[Game] Kings vs. Blazers, 1/9/21 7pm PST, 10pm EST

It just needs a coaching switch and the interim coach needs to play the kids and go into evaluation mode. This was never going to be our year so why we aren't developing the second round picks and finding out if they are NBA caliber is beyond me.
Because desperate coaches don't play kids. Problem is our desperate coach is playing a bunch of low IQ, soft G-Leaguers who have mailed it in.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Because desperate coaches don't play kids. Problem is our desperate coach is playing a bunch of low IQ, soft G-Leaguers.
The thing I don't get is we all knew we weren't winning this year so why doesn't the "desperate coach" do his actual job which is developing young talent? There have been so many coaches over this s-show run since Muss that just don't get it (Theus, I am looking at you).
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
I’m very disheartened with Bagley. They can’t stop playing him because figuring everything out and seeing if he’s a piece of the future or not is very important, but I’m not seeing the path to anything special. His defense is horrific beyond belief.
 

hrdboild

Moloch in whom I dream Angels!
Staff member
It’s sad to say... I’d take Metu’s defensive presence and hustle over Bagley at this point.
I was thinking the same thing. Just show some pride down there, protect the house when you're on the floor. Coming off two embarrassing defensive efforts in a row, a lineup of Fox|Haliburton|Barnes|Metu|Whiteside would set the tone. Let's get Woodard and Ramsey into the rotation while we're at it. No more CoJo and Bjelica please.
 
Was just thinking it may be about time to, at least temporarily, send a message to Bagley by starting Metu next game.
A message from who though? Bagley will probably still be here at the end of the season. This is where Monte has to be careful. Don't let the one with both feet out the door make it any more difficult of a mess to clean up. That kind of message can get sent when they know the one sending it doesn't have his butt on the line. Also to Lukes credit, he's not normally petty.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
I’m very disheartened with Bagley. They can’t stop playing him because figuring everything out and seeing if he’s a piece of the future or not is very important, but I’m not seeing the path to anything special. His defense is horrific beyond belief.
He showed at least some rebounding potential. But if he can't basically become the offensive weapon that makes the other team adjust to him, his defensive deficiencies make him a net zero. Frustrating that thanks to his dad he may have just completely checked out now.
 
37 for McCollum - and Buddy's trade value sinks below the horizon.

Next we get to face the guy we didn't draft (Sabonis 28/22 tonight) because we got a better haul with Papa, Skal and Bogi... not
Well, didn't he pretty much want to stay as far away from Sac as possible? This is why messing up your youth comes back to haunt you.
 
McNair
The thing I don't get is we all knew we weren't winning this year so why doesn't the "desperate coach" do his actual job which is developing young talent? There have been so many coaches over this s-show run since Muss that just don't get it (Theus, I am looking at you).
Because the desperate coach's job is not to develop, but to rather win. This isn't an OKC situation where Presti fired the coach and hired a completely unproven new coach to match the arc of his team.

From day one, I felt the Kings should tank. But I'd much rather they tank like OKC than to tank like this. OKC has Dort, Bazely, Roby, SGA, and their 2020 kids all playing alongside rental vets like Horford and Hill. They're losing, but they are playing hard and developing. If McNair had any balls, he'd fire Walton, trade Buddy, cut CoJo, and cut Bjelly tomorrow.

I thought for a brief moment that the greatness of Hali would make this a treadmill team with soft as butter vets, but I rescind all treadmilling thoughts. You can't fix the composition of this team.
 
McNair


Because the desperate coach's job is not to develop, but to rather win. This isn't an OKC situation where Presti fired the coach and hired a completely unproven new coach to match the arc of his team.

From day one, I felt the Kings should tank. But I'd much rather they tank like OKC than to tank like this. OKC has Dort, Bazely, Roby, SGA, and their kids all playing alongside rental vets like Horford and Hill. They're losing, but they hard and are developing. If McNair had any balls, he'd fire Walton, trade Buddy, cut CoJo, and cut Bjelly tomorrow.
It's not as easy to do a full tear down in season let alone this early.
 
For a team who’s supposed to have a coach that would set many plays to make them shoot threes, those many forced drives are such an eyesore. Looks like all Walton can draw is drive and kick out plays to make threes. But team just give them a fake hope they can make a drive and everyone will miss and not find anyone outside to pass. End of story for these last 2 games.
 
It’s so strange how we can look really solid and competent one game and then hot garbage the next. I’m not usually a coach critic but it’s hard not to feel we aren’t putting guys in a position to succeed.

I’m on the fence with firing Walton this season because inevitably that means the firing of Gentry at the end of the year. I don’t like the idea of 3 coaches in the span of a year. Too many voices. Monte should have started with his guy from day one. At this point, I’d probably ride it out, hire an agency to do the coaching search and start fresh next year.
 
Here's how it worked for Corbin for example

According to an NBA source, the Sacramento Kings inked Tyrone Corbin to a contract to coach the team through the end of the 2014-15 season more than a week ago. Corbin originally signed a two-year contract as an assistant coach under Michael Malone. When Malone was relieved of his duties on Dec. 14, Corbin was named to an interim role.

https://nba.nbcsports.com/2014/12/3...rbin-to-contract-for-remainder-of-the-season/
 
It's not as easy to do a full tear down in season let alone this early.
Sure. I get that. But if you're going to tank, tank. And let's be honest, you can't build up Buddy's value with the composition of this current team--too many black holes, no defenders on any level (except Hali and to some extent Fox), and very poor movement. Trade him now before his value gets any worse.
 
It’s so strange how we can look really solid and competent one game and then hot garbage the next. I’m not usually a coach critic but it’s hard not to feel we aren’t putting guys in a position to succeed.

I’m on the fence with firing Walton this season because inevitably that means the firing of Gentry at the end of the year. I don’t like the idea of 3 coaches in the span of a year. Too many voices. Monte should have started with his guy from day one. At this point, I’d probably ride it out, hire an agency to do the coaching search and start fresh next year.
I agree with all of this. The reasoning makes sense, but I still think the best path is blow it up now. Play the kids, develop them, get a third cornerstone.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
McNair


Because the desperate coach's job is not to develop, but to rather win. This isn't an OKC situation where Presti fired the coach and hired a completely unproven new coach to match the arc of his team.

From day one, I felt the Kings should tank. But I'd much rather they tank like OKC than to tank like this. OKC has Dort, Bazely, Roby, SGA, and their kids all playing alongside rental vets like Horford and Hill. They're losing, but they hard and are developing. If McNair had any balls, he'd fire Walton, trade Buddy, cut CoJo, and cut Bjelly tomorrow.
Fire Walton yes. Outright cutting players who we can move later is a no from me. Making it clear to the coach those other players are on minute restrictions and the priority is talen evaluation, yes. If he can do that maybe he keeps his job, gets dismissed because the fans call for it, but in private behind the scenes convos he is a "team player who took one for the team". There are coaches that understood this role. You typically don't hear Celts fans badmouth ML Carr even though his total tank job season failed to net Tim Duncan.
 
Fire Walton yes. Outright cutting players who we can move later is a no from me. Making it clear to the coach those other players are on minute restrictions and the priority is talen evaluation, yes. If he can do that maybe he keeps his job, gets dismissed because the fans call for it, but in private behind the scenes convos he is a "team player who took one for the team". There are coaches that understood this role. You typically don't hear Celts fans badmouth ML Carr even though his total tank job season failed to net Tim Duncan.
Do you think Walton will get another head coaching job after this?
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Do you think Walton will get another head coaching job after this?
I think if he is smart he'll go work for Sean Miller for a season or two at Arizona and he'll eventually be a head coach again, if that's what he wants to do.
 

hrdboild

Moloch in whom I dream Angels!
Staff member
McNair


Because the desperate coach's job is not to develop, but to rather win. This isn't an OKC situation where Presti fired the coach and hired a completely unproven new coach to match the arc of his team.

From day one, I felt the Kings should tank. But I'd much rather they tank like OKC than to tank like this. OKC has Dort, Bazely, Roby, SGA, and their kids all playing alongside rental vets like Horford and Hill. They're losing, but they hard and are developing. If McNair had any balls, he'd fire Walton, trade Buddy, cut CoJo, and cut Bjelly tomorrow.

I thought for a brief moment that the greatness of Hali would make this a treadmill team with soft as butter vets, but I rescind all treadmilling thoughts. You can't fix the composition of this team.
I feel like there's a good team here with a coach who puts the right players on the floor together and lets them run. Fox and Haliburton are very good defensively when the bigs don't get in their way. Barnes is solid. Whiteside is dominant. There's no excuse for getting blown out with these guys on the bench. Yeah Haliburton is a rookie and Fox is coming off an injury and Whiteside got absolutely raked by Melo without a call so maybe they can't all play the full 48 but nobody else out there was defending anybody.

CoJo and Bhelica just are who they are at this point. They both should have been traded in the off-season but there wasn't much of one this year so here we are. McNair needs to trade them now or just waive them so Luke can't trot them out there every game against all logic. But the real issue tonight was the starting lineup, specifically Buddy and Bagley who showed no effort on either end of the court. Portland went after them hard in the first quarter and they folded. Both of them need to get their heads in the game or they need to sit on the bench.