Hey you're preaching to the choir on George Karl. I was on the record from jump Street that that was probably not a good call but my biggest complaint was not filled in more interviews. My point is people got ecstatic about a big-name coming in the majority of posters and really smart people in media thought it was a great idea so obvious there was no debate. I'd have liked to see Messina get an interview. But it Stephen king says "fun is fun and done is done" I don't plan on saying another negative thing about Walton at least until after the season starts and hopefully never again. it is my sincere hope that all of the people so excited are dead on and Luke is the best thing since sliced bread.
Kings hire Luke Walton
- Thread starter SLAB
- Start date
Vlade knew who he wanted. So to not lock in his top choice at the first opportunity and to wait until after the playoffs to interview those under consideration (if the top choice doesn't work out) would be a perfunctory exercise. Vlade did the right thing. Assuming firing Dave was the right move, and we won't know that for a while.
What exactly were you looking for?! A championship winning coach?
Stylistically, Walton is a good fit. Players seem to like him and rate him. I am not saying he is a new Pop but there are clear similarities between what Vlade says he is looking for in a coach and what Walton provides.
Is he better than Joerger?! I am not sure that he is. Is he a disaster?! I don’t know! Time will tell. At least there are clear similarities between what we were reportedly looking for and what he brings. Thats a good start.
Stylistically, Walton is a good fit. Players seem to like him and rate him. I am not saying he is a new Pop but there are clear similarities between what Vlade says he is looking for in a coach and what Walton provides.
Is he better than Joerger?! I am not sure that he is. Is he a disaster?! I don’t know! Time will tell. At least there are clear similarities between what we were reportedly looking for and what he brings. Thats a good start.
I wonder if Vlade giving Brandon Williams the duty to sign Joeger’s assistants to their extensions was his olive branch to the coaches.
It didn’t seem like a minor oversight at the time. I think Vlade wanted to see if the fences could be mended. The coaches refusal to sign the contracts presented by Williams was the test.
Looks like the coaches and Williams failed that test miserably.
It didn’t seem like a minor oversight at the time. I think Vlade wanted to see if the fences could be mended. The coaches refusal to sign the contracts presented by Williams was the test.
Looks like the coaches and Williams failed that test miserably.
First...I LOVE how this was handled by Vlade... Straight up OG Vet GM move..."under the table" deal to get "HIS" guy before he was officially fired.
I just don't understand how anyone can say "I wish he would have interviewed other candidates"
To me, the way this way handled just screams that Vlade has a plan/vision...(now that doesnt mean its the right plan or hire but he didnt fire Joeger on a whim or something, he fired him because "his guy" was available. )
Now on Walton...I really like the hire.
I was into Messina , but then thought..he doesnt fit with a young group...imo Messina would be better with a vet group.
I thought the players needed a guy that could really connect with them...Monty Williams! but does he fit stylistically?...prolly not.
Walton fits with this young group and playing style wise imo.
I just don't understand how anyone can say "I wish he would have interviewed other candidates"
To me, the way this way handled just screams that Vlade has a plan/vision...(now that doesnt mean its the right plan or hire but he didnt fire Joeger on a whim or something, he fired him because "his guy" was available. )
Now on Walton...I really like the hire.
I was into Messina , but then thought..he doesnt fit with a young group...imo Messina would be better with a vet group.
I thought the players needed a guy that could really connect with them...Monty Williams! but does he fit stylistically?...prolly not.
Walton fits with this young group and playing style wise imo.
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It was pretty obvious that Luke was going to be available. No way LeBron and his reps were going to allow Walton to stay the Lakers coach.
Vlade probably saw this coming since last summer when LeBron was signed. He probably gauged the situation as it came close to the end of the season.
He saw the Kings faltering since the ASB and took the opportunity to clear the job for his first choice for coach all along. If Joeger would had made the playoffs, Vlade probably doesn’t make the switch, but the Kings 2nd half slide sealed Joeger’s fate.
Vlade probably saw this coming since last summer when LeBron was signed. He probably gauged the situation as it came close to the end of the season.
He saw the Kings faltering since the ASB and took the opportunity to clear the job for his first choice for coach all along. If Joeger would had made the playoffs, Vlade probably doesn’t make the switch, but the Kings 2nd half slide sealed Joeger’s fate.
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuure 
I dont buy it. The nonsense from Vlade "Oh, we could have been better this year, blah blah" when a major issue was his roster building and doing things like trading Shump which at the very least tanked the locker room for a couple weeks. Shumpert wasn't some godsend player who was playing all that well, but dont think its a coincidence the team losing its swagger they had the first half of the year directly correlated to when Shump left.
Dude improved the team by 12 wins. That's insanely good. People are undervaluing how freaking hard that is when you dont add a LeBron James or Kevin Durant type player to your roster. Or the fact that almost ALL of our growth came from within house.
It's a shame he's getting blasted by fans and just let Vlade slide on literally everything that might be questionable. Its interesting that "we" as the collective jumped on Joerger for overachieving with a faulty roster and praise Vlade for years and years of mostly poor decisions, a couple good moves and lucking into 2 franchise cornerstones. I think all the "FO turmoil" and "players dont like him" was blown up to give Vlade the excuse to get the exact coach he wanted. Smart organizations just don't can a coach that improves your team by 12 wins after 12+ years of being in the gutter for some supposed "drama" especially once Williams was let go.
I dont buy it. The nonsense from Vlade "Oh, we could have been better this year, blah blah" when a major issue was his roster building and doing things like trading Shump which at the very least tanked the locker room for a couple weeks. Shumpert wasn't some godsend player who was playing all that well, but dont think its a coincidence the team losing its swagger they had the first half of the year directly correlated to when Shump left.
Dude improved the team by 12 wins. That's insanely good. People are undervaluing how freaking hard that is when you dont add a LeBron James or Kevin Durant type player to your roster. Or the fact that almost ALL of our growth came from within house.
It's a shame he's getting blasted by fans and just let Vlade slide on literally everything that might be questionable. Its interesting that "we" as the collective jumped on Joerger for overachieving with a faulty roster and praise Vlade for years and years of mostly poor decisions, a couple good moves and lucking into 2 franchise cornerstones. I think all the "FO turmoil" and "players dont like him" was blown up to give Vlade the excuse to get the exact coach he wanted. Smart organizations just don't can a coach that improves your team by 12 wins after 12+ years of being in the gutter for some supposed "drama" especially once Williams was let go.
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuure
I dont buy it. The nonsense from Vlade "Oh, we could have been better this year, blah blah" when a major issue was his roster building and doing things like trading Shump which at the very least tanked the locker room for a couple weeks. Shumpert wasn't some godsend player who was playing all that well, but dont think its a coincidence the team losing its swagger they had the first half of the year directly correlated to when Shump left.
Dude improved the team by 12 wins. That's insanely good. People are undervaluing how freaking hard that is when you dont add a LeBron James or Kevin Durant type player to your roster. Or the fact that almost ALL of our growth came from within house.
It's a shame he's getting blasted by fans and just let Vlade slide on literally everything that might be questionable. Its interesting that "we" as the collective jumped on Joerger for overachieving with a faulty roster and praise Vlade for years and years of mostly poor decisions.
I dont buy it. The nonsense from Vlade "Oh, we could have been better this year, blah blah" when a major issue was his roster building and doing things like trading Shump which at the very least tanked the locker room for a couple weeks. Shumpert wasn't some godsend player who was playing all that well, but dont think its a coincidence the team losing its swagger they had the first half of the year directly correlated to when Shump left.
Dude improved the team by 12 wins. That's insanely good. People are undervaluing how freaking hard that is when you dont add a LeBron James or Kevin Durant type player to your roster. Or the fact that almost ALL of our growth came from within house.
It's a shame he's getting blasted by fans and just let Vlade slide on literally everything that might be questionable. Its interesting that "we" as the collective jumped on Joerger for overachieving with a faulty roster and praise Vlade for years and years of mostly poor decisions.
Joerger AND Williams sealed their own fates when they put the drama out there in the middle of the year. Vlade didn't fire them on the spot because he didn't want to be grist for the national media's mill. He did, however, silence the situation at the time and wait for the right moment. The right moment came about after the last game - he fired Joerger and he fired Williams. As others have said, knowing that his first choice - Walton - was going to come onto the market made firing Joerger a no brainer to Divac.
As others have also said, the coach that turns a team around is often replaced when it's time for the next level. Joerger had taken this team about as far as he could - the games after the ASB told that tale in a pretty obvious manner. You can talk about Vlade's poor decisions, but as time passes only a blind man can deny that MOST of his decisions have turned out to be right.
Joerger did a great job in getting us back to feeling like we have a TEAM and not just a bunch of guys who found a box of matching uniforms. That doesn't make him immune to criticism. I defended Joerger a lot this past season, but let's be real. His substitution patterns irritated just about everyone on this board at one time or another. He did a good job and I'm very grateful to him but the Kings lost too many close games at least in part because of Joerger's stubbornness in keeping starters out too long, not holding WCS accountable for some of his antics, and not playing Bagley in places where he could have made a real difference.
I firmly believe history will show that once again Vlade made the right decision.
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuure
I dont buy it. The nonsense from Vlade "Oh, we could have been better this year, blah blah" when a major issue was his roster building and doing things like trading Shump which at the very least tanked the locker room for a couple weeks. Shumpert wasn't some godsend player who was playing all that well, but dont think its a coincidence the team losing its swagger they had the first half of the year directly correlated to when Shump left.
Dude improved the team by 12 wins. That's insanely good. People are undervaluing how freaking hard that is when you dont add a LeBron James or Kevin Durant type player to your roster. Or the fact that almost ALL of our growth came from within house.
It's a shame he's getting blasted by fans and just let Vlade slide on literally everything that might be questionable. Its interesting that "we" as the collective jumped on Joerger for overachieving with a faulty roster and praise Vlade for years and years of mostly poor decisions, a couple good moves and lucking into 2 franchise cornerstones. I think all the "FO turmoil" and "players dont like him" was blown up to give Vlade the excuse to get the exact coach he wanted. Smart organizations just don't can a coach that improves your team by 12 wins after 12+ years of being in the gutter for some supposed "drama" especially once Williams was let go.
I dont buy it. The nonsense from Vlade "Oh, we could have been better this year, blah blah" when a major issue was his roster building and doing things like trading Shump which at the very least tanked the locker room for a couple weeks. Shumpert wasn't some godsend player who was playing all that well, but dont think its a coincidence the team losing its swagger they had the first half of the year directly correlated to when Shump left.
Dude improved the team by 12 wins. That's insanely good. People are undervaluing how freaking hard that is when you dont add a LeBron James or Kevin Durant type player to your roster. Or the fact that almost ALL of our growth came from within house.
It's a shame he's getting blasted by fans and just let Vlade slide on literally everything that might be questionable. Its interesting that "we" as the collective jumped on Joerger for overachieving with a faulty roster and praise Vlade for years and years of mostly poor decisions, a couple good moves and lucking into 2 franchise cornerstones. I think all the "FO turmoil" and "players dont like him" was blown up to give Vlade the excuse to get the exact coach he wanted. Smart organizations just don't can a coach that improves your team by 12 wins after 12+ years of being in the gutter for some supposed "drama" especially once Williams was let go.
Quite frankly, if they weren’t on the same page Dave was better off going elsewhere also.
I’m not sure if it was necessarily a “bad” relationship rather than there not being a significant relationship at all. In other words, a disconnect
I think Dave’s view expressed in his last interview of “everybody getting along” in regards to staff and roster was probably accurate at face value...but the needed relationship between coach and team needs to run deeper than how amicable it is. You need a stronger connection than what it may be that Joerger had.
It seems in the end that the Kings players could take or leave Joerger. We know for a fact that their performance over the last third of the season, no matter the comp, was largely uninspired to say the least.
Maybe we’re reading too much into the fact there was crickets from the kings roster in regards to Dave Joerger in contrast to the Lakers roster at large in reaction to Walton’s dismissal...but even if the relationship with Joerger and the team wasn’t negative at this point..there really isn’t much upside in continuing on if guys like Fox, Buddy, Bags and Harry could take or leave him. Joergers most proven ability is getting his team ready to play, lack of effort wasn an issue until the very end. Even in the two really bad seasons with Joerger the Kings didn’t give up and won untimely games. This year they showed lack of effort at untimely moments. Maybe he was just losing his voice.
As for the snowflakes thing. I doubt that any of the players angled for Dave to be fired. Vlade knew his original choice was about to be available and went for it..but if there was a disconnect, I don’t know what that says about the fortitude of anybody whether it be the coaching staff or the players. If there was no connection there was no connection. Dave’s most polarizing thing through his tenure was his earn it approach to young players and as far as I’ve seen Fox, Bagley, Buddy, and Harry handled that well outside of Marvs old man.
I know we want the talent to suck it up and be self governed no matter who coaches but this is why sports have coaches...it matters. Popovich proves it every year.
I think Dave’s view expressed in his last interview of “everybody getting along” in regards to staff and roster was probably accurate at face value...but the needed relationship between coach and team needs to run deeper than how amicable it is. You need a stronger connection than what it may be that Joerger had.
It seems in the end that the Kings players could take or leave Joerger. We know for a fact that their performance over the last third of the season, no matter the comp, was largely uninspired to say the least.
Maybe we’re reading too much into the fact there was crickets from the kings roster in regards to Dave Joerger in contrast to the Lakers roster at large in reaction to Walton’s dismissal...but even if the relationship with Joerger and the team wasn’t negative at this point..there really isn’t much upside in continuing on if guys like Fox, Buddy, Bags and Harry could take or leave him. Joergers most proven ability is getting his team ready to play, lack of effort wasn an issue until the very end. Even in the two really bad seasons with Joerger the Kings didn’t give up and won untimely games. This year they showed lack of effort at untimely moments. Maybe he was just losing his voice.
As for the snowflakes thing. I doubt that any of the players angled for Dave to be fired. Vlade knew his original choice was about to be available and went for it..but if there was a disconnect, I don’t know what that says about the fortitude of anybody whether it be the coaching staff or the players. If there was no connection there was no connection. Dave’s most polarizing thing through his tenure was his earn it approach to young players and as far as I’ve seen Fox, Bagley, Buddy, and Harry handled that well outside of Marvs old man.
I know we want the talent to suck it up and be self governed no matter who coaches but this is why sports have coaches...it matters. Popovich proves it every year.
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Well, it helps when you replace a great coach with a great coach. Been a big fan of Walton for a long time and I'm fairly certain if we went back to the previous "who to hire" thread we had before Joerger, he was one of my top guys we should look at .
Most of his decisions are good though? How?
The Bad:
-Trading Shump for a 2020 late 2nd rounder and Alec Burks who did nothing? Noticeable affect on team chemistry and player psyche.
-Drafting Malachi, PapaGiannis and Justin Jackson only to dump or trade them 1 year and a half into their career? Wasted 3 1st round picks
-Drafting Frank Mason over Jordan Bell?
-Trading an unprotected 1st, 2 pick swaps, a former lottery pick and a couple contracts for cap space when he could have just stretched JT and Landry and done the same thing? Only to sign Rondo for a season, Beli and Kosta Koufos to lead us to a 30 win year.
-Being hurt by said pick swap, losing 2 spots in draft capital from #3 pick to #5.
-Firing a coach who just improved your team by 12 wins a day after the season? Yeah I really like Walton, but any sane person would question the validity of getting rid of a coach with that on your resume.
-Letting Seth Curry walk to sign Matt Barnes to $2/12 only to let him walk after 50 games?
-Signing Zach Lavine to a 4/78 offer sheet when we had 2 duplicate guards already with his skill-set? Thankfully saved by the Bulls from ourselves.
-Waiting way too long to trade Boogie and then actually telling people he had a better trade earlier in the week, but didn't jump on it. Buddy and Giles are going to work out okay, but we got absolutely rocked in value in that trade, getting pennies on the dollar for a top 15 player. The haul would have been enormous had we traded him a year earlier.
The Good:
Acquiring Bogdan for Chriss. Although he absolutely failed the Papagiannis pick in the deal, great talent evaluation to have him included in the trade. Although some comments on the board were ready to send him out for a bag of peanuts at one point or another this season, so do they think he's still worth the #8 pick?
-Giles talent evaluation. Another great talent grab here and using a mid-1st round pick to take a calculated gamble on a high upside guy with a ton of talent if he could stay healthy. Just a home-run pick and possibly might define his tenure as a GM if he can breakout and showcase more of that all-star potential we saw.
-De'Aaron Fox. Obvious, but still deserves credit for not overthinking things and making the quality obvious pick. Pick swap could have been disastrous if the Suns were an actual real NBA franchise and took Fox as they should have done in the first place.
-Nemanja Bjelica- Great contract, not tied up long-term, was a huge reason we saw improved play overall. Quality signing
The "Meh, possibly good"
-Harrison Barnes trade. It's good evaluation of our yearly standing in free agency and acquiring a need. I like Barnes and thought he played well for us, but I don't love the idea of being tied to him with a contract like 4/80 to a guy who's probably like a top 80-90 player in the league (if that). Depending on his extension, could end up being a good deal for just Justin Jackson.
-Marvin Bagley. Love the talent, love the growth we saw from Summer league to him being a legit 15/8 by the end of the year. But his status is always going to be tied to Luka Doncic and what he ends up being as a player. If Luka ends up having a HoF career, Bagley can't just be "pretty good" for this pick to be worth it. He's got to hit on being the franchise cornerstone, which thankfully he looks like he's on that path.
-WCS pick. Lower end starter for a 6 overall pick. Could do worse. Not a bust obviously, but not a home-run either. Firmly in the "meh" category
So, all this to say "Started off extremely rough as one of the worst GMs in NBA history, gotten more competent in the past year." What makes you think that "most of his decisions have turned out to be right?"
Most of his decisions are good though? How?
The Bad:
-Trading Shump for a 2020 late 2nd rounder and Alec Burks who did nothing? Noticeable affect on team chemistry and player psyche.
-Drafting Malachi, PapaGiannis and Justin Jackson only to dump or trade them 1 year and a half into their career? Wasted 3 1st round picks
-Drafting Frank Mason over Jordan Bell?
-Trading an unprotected 1st, 2 pick swaps, a former lottery pick and a couple contracts for cap space when he could have just stretched JT and Landry and done the same thing? Only to sign Rondo for a season, Beli and Kosta Koufos to lead us to a 30 win year.
-Being hurt by said pick swap, losing 2 spots in draft capital from #3 pick to #5.
-Firing a coach who just improved your team by 12 wins a day after the season? Yeah I really like Walton, but any sane person would question the validity of getting rid of a coach with that on your resume.
-Letting Seth Curry walk to sign Matt Barnes to $2/12 only to let him walk after 50 games?
-Signing Zach Lavine to a 4/78 offer sheet when we had 2 duplicate guards already with his skill-set? Thankfully saved by the Bulls from ourselves.
-Waiting way too long to trade Boogie and then actually telling people he had a better trade earlier in the week, but didn't jump on it. Buddy and Giles are going to work out okay, but we got absolutely rocked in value in that trade, getting pennies on the dollar for a top 15 player. The haul would have been enormous had we traded him a year earlier.
The Good:
Acquiring Bogdan for Chriss. Although he absolutely failed the Papagiannis pick in the deal, great talent evaluation to have him included in the trade. Although some comments on the board were ready to send him out for a bag of peanuts at one point or another this season, so do they think he's still worth the #8 pick?
-Giles talent evaluation. Another great talent grab here and using a mid-1st round pick to take a calculated gamble on a high upside guy with a ton of talent if he could stay healthy. Just a home-run pick and possibly might define his tenure as a GM if he can breakout and showcase more of that all-star potential we saw.
-De'Aaron Fox. Obvious, but still deserves credit for not overthinking things and making the quality obvious pick. Pick swap could have been disastrous if the Suns were an actual real NBA franchise and took Fox as they should have done in the first place.
-Nemanja Bjelica- Great contract, not tied up long-term, was a huge reason we saw improved play overall. Quality signing
The "Meh, possibly good"
-Harrison Barnes trade. It's good evaluation of our yearly standing in free agency and acquiring a need. I like Barnes and thought he played well for us, but I don't love the idea of being tied to him with a contract like 4/80 to a guy who's probably like a top 80-90 player in the league (if that). Depending on his extension, could end up being a good deal for just Justin Jackson.
-Marvin Bagley. Love the talent, love the growth we saw from Summer league to him being a legit 15/8 by the end of the year. But his status is always going to be tied to Luka Doncic and what he ends up being as a player. If Luka ends up having a HoF career, Bagley can't just be "pretty good" for this pick to be worth it. He's got to hit on being the franchise cornerstone, which thankfully he looks like he's on that path.
-WCS pick. Lower end starter for a 6 overall pick. Could do worse. Not a bust obviously, but not a home-run either. Firmly in the "meh" category
So, all this to say "Started off extremely rough as one of the worst GMs in NBA history, gotten more competent in the past year." What makes you think that "most of his decisions have turned out to be right?"
Exactly.
End of the day this is vlades team and if Luke is the coach he wanted, I can be on board with that.
From an organizational design perspective it's everything you want. Mismatching pieces don't lead you anywhere.
You want vlade picking who he wants to lead us and I'm glad he got his first choice. It is clear he wanted Luke for awhile.
The road starts and stops with Vlade. He had earnt the right to pick his coach and we have it. If we fail it is on him. He has broad enough shoulders to carry that burden
End of the day this is vlades team and if Luke is the coach he wanted, I can be on board with that.
From an organizational design perspective it's everything you want. Mismatching pieces don't lead you anywhere.
You want vlade picking who he wants to lead us and I'm glad he got his first choice. It is clear he wanted Luke for awhile.
The road starts and stops with Vlade. He had earnt the right to pick his coach and we have it. If we fail it is on him. He has broad enough shoulders to carry that burden
Yeah agreed. The best things for organizations to do is have the power structure all on the same page. Joerger as a lame-duck coach too wouldn't do us any favors this summer if he wasn't going to get the extension. Now, we're presenting a united front up top along with a core that just shocked the NBA with how much better they got this season. Not a bad place to be.
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuure
I dont buy it. The nonsense from Vlade "Oh, we could have been better this year, blah blah" when a major issue was his roster building and doing things like trading Shump which at the very least tanked the locker room for a couple weeks. Shumpert wasn't some godsend player who was playing all that well, but dont think its a coincidence the team losing its swagger they had the first half of the year directly correlated to when Shump left.
Dude improved the team by 12 wins. That's insanely good. People are undervaluing how freaking hard that is when you dont add a LeBron James or Kevin Durant type player to your roster. Or the fact that almost ALL of our growth came from within house.
I dont buy it. The nonsense from Vlade "Oh, we could have been better this year, blah blah" when a major issue was his roster building and doing things like trading Shump which at the very least tanked the locker room for a couple weeks. Shumpert wasn't some godsend player who was playing all that well, but dont think its a coincidence the team losing its swagger they had the first half of the year directly correlated to when Shump left.
Dude improved the team by 12 wins. That's insanely good. People are undervaluing how freaking hard that is when you dont add a LeBron James or Kevin Durant type player to your roster. Or the fact that almost ALL of our growth came from within house.
But attributing the 12-win improvement to the coach? Sorry, but no. Swap DJ with any of the other 29 head coaches and how many of them could or would have done equally as well or better? I believe at least half or more.
You’re ignoring that the talent increase the past 3 years i.e. hitting on draft picks and/or trades and the natural development of those players being largely responsible for the 12-win improvement. You didn’t see DJ coach a DeMarcus Cousins led team with a supporting cast largely of scrubs some of which aren’t in the league anymore for more than part of a season.
I’d argue that any coach hired 3-years ago instead of DJ likely would have experienced at least the same arc in terms of success considering the players that were added during that time frame. Obviously that can’t be proven. But I don’t feel it’s without merit.
The team I saw this season should have won more games than they did. I agree that at least one of Vlade’s trades set the team back in that regard. But DJ and his decision making bear some responsibility too — specifically his ego and behavior regarding office politics.
I left for a conference early Thursday morning and just got back today. The rapidity of the changes with this team caught me by surprise as I was checking twitter between sessions or during meal breaks.
I haven't followed Luke/the GD L***** closely at all so I won't pretend to be an expert. At all. That being said....
Luke won a bunch of games with Kerr on the bench in Golden State, but that was a veteran, championship-level team that could coach itself and didn't need a heavy hand at all. I don't put much faith in those wins as a plus in Luke's book. Kerr had that team humming along already and Luke just babysat it until Kerr came back.
It sounds like Luke has the respect of at least most of his players so that is a plus. But then again, so did DJ here. I don't see a huge change there. In degree, perhaps, but not a major difference.
Luke didn't win a whole lot of games in LA with what many considered a promising team, and bringing in LBJ didn't bring them to the promised land. Yes, some of that should be laid at LBJ's feet. But I didn't hear or see anything during that time that makes me think Luke is the next coming of Pop, or Jackson, or Riley or anything.
I guess I'm just pretty "meh" on the hiring, and kinda bummed that DJ got canned so quickly after helping turn this team around. Yes, there were some issues. There are always issues. Even Pop gets hammered by the fans, etc., at times. Nobody is perfect. But I thought DJ earned the right to see what he could do with the team after doing pretty well this year. The firing brought back memories of the Malone dismissal.
Some are excited to see Vlade moving quickly to get what he wants. And Vlade has done well enough in my eyes that I don't want to question his decision on this too much at this point. But I don't see the reason why nobody else was interviewed. When making important decisions it is always a good idea to question your first instinct and see if there might be better candidates, or if other coaches have ideas or ways to implement a system that Vlade might also be excited about. It just seems very rushed, without consideration of all the possible options. I hope it isn't someone looking at his record with the Warriors and the Kings FO getting sparkles in their eyes from a coaching record that was essentially handed to him on a silver platter. I think that Vlade is much smarter than that, but that is the appearance of this decision.
I've been a Kings fan since they moved here and I SINCERELY hope that Luke turns into a better coach than Rick was and leads us to the promised land.
It just seems like the jumping off the Luke Walton cliff one day after canning your coach and not interviewing any others seems hasty and without due diligence being performed. I'm not trying to be overly critical; I just don't see anything to justify the Walton hype at this time and the decision to ignore all the other possible options, including good coaches on other teams that will more than likely get fired as the playoffs progress and teams get eliminated. For that reason, I feel a bit pessimistic about this. Hopefully I am wrong.
I get that Vlade apparently wanted to hire him before and couldn't. I'm hoping that also didn't cloud his judgement.
I haven't followed Luke/the GD L***** closely at all so I won't pretend to be an expert. At all. That being said....
Luke won a bunch of games with Kerr on the bench in Golden State, but that was a veteran, championship-level team that could coach itself and didn't need a heavy hand at all. I don't put much faith in those wins as a plus in Luke's book. Kerr had that team humming along already and Luke just babysat it until Kerr came back.
It sounds like Luke has the respect of at least most of his players so that is a plus. But then again, so did DJ here. I don't see a huge change there. In degree, perhaps, but not a major difference.
Luke didn't win a whole lot of games in LA with what many considered a promising team, and bringing in LBJ didn't bring them to the promised land. Yes, some of that should be laid at LBJ's feet. But I didn't hear or see anything during that time that makes me think Luke is the next coming of Pop, or Jackson, or Riley or anything.
I guess I'm just pretty "meh" on the hiring, and kinda bummed that DJ got canned so quickly after helping turn this team around. Yes, there were some issues. There are always issues. Even Pop gets hammered by the fans, etc., at times. Nobody is perfect. But I thought DJ earned the right to see what he could do with the team after doing pretty well this year. The firing brought back memories of the Malone dismissal.
Some are excited to see Vlade moving quickly to get what he wants. And Vlade has done well enough in my eyes that I don't want to question his decision on this too much at this point. But I don't see the reason why nobody else was interviewed. When making important decisions it is always a good idea to question your first instinct and see if there might be better candidates, or if other coaches have ideas or ways to implement a system that Vlade might also be excited about. It just seems very rushed, without consideration of all the possible options. I hope it isn't someone looking at his record with the Warriors and the Kings FO getting sparkles in their eyes from a coaching record that was essentially handed to him on a silver platter. I think that Vlade is much smarter than that, but that is the appearance of this decision.
I've been a Kings fan since they moved here and I SINCERELY hope that Luke turns into a better coach than Rick was and leads us to the promised land.
It just seems like the jumping off the Luke Walton cliff one day after canning your coach and not interviewing any others seems hasty and without due diligence being performed. I'm not trying to be overly critical; I just don't see anything to justify the Walton hype at this time and the decision to ignore all the other possible options, including good coaches on other teams that will more than likely get fired as the playoffs progress and teams get eliminated. For that reason, I feel a bit pessimistic about this. Hopefully I am wrong.
I get that Vlade apparently wanted to hire him before and couldn't. I'm hoping that also didn't cloud his judgement.
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