Coach Malone

[jdbraver]

Has anyone else noticed the exiting players go out of their way to give coach credit. Either he is a pushover or he has really earned their respect. Let's hope it's the latter.

 

[The Hammer]

Has anyone else noticed the exiting players go out of their way to give coach credit. Either he is a pushover or he has really earned their respect. Let's hope it's the latter.

I don't think there is any doubt that Coach Malone is not a pushover.

 

[Glenn]

No, he's not a pushover. He's also likeable which is a tough personality duo to have. I also notice Cuz calls him Michael. I don't know what that means but it sure isn't a sign of disrespect.

Now as we go back and look at our comments that the ownership (Vivek) was bassackwards in picking a coach before we got a GM, we may have to rethink that. Vivek didn't want to lose Malone and maybe even he didn't want to justify himself to anyone else. Not sure about the latter..

 

[dude12]

Malone has the ability to rip his team when it warrants it, but he backs that up with why it was deserved. He holds them to a high expectation but he does all of this as a "we" and he will blame himself as well. Comes across as genuine and caring but also firm expects effort. Knowledgeable......lets face it, some of these guys played for Westphal, Smart and then Malone. Not like the bar was set high.

 

[Prog]

Malone is a likable and well spoken person*, but I'm not convinced he's such a great coach.

1. Poor defense. A team lead by "defensive-minded coach" should not have one of the worst defenses in the league unless the roaster completely lacks talent, and the Kings for sure have a decently talented roster. I didn't see any attempt to step up the defense and do anything creative. No traps, no full court pressure, no attempts to use zone, let alone sophisticated variants such as match-up zone (watch the Cavs next year to see an example of the latter). If your team sucks so badly on D, these are worthwhile things to work on, even if initially they lead to even worse results.

2. Not enough wins. Several teams with less talented rosters had more wins, and in the case of the Suns - many many more wins.

* Keith Smart was also likable and well spoken. It got us nowhere.

 

[Spike]

Malone is a likable and well spoken person*, but I'm not convinced he's such a great coach.

1. Poor defense. A team lead by "defensive-minded coach" should not have one of the worst defenses in the league unless the roaster completely lacks talent, and the Kings for sure have a decently talented roster. I didn't see any attempt to step up the defense and do anything creative. No traps, no full court pressure, no attempts to use zone, let alone sophisticated variants such as match-up zone (watch the Cavs next year to see an example of the latter). If your team sucks so badly on D, these are worthwhile things to work on, even if initially they lead to even worse results.

Yes. This roster was totally devoid of defensive talent. A poor backcourt didn't do us any favors, especially one that didn't really care to get back on d after either launching a bad shot or getting lost in traffic, or being Thornton.

Setting traps and full court presses don't hold water in the NBA against elite athletes, and it doesn't help the root cause. What good would IT have been in a press? Malone's task was to get the team to play solid, fundamental half-court defense. This team needs that first.

Progress was certainly made in that area. Look at the numbers from the start of the year to the end, and you'll see the progress. You'll likely see even more once the year starts, given the roster change.

2. Not enough wins. Several teams with less talented rosters had more wins, and in the case of the Suns - many many more wins.

This roster was not, and still isn't, as talented as we'd like to think. We had Cousins and virtually no one else to start the year. No real defenders, ill-fitting parts, and a not-ready-for-NBA McLemore.

Even if no other moves are made, this roster now has a bit more balance and players who know their roles (and shut their mouths). It still lacks a major piece, and that will be an issue, but a less talented team with parts that complement each other will be better than the gunnerhea mentality this team had.

* Keith Smart was also likable and well spoken. It got us nowhere.

I don't know why I'm even going to address this. If you can't tell the difference between Malone and Smart...

Malone is the real deal. At least, real deal enough to get us towards respectability. His knowledge of in game player rotations alone elevates him above this board, which puts him two levels above Smart.

Yes, he talks a good game, but he's always delivering a consistent message. Smart would say one thing, and clearly do another.

I know he got grief for a vanilla offense, but his likely reasoning is to keep everything in front of the players in order to:

• function more like a team, and,
• handle the transition to defense better than they have in the past.

 

[Prog]

Yes. This roster was totally devoid of defensive talent. A poor backcourt didn't do us any favors, especially one that didn't really care to get back on d after either launching a bad shot or getting lost in traffic, or being Thornton.

Getting back late on D is something that also Cousins suffers from. I didn't see Malone benching him or anyone else for this behavior, so it's not clear how he's enforcing this message (if at all this is part of his messages). This isn't rocket science. If you don't get back on D, you get some rest and give other players a chance to show if they care more. If you think NBA players and even stars can't be disciplined, you need to see this.

Setting traps and full court presses don't hold water in the NBA against elite athletes

The Miami Heat proved that traps are are very effective in the NBA, and yes, also when Lebron was sitting. The problem is too many NBA teams are afraid to stray from the norm. Keep an eye on David Blatt next year for a different type of coaching.

Full court pressure is also effective in spurts, but I don't think Malone even tried it once. It may be part of being a "player's coach".

Malone's task was to get the team to play solid, fundamental half-court defense. This team needs that first.

Maybe instead of banging his head against the wall he should have been more creative and try additional defensive schemes. What's the harm in trying? I'm sometimes amazed by how close minded and frightened some NBA coaches can be. If one thing doesn't work or doesn't make sense, be bold enough to take risks! It's not like taking risks and trying new things would have prevented the Kings from making the playoffs...

Progress was certainly made in that area. Look at the numbers from the start of the year to the end, and you'll see the progress.

Of course. Getting rid of Vasquez and Thornton (and a banged up Mbah a Moute) and bringing on Gay and Acy would improve D a bit, regardless of what the coach is doing...

You'll likely see even more once the year starts, given the roster change.

The thing is, I don't want improvement to come only from roster change. We have a coach, he should also have some impact on that end of the floor.

I don't see much point in arguing about roster talent. I guess we'll agree to disagree on this one.

As for Smart, I'm not claiming he was a good coach. In fact, he was terrible. All I'm saying is that I haven't seen anything yet to convince me that Malone is a good coach. He may turn out to be one eventually, but so far he has nothing to show for it.

 

[Spike]

Again, why try complex schemes if the basic ones are where your team needs the most help?
The harm in it is pretty clear. This team lacked defensive team fundamentals, both in personnel and in scheme. This is what needs to be shored up, not something that is used maybe thrice a game. You can't execute complexities if you can't execute simplicities.

 

[Tetsujin]

Getting back late on D is something that also Cousins suffers from. I didn't see Malone benching him or anyone else for this behavior, so it's not clear how he's enforcing this message (if at all this is part of his messages). This isn't rocket science. If you don't get back on D, you get some rest and give other players a chance to show if they care more. If you think NBA players and even stars can't be disciplined, you need to see this.



The Miami Heat proved that traps are are very effective in the NBA, and yes, also when Lebron was sitting. The problem is too many NBA teams are afraid to stray from the norm. Keep an eye on David Blatt next year for a different type of coaching.

Full court pressure is also effective in spurts, but I don't think Malone even tried it once. It may be part of being a "player's coach".



Maybe instead of banging his head against the wall he should have been more creative and try additional defensive schemes. What's the harm in trying? I'm sometimes amazed by how close minded and frightened some NBA coaches can be. If one thing doesn't work or doesn't make sense, be bold enough to take risks! It's not like taking risks and trying new things would have prevented the Kings from making the playoffs...



Of course. Getting rid of Vasquez and Thornton (and a banged up Mbah a Moute) and bringing on Gay and Acy would improve D a bit, regardless of what the coach is doing...



The thing is, I don't want improvement to come only from roster change. We have a coach, he should also have some impact on that end of the floor.

I don't see much point in arguing about roster talent. I guess we'll agree to disagree on this one.

As for Smart, I'm not claiming he was a good coach. In fact, he was terrible. All I'm saying is that I haven't seen anything yet to convince me that Malone is a good coach. He may turn out to be one eventually, but so far he has nothing to show for it.

I'm sorry but using the non-benching of Demarcus as some sort of proof that Malone is a bad coach is probably not going to fly. Especially when Demarcus somehow ended up as probably one of the top three defenders on the roster by seasons end ( which is once again an indictment of the roster).

Your point about wanting to see improvement in team defense beyond the roster seems a tepid one at best as the team's defense steadily improved from the beginning of the season to the end as Malone worked to undo years of Westphal/Natt/Theus/Smart non-defense brainwashing and tried to get IT and JT to play pick and rolls properly.

It seems as though you're running around and screaming that you see a fire while there are already fire trucks on the scene.

Patience, my friend. Remember, this team's been trained to hate defense for the better half of the last decade.

 

[pshn80]

Lots of keen insight above. I like Malone as our coach. This year will be a tough ne for both coach and team because of the significant changes in personnel. Whether it has been a significant upgrade or not there's gonna have to be a lot of getting used to each other this year. It could be great and it could be less than that despite our coaching.

 

[KingMilz]

Malone's real test comes this year and next year I don't think (well personally) that you can judge him on year one we had no defence playing chuckers on the roster dude had literally nothing to work with as far as winning basketball is concerned but the offence did concern me and the defensive effort in general was poor. I still think he can be a good coach it was a step up from the Smart days but he's got a lot to prove this and next year.