

As I predicted months ago, they've written themselves into a corner, with no margin for error, and now today they've killed all their chances of getting better.

Congrats, Kings! I really didn't think you would **** this up so badly, but you have somehow screwed up the nigh-guaranteed-success that a new stadium should have brought.
 
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If you want to hear honest breakdowns of the Karl situation, don't listen to KHTK. All it is today is Nate bashing Demarcus and trying to sound intelligent, and JRoss agreeing.

Thankful today I can at least see some intelligence here on these boards. Lord knows there's none to be found in Kings land or on KHTK (morning show excluded).