Fire Keith Smart
- Thread starter miltonap
- Start date
I totally agree with this statement. While Sloan, a Van Gundy, etc. might be available, they won't come here in mid-season, if ever. Petrie has no excuse and if he refused to take the reins I'd dismiss him into retirement with a Kings gold watch - and then it would be Jim Eyen or some such time. Unfortunately, Smart is fast casting himself as the fall guy and has no one to blame - except Petrie - who can blame Maloofs!
It's hard for me to evaluate Smart right now. Still too early in the season. What I can clearly see, however, is that (1) Tyreke hasn't improved his jump shot much, and (2) Cousins still can't stay in games because of foul problems. Hard for me to believe Smart is the cause of that. He may be the cause of other things, but not that.
See, I have to disagree with this. The group of players actually aren't dumb. Cousins, Tyreke, Thornton, etc, are actually pretty high basketball IQ guys. They're young, so of course they make mistakes, but what they lack is a system. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason as to how this team plays basketball. You watch those guys as individuals and they are breathtakingly talented. You watch them play with their previous teams and they do great. All of sudden, on this team, they don't know what the hell they should be doing. It is a coaching problem but it's not just a coaching problem. At this point, we need to change the entire organization, as it's corrupt from top to bottom. We need to get rid of everybody except the city and the players.
The thing is, it takes time and consistency and practice to not be lousy. When you don't have that you develop much slower. It is harder to learn how to play with your team. It can lead to selfishness when you are worried if you are going to get playtime or not if you make a mistake. It leads to all kinds of problems. This isn't just a one game, one play or one week thing. It is looking at the bigger picture. Sure, we may have some games were players are hot, and we win but we should be trying for consistency. As being consistent leads to plays that can be repeated often and not rely on a hot streak.
This is incorrect. While 2 game sample sizes do not matter, we're on pace to crush our defensive numbers from the last 3 seasons. Our defense actually stayed the same under Smart as it was under Westphal. Opponent PPG, Efficiency statistics, and DrTG have remained eerily similar the last three seasons which leads me to believe we were using Paul Westphal's defense the whole year.
I like looking for a scapegoat as much as the next guy, but the witch-hunt mentality around here is rather amusing. Let's wait till Cousins actually starts playing anywhere close to his proper talent level before we blame Smart for something he no control over
I like looking for a scapegoat as much as the next guy, but the witch-hunt mentality around here is rather amusing. Let's wait till Cousins actually starts playing anywhere close to his proper talent level before we blame Smart for something he no control over
Do you think guys like Kobe, Wade, Lebron, etc, improved mostly because of coaching? IMO, no. They improved because of hard work, determination, and drive. The entire basketball world knew the deal with Cuz before the Kings drafted him. It'll take Cuz, not Smart, to improve his game.
Smart is just fine, IMO.
Smart is just fine, IMO.
They were doing poorly but they were hanging in there. IT just got going when Smart pulled him out for Brooks. Not a big deal because IT wasn't doing much of anything before that.
My problem with it was, first, bringing in Outlaw. Outlaw made one shot, blocked one shot but did nothing other than a bunch of negatives other than that. We ran iso's for him..which is beyond stupid. He had a couple of And 1 fouls and he repeatedly lost his man, allowing other guys to get open because we couldn't rotate fast enough. Outlaw alone was responsible for us falling back another 6 points at the very least.
Then when it's time to bring the starters in, Smart pulls Outlaw for Garcia. What the hell is he thinking? Johnson should have been back in at that moment and Garcia should have been the original man to come off the bench instead of Outlaw.
It's not Smart's fault that Cousins is a fouling machine, Tyreke can't shoot, Hayes is short and Johnson can't stop traveling. But it is his fault that we are losing winnable games by just randomly subbing in backups and leaving them in there all game. We played terrible on the offensive side, yet we were in both games up until the end. Intelligent coaching wins at least 1 out of the 2 games.
My problem with it was, first, bringing in Outlaw. Outlaw made one shot, blocked one shot but did nothing other than a bunch of negatives other than that. We ran iso's for him..which is beyond stupid. He had a couple of And 1 fouls and he repeatedly lost his man, allowing other guys to get open because we couldn't rotate fast enough. Outlaw alone was responsible for us falling back another 6 points at the very least.
Then when it's time to bring the starters in, Smart pulls Outlaw for Garcia. What the hell is he thinking? Johnson should have been back in at that moment and Garcia should have been the original man to come off the bench instead of Outlaw.
It's not Smart's fault that Cousins is a fouling machine, Tyreke can't shoot, Hayes is short and Johnson can't stop traveling. But it is his fault that we are losing winnable games by just randomly subbing in backups and leaving them in there all game. We played terrible on the offensive side, yet we were in both games up until the end. Intelligent coaching wins at least 1 out of the 2 games.
I'm not necessarily defending Keith Smart or saying he's doing a good job. I'm saying that no coach who's any good is going to want to coach under the Magoofs. The Magoofs are the problem with this team. They are the worst owners in professional sports. I honestly believe as long as the Magoofs own the team, this team will never again make the playoffs.
I think the worst thing for this team would be to fire their coach two games into the season. Our players need something to believe in even if it is Keith Smart. How can we expect our players to play consistently when we are consistently switching our head coach?
Give it some time before you bring out the pitch forks. I also think it is rediculous that we went 12 deep in just the first half. Some of it has to do with foul trouble. Some of it has to do with Smart. There is no reason to be playing Evans less than 30 minutes unless he is in foul trouble. Those extra minutes should not be going to Fredette and Garcia. As bad as it seems right now, it would only get worse if Smart was fired.
Think about it. It seems that all the players have taken a liking to Smart and are really invested in what he is saying. Then you turn around and fire him. Our players would be completely lost and feel helpless.
I say ride it out for 20-30 games and reassess where we are.
Give it some time before you bring out the pitch forks. I also think it is rediculous that we went 12 deep in just the first half. Some of it has to do with foul trouble. Some of it has to do with Smart. There is no reason to be playing Evans less than 30 minutes unless he is in foul trouble. Those extra minutes should not be going to Fredette and Garcia. As bad as it seems right now, it would only get worse if Smart was fired.
Think about it. It seems that all the players have taken a liking to Smart and are really invested in what he is saying. Then you turn around and fire him. Our players would be completely lost and feel helpless.
I say ride it out for 20-30 games and reassess where we are.
I don’t get to watch Kings games (must get NBA TV) but I did catch the last game against the Lakers. Here’s what I saw…. Btw, sorry if things already been said…
We had better chemistry with our starters that day, but our bench was lacking fluidity, we were messy and some even became selfish.
The problem with Keith Smart is, he’s still benching our players for 1 whole quarter. I’ve never seen any coach do this. We bench Tyreke when he’s hot and we don’t put him back in when it’s his time. This drives me crazy.
We need to pick a rotation and stick to it, figure which players work well together. I didn’t get to see most of the games but last year Jimmer worked well with Tyreke (I know a lot of people would disagree with me). Find some chemistry and stick to it. Find players that create balance and use them. For the fans who have seen our two games against the Bulls and Wolves. Are we sticking to a rotation or is every game different? Is he still benching players for 1 quarter?
I’ve said this last year, but we should have gone after Nate McMillan. Keith Smart is a good assistant to have and I wouldn’t mind keeping him as an assistant, but I don’t see him as our coach. And instead of playing hot potato with different coaches, we should stick to one. People blame Petrie for the contract extension but if I remember correctly the Maloofs were screaming his praises last year “we’ve never had a coach like him. All of our players love him and get along with him. We want him forever.” or something like that.
It’s way too early to fire the guy, but he really needs to figure some things out. Our player rotation needs to be solid – we shouldn’t have to figure it out from one game to the next. Find chemistry with our 2 groups and stick to it. Don’t hold players out for extremely long stretches.
We had better chemistry with our starters that day, but our bench was lacking fluidity, we were messy and some even became selfish.
The problem with Keith Smart is, he’s still benching our players for 1 whole quarter. I’ve never seen any coach do this. We bench Tyreke when he’s hot and we don’t put him back in when it’s his time. This drives me crazy.
We need to pick a rotation and stick to it, figure which players work well together. I didn’t get to see most of the games but last year Jimmer worked well with Tyreke (I know a lot of people would disagree with me). Find some chemistry and stick to it. Find players that create balance and use them. For the fans who have seen our two games against the Bulls and Wolves. Are we sticking to a rotation or is every game different? Is he still benching players for 1 quarter?
I’ve said this last year, but we should have gone after Nate McMillan. Keith Smart is a good assistant to have and I wouldn’t mind keeping him as an assistant, but I don’t see him as our coach. And instead of playing hot potato with different coaches, we should stick to one. People blame Petrie for the contract extension but if I remember correctly the Maloofs were screaming his praises last year “we’ve never had a coach like him. All of our players love him and get along with him. We want him forever.” or something like that.
It’s way too early to fire the guy, but he really needs to figure some things out. Our player rotation needs to be solid – we shouldn’t have to figure it out from one game to the next. Find chemistry with our 2 groups and stick to it. Don’t hold players out for extremely long stretches.
It is a lose lose situation no matter what.
if we ride it out for 20-30 games it mean we are in Lin mode after all star break.
if we show him the door now, Magoof will find a cheap unknown replacement for the rest of the year THEN extend him for another year.
if we do not right the ship soon enough I think we will trade Reke for some random pcs or he bolt, maybe Cuz as well.
if we ride it out for 20-30 games it mean we are in Lin mode after all star break.
if we show him the door now, Magoof will find a cheap unknown replacement for the rest of the year THEN extend him for another year.
if we do not right the ship soon enough I think we will trade Reke for some random pcs or he bolt, maybe Cuz as well.
