Fire Paul Westphal

[TheWileyVet]

I know it's early in the season but I'm serious. He is hurting our team and I can't stand him anymore.


I'm tired of Paul Westphal and his hair brained rotations. PW does not use our roster like it could be used. He gives minutes to journeymen type players like Jackson, Head, and Wright while players that can actually impact our future ride the pine. I'm sure Antoine Wright is a nice guy, but he should never touch the floor besides to give high fives. How many times does Luther Head have to toss up a brick before he get's pulled for someone else??


JT at the 3??? Really? Who in their right mind thinks a 6'11" JT running around the wings trying to guard a SF is a good idea? Or on offense getting the ball with his foot on the 3 pt line trying to attack the basket. Apparently PW does bc in a recent post game interview he said he loved JT at 3. No I won't look it up.

JT is raw and yes he can play dumb but at least play him at his position and give him a chance! Please, PLEASE play him more than Darnell Jackson.



How does Donte Greene go from starter to last guy off the bench in 3 games flat?? He's not playing well and you want Omri to play more? Great, no big deal. But DNP after DNP?? He's athletic and last year was our best wing defender. Meanwhile we let Tyreke get into foul trouble on Kobe only to put Luther Head on him later and have JT guard Rudy Gay on his way to a big night. I'm calling the milk company bc Donte is missing and our team could use him.




Why does this team ALWAYS fall behind big? Have we had a game this season where we weren't down by double digits in the 2nd and had to claw our way back? This falls on both the players and the coaches but when it starts to become a trend you begin to wonder what our coaching staff is doing or not doing to correct/change this. Tonight against Phoenix we had an obvious advantage down low with Cousins and we barely exploited it. Freaking BILL WALTON of all ppl notices it right away but our team can't seem to get it. IMO this falls squarely on the coaching staff.




Paul Westphal hasn't proven he is a good teacher. He hasn't improved the defense or instilled discipline in our young team. Our defense is still cotton soft and we have more give a ways than Loaves and Fishes. We constantly have bad nights from the charity stripe. IMO the only player that has really shown real improvement in the PW era is Beno.
All Westphal has done to improve this team was inherit Tyreke. I know there will be PW apologists but I'm sick of him and his stupid decisions. Get rid of him


/rant

 

[drogba]

I agree.
The defance looks awful. the players don't move enough in the offense, and i am not talking about the passing game that don't excist at all.
we got some good players who can do much better.
Defance is a system the coach should endow, and his team gets an F. every single day a new player is setting new personal record on the teams back.

 

[ockingsfan]

PW is losing this team, the fans and the games fast.... instead of calming the fire, he is stroking the flames.... he looks lost on the sidelines every night..... he does not look like he has control of this team... the players are not buying in....

if something does not change quick, i agree PW needs to go, for the sake of the fan base and the young players

 

[dvirc218]

Lets be honest- Paul Westphal = draft lottery.

 

[Bricklayer]

8 games in folks. Unamused as I am by this mysteriously sutpid turn in our coaching, its 8 games in for a squad that was expected to lose more than half its games this year anyway. With a coach who a few months ago just got his third year at $2mil guaranteed (meaning nobody will be eager to fire him).

Tad premature.

 

[Prince_XY]

This thread is uncalled for. It is just too early to call for Westphal's head especially that we have a different mix of players this season. Most of our key players haven't played with each other. And the players we expect to be playing at the next level haven't really played according to our expectation. I think the players and coaching staff deserves to be given time to feel each other first. Nobody expected us to be a playoff team anyways.

It is not entirely coach Westphal's fault. I'll give him upto the middle of the season before I blame him for everything.

 

[Gabriel]

I agree. But who would coach us?

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

Westphal seems to be the consensus scapegoat now but does anyone really think this team would be significantly better under another coach? I don't.

 

[Gabriel]

Westphal seems to be the consensus scapegoat now but does anyone really think this team would be significantly better under another coach? I don't.

Yes. This team is clearly better when there are certain players on the floor and that has been evident many times this season. Get a coach who realizes the obvious. This Westphal guy tries to do so much and make magic happen instead of just looking at what is already clear.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

Yes. This team is clearly better when there are certain players on the floor and that has been evident many times this season. Get a coach who realizes the obvious. This Westphal guy tries to do so much and make magic happen instead of just looking at what is already clear.

Gabriel, I tried to reply to you in the other thread but it looks like the mods closed it off. I was basically saying that it's a given that it's better to lose a bad team than to lose a good one, but that if the Kings were winning 50 games, fighting hard every night, etc. then we wouldn't be seeing Arco half empty and we'd have a lot more support for a new arena. Right now it's as if The Maloofs are putting the cart before the horse by wanting to get the fans back, then improve the team, which is totally backwards from how things work in reality.

 

[Kings Fan Gerard]

Come on Westphal, I am disappoint.

 

[UK_King]

C-Webb.

 

[kyo2002]

the kings are looking funny out there. i think westphal is rewarding guys for playing well in practice. the kings should trust in their future players unless its still an open question and by that I mean JT at PF and Cousins at C. kings shouldn't resign landry, dalembert, and darnell to big money but somehow i feel the kings are going to offer one of these guys a good amount of money soon. Playing casspi over donte I like cause he can shoot & is faster. I'd play donte at PF alongside casspi. Having tyreke at point sg alongside a pure pg like beno leaves the kings with very little wing and its killing the bigs down low.

 

[Goo]

Maybe JVG is not such a bad idea, at least he show he really care on the court and our O can not be any more worst.

 

[mac]

8 games in folks. Unamused as I am by this mysteriously sutpid turn in our coaching, its 8 games in for a squad that was expected to lose more than half its games this year anyway. With a coach who a few months ago just got his third year at $2mil guaranteed (meaning nobody will be eager to fire him).

Tad premature.

The losses are not the issue. The issue is the rotations, playing JT at SF (I mean come on. What would Phil Jackson or Pop say to JT playing at the 3? They'd laugh their way to a championship), the team looking clueless on the floor. Just a reflection of poor coaching.

It is premature to ask for a change in coach, but it being early in the season should not be an excuse for how Westphal has managed the team and the games so far.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

i am disappointed in the coaching also. it's hard to get a gauge on the players we have when westphal is jerking them around. if this doesn't improve by the trade deadline i'll be on the bandwagon on looking for a replacement if a viable one is there.

what's really going on behind the scenes?

 

[Larry89]

Players strengths arent being utilized correctly at times, defense and offense look terrible team looks apathetic and lethargic.

I think that the uncertainty of playing time, instead of making players work harder is just making them lazier. Didn't Donte work out all summer long and instead of getting playing time he was relegated to the bench mysteriously? Jason Thompson has also, and if anything, Jason has the most energy on the team..

 

[Kingster]

So how did the intelligent coach of last year become the stupid coach of this year? I'm all ears.

 

[piksi]

C-Webb.

as long as he doesn't call any timeouts

 

[Larry89]

So how did the intelligent coach of last year become the stupid coach of this year? I'm all ears.

Randomly gutting our lineup and playing Players such as Luther Head/Jackson/Wright, the mysterious disappearance of Donte Greene, the emergence of Jason Thompson as a star 3, the disjointed offense, and even worse defense...

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

Westphal seems to be the consensus scapegoat now but does anyone really think this team would be significantly better under another coach? I don't.

Better in terms of record, no. Better in terms of likeability, yeah, probly.

I think if the right guys were playing at the right time (JT and Donte) and EVERYONE were held accountable instead of the guys in Westphals Doghouse (Westphal loves Landry) things would be alot more positive around here. Our coach is in the middle of a stupid spell, when he gets out of it and things settle down it will get better. Im not sure how long people are willing to wait though.

 

[pshn80]

Give Westphal an experienced point guard, a starter quality small forward, a starter quality power forward and some better, more reliable play at center, that's all, and I think he would do just fine, in fact be our hero. In Westphal's case, with the present team as it is today, it's just a question of how best to lose. Do you play one lineup to death or do you rotate what you have back and forth, or some ground in between. Do you install new plays when key people haven't mastered the old ones? Do you bench players for being stupid or lazy or whatever or do you ignore it and play them anyway. If you have a backup center who can score and pass and rebound should you play him more? Oh, that's right, he fouls out. Oh well. Next choice. New day should he start three guards? Maybe, let's try it. Don't fire Westpha unless you have a better plan. I can't think of one.

 

[Kingstime]

I don't want Westphal gone by any means but it's blatantly obvious that if he would just insert the right players in the right spots, this team would atleast be able to make up for it's lack of offense/defense. Whatever is going on he can atleast try to put a bandaid on, it's just boneheadness what he is putting out there. While I don't want him gone, he also needs to realize he doesn't have the teams the last few coaches have had. Musselman, Nat and Theus had to coach teams with no future, just whiny vets who were going through the motions. Like it or not Tyreke, Demarcus and Omri are the future here and the least he can do is install and offense to help their strengths and insert the right players around them to hide their weaknesses. I don't wanna go as far as to say PW isn't trying out there, but there are coaches in the NBA 8 games in getting positivity out of lesser players.

I'm willing to watch and wait just because I know something will come of this and Westphal isn't a bad coach by any means, he's actually a damn good one. The worst part about it is we were blessed with a relatively easy November and other teams in our conference are having slower starts as well, it would be nice to get some W's together for the players and the fans to feel good about this year. I just don't know how much more I can take of such Don Nelson level of backwardness as JT playing the 3 and Antoine Wright getting critical minutes. The quicker PW realizes the difference between a guy who plays hard in practice and th prime timers the better off we will be.

 

[Kingster]

Randomly gutting our lineup and playing Players such as Luther Head/Jackson/Wright, the mysterious disappearance of Donte Greene, the emergence of Jason Thompson as a star 3, the disjointed offense, and even worse defense...

Ahh, yes, the brilliant star Donte Greene. I think you're confusing personnel decisions with coaching when you're talking Head and Wright. Thompson just isn't that good, unfortunately.

 

[Larry89]

Ahh, yes, the brilliant star Donte Greene. I think you're confusing personnel decisions with coaching when you're talking Head and Wright. Thompson just isn't that good, unfortunately.

Offensive organization is part of coaching... I would rather have Thompson play rather than a half hearted Landry, atleast thompson brings energy and wants to be out there.. same with Donte Greene, Let's also not forget coaches favorite play is a 1-4 flat..

 

[IfAt1st]

He gives minutes to journeymen type players like Jackson,

JT is raw and yes he can play dumb but at least play him at his position and give him a chance! Please, PLEASE play him more than Darnell Jackson.

I'd give your rant more credence if it was more based on the things that PW has been doing wrong.

JT has SUCKED this year.
Darnell has been almost-beastly every time he's been on the floor.
That's the easy reason why Darnell is now ahead of JT in the rotation - cause he's been playing better than JT (last night was the 1st game that Darnell hasn't been sinking his 17 ft jumper).

How does Donte Greene go from starter to last guy off the bench in 3 games flat??

Cause he's sucked.
Flat-out.
That's not PW's fault - he relied on Donte to be better this year, and Donte messed up big time (may have lost his career in the process).

Why does this team ALWAYS fall behind big?

Because they've been terrible at defending the pick and roll and they can't hit shots to save their lives in the 2nd quarter when the 2nd unit comes in.

Tonight against Phoenix we had an obvious advantage down low with Cousins and we barely exploited it. Freaking BILL WALTON of all ppl notices it right away but our team can't seem to get it. IMO this falls squarely on the coaching staff.

This is the only accurate complaint you brought up against PW so far in this rant.

Paul Westphal hasn't proven he is a good teacher. He hasn't improved the defense or instilled discipline in our young team. Our defense is still cotton soft and we have more give a ways than Loaves and Fishes. We constantly have bad nights from the charity stripe.

I really don't think PW is the defense coach (that would be primarily an assistant coaches job IIRC).
How can PW teach discipline, other than yanking players when they play wrong (and he has done that (other than with Head).

I am pretty dang sure PW would not be coaching the players on FT's - that again is an assistant coaches job.

PW can't make his players make free throws.
He can't make them sink the WIDE OPEN shots they are getting.
He can't make them switch/don't switch correctly on the pick-and-rolls.
He can't make the players box out their man.
He can't make the players REACT TO THE DAMN BALL instead of looking like they're stuck in molasses out there.

 

[Asaf]

I really don't think PW is the defense coach (that would be primarily an assistant coaches job IIRC).

Well, if the assistant coaches aren't doing their jobs properly, it's PW's job to step up and make sure that they do.

How can PW teach discipline, other than yanking players when they play wrong (and he has done that (other than with Head).

You can't teach discipline if you are not consistent with your decision and have different standards for treating different players. This just causes confusion and frustration amongst your players.

I am pretty dang sure PW would not be coaching the players on FT's - that again is an assistant coaches job.

Again, ultimately it's his responsibility. If it's not done right, he should correct it.

PW can't make his players make free throws.

If the problem was one or two players, I would say you were right, but when a whole team sucks at free throws, then something is wrong there. Either they are not working on it correctly, or the whole team is suffering from the wrong kind of pressure. It's the coach's job to take care of both of these issues.

He can't make them sink the WIDE OPEN shots they are getting.

Yes, but he can teach them offensive schemes that will get them those wide open shots in rhythm, allowing these shots to go in at a higher percentage.

He can't make them switch/don't switch correctly on the pick-and-rolls.

Yes he can. That's precisely his job - to teach them what to do and how to do it in these situations. Why else would they need a coach?

He can't make the players box out their man.

Again, it's his job to stress those things in practice, before, and after games. Unless his players are all dumb and aren't getting it, in which case they should all be traded, he's not doing a good enough job of getting the message across.

He can't make the players REACT TO THE DAMN BALL instead of looking like they're stuck in molasses out there.

Same as above. A coach's job is to communicate to the players what they need to do and make sure they get the message. Right now he is creating more confusion, when his job is to create clarity.

 

[TheWileyVet]

I'd give your rant more credence if it was more based on the things that PW has been doing wrong.

JT has SUCKED this year.
Darnell has been almost-beastly every time he's been on the floor.
That's the easy reason why Darnell is now ahead of JT in the rotation - cause he's been playing better than JT (last night was the 1st game that Darnell hasn't been sinking his 17 ft jumper).

Cause he's sucked.
Flat-out.
That's not PW's fault - he relied on Donte to be better this year, and Donte messed up big time (may have lost his career in the process).

Because they've been terrible at defending the pick and roll and they can't hit shots to save their lives in the 2nd quarter when the 2nd unit comes in.

This is the only accurate complaint you brought up against PW so far in this rant.

I really don't think PW is the defense coach (that would be primarily an assistant coaches job IIRC).
How can PW teach discipline, other than yanking players when they play wrong (and he has done that (other than with Head).

I am pretty dang sure PW would not be coaching the players on FT's - that again is an assistant coaches job.

PW can't make his players make free throws.
He can't make them sink the WIDE OPEN shots they are getting.
He can't make them switch/don't switch correctly on the pick-and-rolls.
He can't make the players box out their man.
He can't make the players REACT TO THE DAMN BALL instead of looking like they're stuck in molasses out there.

Please tell us what you think PW's job is then?

BC if none of this falls on him maybe I could be head coach too. Just throw players in with no rhyme or reason and whatever they do on the court is not my fault..

 

[TheWileyVet]

I agree. But who would coach us?

Here is where the biggest problem lies. That and his recent extention

 

[TheWileyVet]

Well, if the assistant coaches aren't doing their jobs properly, it's PW's job to step up and make sure that they do.



You can't teach discipline if you are not consistent with your decision and have different standards for treating different players. This just causes confusion and frustration amongst your players.



Again, ultimately it's his responsibility. If it's not done right, he should correct it.


If the problem was one or two players, I would say you were right, but when a whole team sucks at free throws, then something is wrong there. Either they are not working on it correctly, or the whole team is suffering from the wrong kind of pressure. It's the coach's job to take care of both of these issues.


Yes, but he can teach them offensive schemes that will get them those wide open shots in rhythm, allowing these shots to go in at a higher percentage.


Yes he can. That's precisely his job - to teach them what to do and how to do it in these situations. Why else would they need a coach?


Again, it's his job to stress those things in practice, before, and after games. Unless his players are all dumb and aren't getting it, in which case they should all be traded, he's not doing a good enough job of getting the message across.



Same as above. A coach's job is to communicate to the players what they need to do and make sure they get the message. Right now he is creating more confusion, when his job is to create clarity.

Someone gets it! Bravo sir