Coach Dave Joerger

What grade has Dave Joerger earned for this season?


  • Total voters
    82

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#1
As this season comes to an end, there are varying opinions about how good a job Joerger has done. Let's just see how the board feels. Grade him and then in the comments, explain why you gave him the grade you did. Thanks!
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#2
I'll start. I gave him a solid B. He's done a good job during a time of turmoil, chaos, etc. He's got a whole team buying into how he wants them to play the game. He's brought the youth along slowly (I know some think too slowly) and not thrown them to the wolves. He picked an incredible staff that seems really tuned in to all aspects of the game.

I really look forward to what he can do next year.

Thanks, Coach!
 
#5
a B

I did expect the Kings to be better before Rudys injury and DMC being traded. I liked the offseason acquisitions and thought we should have been better than teams like Denver and pre Nurkic Portland...and so much was same ol Kings.

It's not all on Joerger though. My expectations were partly contingent on Afflalo being of use and he just hasn't worked out. I thought a consistent 12-13 ppg with occassional 20+ outburst was reasonable to expect from Afflalo. He didn't seem intent on being a role player/spot shooter type and basically tried to do the same things Rudy does. Which hurt the team and rendered him useless. The few games where he just took open shots Cousins or Ty provided..he was excellent and the Kings were considerably better(see @Cavs)
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#7
I'd give him an A- . I think he's done a remarkable job of juggling all the players and dealing with the turmoil surrounding Cousins, Vlade and god knows what else. He's one of the best X's and O's coaches I've seen in a while. His percentage of success scoring a basket after a timeout is excellent. Add in that he's done a very good job of bringing the rookies along in a successful way. Not sure anyone could have done a better job.
 
#8
B seemed about right. there was some clunkiness in rotations and schemes at the start when everyone was healthy, but I think his slowly bringing the kids along has helped develop them well. Effort is still strong even with all the changes. Wins aren't there, but I'm not sure that's the best metric to measure his performance.
 
#9
A-

It is hard to find something blatant to fault him and his staff with. If anything maybe a few too many minutes throughout the season for vets that did not come in as advertised. Even this is minor given the circumstances.
Already said but bares repeating. The team is playing for one another. The youth core have been getting better even before being given minutes. He has been able to keep the team together through losing Rudy, DMC, etc . I think we had a shot at the playoffs all the way up to the trade.
He clearly knows the game well. Adjustments, timeouts, play sets etc are all on point. Excelent job thus far. Looking forward to seeing what he can do going forward. His body of work prior speaks for itself.
 
#13
I'd give him a B. Offensive scheme has been much better than expected. Defense scheme has been the same crap as years past. Has done a good job of developing the young players.

He's basically the exact opposite of what I was expecting. I thought we would have a much improved defense, struggling offense and not a whole lot of rookie development.
 
#15
B seems about right, especially for his first year here. Bonus points for properly bringing the kids along, and I think we would have been fighting for the 8th spot with a poor man's ideal roster next to Cousins. It's not on him that Collision was suspended and Gay was injured; he did well with what he had. Offense was a little simplistic, but wrinkles were being added as the year progressed, at least until the trade.

The Kings outkicked their coverage on this hire, I hope he stays around for a while.
 
#16
B+. Room to improve, but very good, all in all. I expected our defense would have been better this year. I think he favors the veterans a bit too much, but with the youngsters coming along nicely here at the end of the season, it appears that he has a method that works. I like that he trusted DMC, and DMC trusted him. Even if DNC's not here anymore, that tells me a lot about who Joerger is.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#17
I love Joerger, I, like many others on here, hope he is here for a long time. That said, that will not happen and at any given time, his time can run out so long as Vivek is here. As far as his grading for the season, I give him a B. He has brought along the rookies nicely, not too fast, at times later than we would have liked but he knows what he is doing out there. He doesn't put up with non sense and takes quick timeouts if necessary to get his point across, players respect him, he demands it.
 
#18
B+

I'll reserve the A range for a season with a better record, but it's pretty hard to argue against this being anything but a stellar coaching season for Joerger.

I don't think I've ever seen a coach have his guys so ready to come in and contribute after a long, obvious benching based on performance. That might be the best indicator of top notch management skills. Being able to do that preserves your primary power as a coach (benching), so that you don't have to worry about guys reacting to what you do and who you play, and go off sulking. They stay engaged mentally, they stay hungry. From vets to rookies, all players have shown that, with the exception of one or two who are no longer here.

All that tells me he's connecting with these guys behind the scenes.

And as for his in-game coaching skills, very few complaints. Plays out of time outs have been well designed.

Effectiveness of schemes will have to take time to implement based on player development, especially after a big change in personnel.
 
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#20
B
I like that Coach spent a decade honing his craft in the IBL/CBA as a Head Coach winning 5 championships along the way. While only 43 he has 20+ years coaching experience.

He, Turner and the rest of the staff have done a great job. Grade would be an A but I have to save that for winning seasons.
 

gunks

Hall of Famer
#21
Incomplete.

This roster was doo doo besides Cuz.

Then Cuz got traded.

The youth is developing nicely, there isn't much quit in this team. .. Defense still sucks but that takes time to improve.

I don't want him fired, so that's a plus.
 
#22
I voted B, but if I could change my vote, it would be a C. I want him around next season, but he's a horrible rebuilding coach. I'm tired of him riding our veterans to win games. Just take a hit to your pride and throw out the rookies in the 4th, coach.
 
#24
Fair enough. I just don't like how after the Memphis win, he basically acknowledged the tank and then puts out 3/5 of our veterans in the 4th to try to win a game at Minnesota.
 
#25
An A and its a no brainer for me.

From a national prospective, how the hell did the KANGZ land a guy this good?
He is the best thing to happen to this team in a while and is probably the second best coach ever in the Sac era. I can understand those who have some knocks against him, he did do some stubborn Vet favoritism things early on that bit us but honestly we should be thankful we have this guy. He can scheme and gameplan with the best of them. He nearly knocked out the warriors in 2015 with a far less talented injured Grizzles team. You can see how careful he is with the young guys and most importantly when something is wrong he works to fix it.

For those of us who sat thru each agonizing game of the Smart/Natt/Westphal/Corbin era watching those games thinking WTF is this guy doing Joerger has been a breath of fresh air.

Its nice to have an actual professional coach. Vivek dont mess this up!:mad:
 

gunks

Hall of Famer
#26
It's not the coach's job to tank. If you want to blame anyone, blame Vlade for not getting rid of more of the veterans when he decided he had to dump Cousins.
Indeed. That's a horrible locker room look, especially for a young team, to have the coach throw the game.

And they are resting vets.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have minded a loss tonight, but it's not Joerger's fault the Wolves out sucked us.

Oddly enough, I have confidence in Vlade when it comes to the draft. The ping pong balls will fall where they may. I think Vlade will get us good players. Even if he has to wheel and deal a bit.
 

hrdboild

Hall of Famer
#27
I'd say he's a solid B at this point, which is better than we've seen here in awhile. It's tempting to give him a bump just because the bar has been set so low, but I think a B is more than fair. He got along with Boogie, seems to have a good plan for getting the young guys up to speed, and has the team playing hard every game. Defending the 3pt line remains a problem for us, but it's a problem the entire league hasn't been able to adjust for yet. It took him a long time to kick Afflalo out of the rotation and get Garret Temple more minutes even after he earned them. I'd like to see him be a little faster about making these kinds of adjustments in the future but this is his first year and he's got a whole team of new players to figure out. The fact that he did make those adjustments eventually shows that he's paying attention. Get him some players, build some continuity for a few years and I think we'll be very happy with the results.
 
#28
B-/C+, he's been ok. Problem is, I don't think he's a fit as a "tanking" coach, or a coach who values development over wins as a non playoff team, and that's what this is this year and next
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
#29
B-/C+, he's been ok. Problem is, I don't think he's a fit as a "tanking" coach, or a coach who values development over wins as a non playoff team, and that's what this is this year and next
When he was hired, he was assured that the goal was to make the playoffs. Flash forward 40+ games and the FO trades its lone star player and releases vet Barnes who coach liked as a glue guy. I think Joerger has done a tremendous job of showing a poker face. Can't believ he as too happy about the change in direction.

Anyone think that when courting Joerger, Vlade said.....40 games in I'm going to trade Boogie and pull the rug from under you, you in?