I am kind of surprised. A month ago I thought there was no way Joerger would be gone before his last contractual year but the odds went up as the Kings bumbled their way though the final third of the season.
I had come to the firm conviction that while Joerger is a good coach...he isn’t a great coach and many coaches wouldn’t survive the type of collapses the Kings have had since the all star break
Vlade, like me, thought the Kings were better than what they ultimately finished as. This isn’t a 39 win team. They are better. What you thought in August doesn’t matter in April after watching every game. Kings underachieved spectacularly pst the all star break even if the number they finished with is above offseason expectations. Some of it was fatal flaws on our roster but I feel a lot of it was how the roster was managed.
Vlade went out and got Harrison Barnes. Our small forward and he was promptly played out of position while depleting our bench by putting Bogdan in the starting lineup and not playing Bjeli while Bagley was out. That stretch is what ruined the Kings season. That stretch is probably what did him in even before the Brooklyn collapse, let’s not forget blowing two different second half leads of 17 in Boston, or those two priceless games against the Pelicans G league team. Vlade thought he was filling voids but all Dave did was subtract Bjelica out of it and made the team less deep when the Kings thought they were getting deeper. I also think Alec Burks was wasted. Guy played well everywhere but couldn’t even get in the game over Corey Brewer in 2019? Give me a break. In the event he did play, the only way he would touch the ball is if he stole it from the other team.
Joergers rotations seem completely automated. Set in a mode before the season started and left alone until he found somebody he wanted to play out of position. Flow of the game, importance of game, time of year or urgency never figured into who was coming in or out. How many times did the Kings lose a cushion or fall out of the game completely while opponents have their best players on the floor while Joerger is trying to keep Fox and Buddy out until the last few minutes of the game? Our guys would leave and then come back Into a completely different game.
Kings offense was incoherent. That is why a team that ran so much seemingly didn’t score that easy. Not enough pick and rolls. Whatever Buddy got he had to get by himself or his defender leaving him. I remember Kings used to screen to get Peja open but maybe that’s just antiquated. No go to moves. Never ride the hot hand. They were inefficient and then the reveal of the zone defense really exposed that the Kings were just freestyling the entire year and Joerger hadn’t been building a coherent offensive identity that would evolve into the “next step”
Anyway, Kings are deciding to get rid of Joerger maybe a year too early than finding out that they waited a year too late. He wasn’t going to be the guy to mold a contender. He was brought in to coach a veteran team and salvage the Boogie era. That is what Dave needs and what Dave wants. A veteran group. I think the “super team, just young” have gotten what they can from Dave.
I do think Dave’s polarizing “earn it” approach will be something that will be looked at as a positive influence and a big boost to the culture going forward.