Can I say how strange the whole idea of waiting until the end of the season to fire your coach, which happens in US Sports, is to me.
If you know there is a problem why wait until the end of the season to address it. We basically sacrificed any chance we had of having a respectable season because there is some strange taboo about firing a coach. Players give up because they know the coach wont be there next season and you lose time for a new coach to evaluate players or implement a new system.
Other then that I really have little to complain about, bye bye Coach Karl.
If you know there is a problem why wait until the end of the season to address it. We basically sacrificed any chance we had of having a respectable season because there is some strange taboo about firing a coach. Players give up because they know the coach wont be there next season and you lose time for a new coach to evaluate players or implement a new system.
Other then that I really have little to complain about, bye bye Coach Karl.
McHale likely saved Casspi's NBA career... After Byron Scott almost completely destroyed him in Cleveland and almost all specialists thought he will be in Europe next season McHale which looked for somebody to emulate Ryan Anderson on fraction of his salary personally called Casspi and proposed him to go to Rockets (on vet. min... but still). Also Casspi attributed largely to work with McHale his changed approach which moved to reaching maximum efficiency eliminating mid-range shots and improving ability to drive to basket.
Still Casspi was out of Rockets rotation in playoffs... it seems McHale has great understanding of the game (which is not surprising) but not great in-game manager and looked somewhat afraid in playoffs using super-tigth 7-man rotations... What also alarming is that McHale seemed simetimes too easily surrending to management requests (which can be more problematic in Sacramento with Vivek... but Divac can be good buffer between them).
Still Casspi was out of Rockets rotation in playoffs... it seems McHale has great understanding of the game (which is not surprising) but not great in-game manager and looked somewhat afraid in playoffs using super-tigth 7-man rotations... What also alarming is that McHale seemed simetimes too easily surrending to management requests (which can be more problematic in Sacramento with Vivek... but Divac can be good buffer between them).
We rushed into hiring Karl on the "evaluate players or implement a new system" premise and it was an absolute disaster.
People still defending Karl or thinking teams are lining up for him are badly misreading this situation. No one wanted him when we got him, why would a disastrous stint here make him higher in demand?
People still defending Karl or thinking teams are lining up for him are badly misreading this situation. No one wanted him when we got him, why would a disastrous stint here make him higher in demand?
In a normal year we would have fired him at the All Star Break. The problem is the political narrative in the American press about all the firings of coaches the Kings have been through over the last few years. Additionally, the rumor is the minority owners were tired of paying salary to hastily fired coaches. It was politically prudent to wait until April.
The Sacramento Kings have officially fired coach George Karl, according to league sources.
......and that disastrous era is finally over.
I'm glad he's gone, it didn't seem like he wanted to coach here anyway. I don't how much of a relief it is though. This next hire is huge. With the pick our pick situation (the swaps and first rounders potentially owed other teams) makes it really really important that this thing get turned around right now. I like Vlade and I have confidence in him but I have lingering doubts about ownership(not just Vivek) and their ability to let personnel people make the decisions. If nothing else it will be an interesting offseason.
When the thing that needs to happen happens 4 months too late, it's hard for me to feel anything but angry about the missed opportunity. We needed to win 9 more games to make the playoffs this year and nothing will convince me that this team couldn't have accomplished that if George Karl was fired in November. And if we did fire George Karl when it first became apparent that he was a terrible fit for this team and we won those 9 additional games, all people would be talking about right now is DeMarcus Cousins' MVP caliber season and Rondo's resurgence and the welcome return of Arco thunder to the playoffs. But it is what it is. Another missed opportunity -- another chance to learn from our (many) mistakes and turn the corner.
The national narrative of course will be that firing yet another coach is just more evidence that the organization is incompetent -- and it's hard to argue otherwise. But what we know that they don't know is that this was a PDA/Mullin/Vivek mistake not a Vlade mistake and what he does next will start to define his GM legacy. I'm holding my breath that the next coaching hire is a step forward. George Karl is right that we need stability here and that starts with the front office (hopefully stabilized now) and a forward thinking coaching hire who'll hopefully run the ship for the next decade or more.
The national narrative of course will be that firing yet another coach is just more evidence that the organization is incompetent -- and it's hard to argue otherwise. But what we know that they don't know is that this was a PDA/Mullin/Vivek mistake not a Vlade mistake and what he does next will start to define his GM legacy. I'm holding my breath that the next coaching hire is a step forward. George Karl is right that we need stability here and that starts with the front office (hopefully stabilized now) and a forward thinking coaching hire who'll hopefully run the ship for the next decade or more.
http://abc7.com/sports/kings-fire-george-karl/1291348/
New name added to our list of "interested in": Nate McMillan
New name added to our list of "interested in": Nate McMillan
Oh goodie! First hit piece is hot off the presses!
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/why-george-karl-s-firing-won-t-fix-kings-165249640.html
A bit harsh on Vlade, but I agree with the article's take on Vivek being a horrible dingbat of an owner.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/why-george-karl-s-firing-won-t-fix-kings-165249640.html
A bit harsh on Vlade, but I agree with the article's take on Vivek being a horrible dingbat of an owner.