FIRE MIKE BROWN

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Makes sense. I think we need to stop using the 2nd most success in Sacramento bit, as part of the reasoning and evaluation

As a "big joker," perhaps, but the second part informs the first part. You can't speak on his success and not acknowledge that; only two coaches in this franchise's history with a winning record, and he's the other one. I don't think it's fair to examine his performance in a manner that dilutes or removes that context.

The Kings aren't the lakers or the Celtics; y'all ain't "entitled" to this... Would you rather be Hornets fans? Wizards fans, maybe?

 

[206Fan]

Even if Monk signs somewhere else? Cause that could be used as reason for regression

If Monk signs elsewhere, I’m going to assume that Monte makes some type of trade involving our draft pick + the combination of Huerter, Barnes, and Lyles to get someone who can help bring a scoring punch.

If Monte sits on his hands and does nothing to shake up the team while losing Monk, then that would probably be exception #2. In that case, we’re firing Monte and not Brown… (under the assumption that we miss the playoffs)

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

If Monk signs elsewhere, I’m going to assume that Monte makes some type of trade involving our draft pick + the combination of Huerter, Barnes, and Lyles to get someone who can help bring a scoring punch.

If Monte sits on his hands and does nothing to shake up the team while losing Monk, then that would probably be exception #2. In that case, we’re firing Monte and not Brown… (under the assumption that we miss the playoffs)

Yeah, we had assumed something like this would happen by this past deadline. Easier said than actually done

 

[SacTownKid]

I wouldn’t have been opposed to promoting Jordi (I think he has potential to be a great head coach), but that ship has sailed.

With that being said, Mike Brown is a good coach and we’re not getting anyone better than him. I didn’t like his coaching for the first half of the season and blamed a lot of losses on him, but you could really see him make the adjustments and tweaks as the season came to a finish. His biggest area of improvement was on the defensive end where a number of my frustrations with him subsided. What’s his big fault as a head coach? Keegan going cold? Keon getting scared of the lights? Lyles forgetting how to play basketball? Monk getting injured? Huerter getting injured? He was not the problem tonight. Any franchise would be fortunate to be led by Brown at helm. This roster always had a cap of 1st round. That’s not his fault.

Do you want to end up with George Karl as your head coach? Because this is how you end up with George Karl.

Wasn't Jordi in charge of the defense? If so, no thanks. I'm not sure that was actually all his call but it was so obvious this team should have been playing pressure defense, not the Warriors style of help all year. Eventually the Kings figured it out but it was too late.

 

[iowamcnabb]

If Monk signs elsewhere, I’m going to assume that Monte makes some type of trade involving our draft pick + the combination of Huerter, Barnes, and Lyles to get someone who can help bring a scoring punch.

If Monte sits on his hands and does nothing to shake up the team while losing Monk, then that would probably be exception #2. In that case, we’re firing Monte and not Brown… (under the assumption that we miss the playoffs)

im wondering if #13 and KVon for Avdija make sense. He improved dramatically this year. Is signed to an awesome deal and will likely be redundant on a wizards team if they take another wing this draft. He is 6’9 and plays good defense. That’s one of the guys I’m taking a hard look at this offseason

 

[SacTownKid]

im wondering if #13 and KVon for Avdija make sense. He improved dramatically this year. Is signed to an awesome deal and will likely be redundant on a wizards team if they take another wing this draft. He is 6’9 and plays good defense. That’s one of the guys I’m taking a hard look at this offseason

While I'm not as opposed to Kuz prior to Keon getting the SG spot duties my guess and somewhat fear haha would be that package for Kuz.

 

[iowamcnabb]

If he doesn’t make the playoffs next year then I think he’s out as HC. Sabonis and Fox are too talented not to be in the playoffs. Missing the playoffs this year sucked, but there’s no excuse for next year barring any major injury

Honestly I think this is new NBA until expansion. The league is too talented now that good or even very good teams are going to miss the playoffs every year (in the west). Three hall of famers were on the 10th seed team. They were 27-12 to end the year. It’s an effing blood bath where health tell play a major role in how things shake out.

 

[iowamcnabb]

While I'm not as opposed to Kuz prior to Keon getting the SG spot duties my guess and somewhat fear haha would be that package for Kuz.

i don’t think Kuz wants to go anywhere and they seem happy to oblige him. He just opened a restaurant in DC and seems perfectly content to stay there. On top of that, he likely doesn’t see us as ready to win a ‘ship based on his Dallas comments haha.

 

[Kingz19]

I don’t know if Mike Brown is the guy to ultimately bring the Kings to the next level. It might be his ceiling is changing the culture but one way to blow that culture is to immediately fire him while taking a shot in the dark with Doug Christie. That seems like going back to the culture we changed from.

I think the Kings wanted to bring Doug up to be the head coach during the last Luke/Gentry season. He even was the head coach for a few games. I think they decided that he wasn’t head coach material and personally I don’t think he is. He’s like one of the guys. Perfect for running one on one drills as he does now.

Why should he be fired now? He came back with virtually the same team and got nearly the same record in an exponentially more competitive west with more injuries for the team.

I certainly have my questions about Brown. Im not always happy with his rotations and ive noted that he is almost never holding the clipboard and there is a couple of times I’ve seen him watching the huddle while Jay Triano or Jordi Fernandez instructs the team. Looking more like Chucky Brown than Head Coach Mike Brown. Which I think is weird for a head coach to defer so much to his assistants… and it tells me that his wheelhouse may be more inspirational than X and O. Which is weird because Brown is someone that came up as a coach. He isn’t a former player.

Mike Brown and the Kings have a mutual option for a fourth year. He has definitely earned a third season and if his vision seems maxed out after a third season then I can see them going in another direction.

Mike Brown didn’t have what he needed to beat the Pelicans

 

[SLAB]

Na, Monte’s seat has to be the one heating up a little. I can’t say I agree with the spray and pray offense and some rotations woes, but MB can only play with what he’s given. Brown didn’t run it back. Monte did.

Let’s (hopefully) get a better team going, and see Brown work his stuff.

 

[hrdboild]

The blindness is even being willing to look at any faults whatsoever - not even concluding that he should go - I mean just even being willing to consider any of his drawbacks. That's intolerable for a good chunk of posters it seems. Very weird.

I think there's a lot of valid points being made in this thread. The offense was bizarrely one-note this season. It was worrying that the team seemed unable to course correct mid-game when things started going off the rails -- usually because we couldn't make a basket for 5+ minutes at a time. Mike Brown does seem reluctant to work new players into his rotation unless injuries force his hand and he leans too heavily on veteran players who aren't earning their minutes even when there may be better solutions sitting right there on the bench.

All that being said, my "fire the coach meter" has not even reached 10% yet. Maybe that says more about the Kings recent history with head coaching hires than it does Mike Brown but ultimately, I think the culture matters more than the X's and O's. Fox, Domas, and Keegan are all invested in Mike Brown and he's earned their trust. He's very good with the media, he holds players accountable when they make mistakes, and the defensive improvement this season has been impressive (and necessary!). So no, I don't think we get better by replacing Mike Brown. We already know that Jordi is going to Brooklyn so there's at least 1 spot open on the coaching staff -- that's a big opportunity to bring another experienced voice into the room. Absolutely Monte and Mike Brown need to have a very honest conversation about these recurring problems and how to fix them. Monte also needs to make better roster changes than he did last off-season. So maybe they need to hold each other accountable as ultimately their fates are tied to each other.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to have this conversation but when people present you with differing opinions, the polite thing to do is not to dismiss those opinions as irrational or delusional. I suspect people will be a little more willing to engage with you on the topic now that the season is over than they were in the middle of the game threads.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Wasn't Jordi in charge of the defense? If so, no thanks. I'm not sure that was actually all his call but it was so obvious this team should have been playing pressure defense, not the Warriors style of help all year. Eventually the Kings figured it out but it was too late.

The thing about the eventually part, though, is that the Kings roster isn't exactly replete with dudes that are instinctively good defenders. And some of the ones who are, Brown didn't want to play Because of Reasons™. It's lowkey impressive that it took a little less than two seasons to get them mostly pulling in the same direction on defense.

 

[megapoxy]

I am not familiar with how things work in the NBA regarding coaching staff, but among all those assistants are some of them responsible for "scouting the next opponent" or this task is part of the lead assistants as well? Like "coach challenges" this has been an issue all season long, we seem not to be able to spot our opponents weaknesses and we didn't look so much prepared in many matches. We had no solutions when things weren't going according to plan and no "plan B" to execute after that. Now looking forward to offseason rumors, transfers, extensions, releases and not about the draft night cause I don't know anything regarding college basketball and who is a better fit etc.

 

[Insomniacal Fan]

I mostly think our problems are with talent limitations on our roster, which aren't primarily on Coach Brown. But with whatever roster, you'd think we'd figure out how to beat the Pelicans at least once out of 6 times this year. That seems like a tactical issue

 

[Sluggah]

I must confess, I didn’t see this heel turn coming.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

Thank you Mike Brown for changing the culture, but it's time to move on from the Mike Brown experiment.

I'd rather have Doug Christie coaching this team next year than Mike Brown.

Name your replacement.

UGH. While I share your frustration with Mike Brown and am also critical of his (seemingly) stubbornness to make strategy adjustments — I just don’t know that firing another head coach after 2 seasons is the way to go. The KINGS have been following the path of instability for far too long. And it hasn’t worked out. At all.

Unfortunately I feel like this marriage has to be given a bit more time.

That said, I was extremely disappointed to see, basically, the same general strategy used in the other 5 losses to NOP and really all season long. Quick shooting and threes. And no visible adjustments until it was too late (full court pressure and trapping).

There’s just no justifiable reason for the KINGS to force up 41 three’s when the opposition was shooting less than half of those attempts.
The Pels sure found ways to score without needing to rely upon the three point shot. They scored on back cuts, drives, and post ups. And didn’t need to stretch the floor in order to do it.

The KINGS, however, largely let the Pels defense off the hook by refusing to exploit switch mismatches and refusing to make them play defense for extended periods of time. Per usual, they typically settled for the first (semi) open three that presented itself.

The lack of adjustments to how the game is going just frustrates to no end. As does the lack of defensive adjustments just to change things up. For instance, the trapping and full court pressure that was applied late in the game sure worked. Because the Pels don’t really have a true ball handler in their starting lineup. And their other starters/reserves sure looked bothered by the pressure. Yet Mike Brown never employed it earlier in the game to see how effective it might be. Why?

These are the kinds of baffling things we’ve seen all season. But as I said, I just don‘t think it’s a good idea to fire another head coach right now. Unless you know for sure you’re gonna get a no-brainer upgrade like Spoelstra — which clearly isn’t gonna happen. So IMO the KINGS are stuck with that they’ve got for now. Hopefully McNair can find a way to improve the weapons at Brown’s disposal and a more cohesive lineup. He’s a decent enough coach to still win if the talent and skill level is improved.

If this team can swap out a couple existing pieces for better fits, they can become a 50-win team capable of deep diving into the playoffs. I know we’re all disappointed with taking a step back, but this team still isn’t that bad considering. Flawed and frustrating as hell to watch at times? Absolutely. But not bad. 48 wins last season and 46 this season, considering all the flaws, isn’t bad at all.

They just need to find a way to make the right tweaks.

 

[dvirc218]

Be careful what you wish for my man

I logged into my account just to upvote this comment.

 

[sono]

Monte should get more blame than MB, he has done nothing this season to improve the roster.

 

[Vinny Basketballerino]

Actually, he just took the USC job...

Was always built to be a great college coach.

 

[Vinny Basketballerino]

two more seasons from now?

Exactly. We have less time than people think. Fox has 3-4 years of top form left, his game has a shorter shelf life than others due to his quickness advantage. The time to strike is now. The question in my mind is simply this: is MB capable of bringing us over the hump? From what I saw this season, I do not believe so. Feel free to threaten the lives of my family for saying so. lol

 

[dude12]

My “blind spot” is history. Look at the history of the Sacramento franchise. I know you know it, you’re not new to this team. We’ve had 2 coaches in the nearly 40 years of the Sacramento Kings that have coached winning seasons. 2!
Do you honestly think firing Mike Brown right now and finding a new coach would be a step forward for this organization? Do you think that would be good for the culture of the team? What type of message do you think that would send to Fox, Domas and Murray?
Coach has his flaws, I angree, but it’s easy to look at a game like tonight and hard not be reactionary. But look at Tuesday against the Warriors. He made adjustments that threw the Warriors way off their game plan. Kerr even said as much in the post game press conference…I believe his exact words were “Coach Brown kicked my butt tonight”
I appreciate your passion Vinny, I just can’t get on board with this take. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Lounge Lizard nails it. Firing Mike Brown now is the equivalent of a Pete D’Allesandro move.

 

[Light it up]

Talk of firing Brown is silly. This team did what they were supposed to do as constructed especially missing Monk. Does anyone really think we are better than any of the other teams in the playoffs in the West?? Only so much a coach can do. This is on Monte. Monte punted this season and we finished exactly as we should have.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Exactly. We have less time than people think. Fox has 3-4 years of top form left, his game has a shorter shelf life than others due to his quickness advantage. The time to strike is now.

That's a good point that doesn't get brought up enough. If anything happens that slows him down, this whole thing doesn't work....and we've already seen stretches of the high mileage taking it's toll

 

[Vinny Basketballerino]

Any thoughts on this?

 

[luckytkp]

Calling for Mike Brown’s head is silly, he didn’t make this team to be the worst FT team in the league.

 

[Vinny Basketballerino]

Calling Mike Brown’s head is silly, he didn’t make this team to be the worst FT team in the league.

He also didn't require 1 hr of FT shooting practice a day until it was fixed.

By your logic - nothing could ever be Brown's fault.

 

[ESP47]

Yawn.

 

[funkykingston]

My thoughts on that video?

What I watched (I can only take the whiny screaming for so long) looked to be a pointing out a lot more player mistakes and deficiencies than coaching mistakes.

Basketball is a game of matchups and the Pelicans are a terrible matchup for the Kings. Ranting about that one game is a waste of time IMO.

But if we want to really pinpoint a major issue from last night, it's that the Kings got 12 points from their bench (10 of them from Davion) and the Pels got 34 from theirs.

This was a big issue down the stretch, especially missing Monk & Huerter. The Kings had an uphill battle to even make the playoffs and the real problem was losing winnable games to end up in that situation in the first place.

Brown needs to make some adjustments with his rotations (I'm still bothered by McGee playing so much early and never going with Lyles as a small ball center alongside Sasha, especially early in the season before he was hurt) but realistically how much better do you think this current roster could be with a different coach?

Despite some really disappointing losses to bad teams, they won 46 games which typically would put them in the 6th or 7th seed in the west. They were the 3rd sead last year and only won two more games with much better health and Fox playing unbelievable in the clutch.

This Kings team needs to upgrade from Barnes, ideally with a 3&D forward that provides some rim protection and to improve their bench while hopefully retaining Malik.

But they don't need to fire their coach after the first two winning seasons after 16 years of being below .500.

I get that people had raised expectations going into this season, but we have a competent GM and a competent coach who seem to very much be on the same page for the first time since Vivek has owned the team.

Firing Brown (especially without a clear upgrade available IMO) is just a knee jerk reaction to a disappointing end to the season.

 

[Showtime]

The team has 2 second tier stars, a really nice young player and a good 6th man. The the rest of the roster are backend rotation players. The coach isn't the problem.

This is true, however their offense is garbage. It relies on the DHO and screen/roll and there's literally no other schemes or good ball/player movement. The ball movement from Pels also exploited so many defensive issues. WHY are the bigs switching off on screens? It opened up so many holes. This team could have also used Sasha more with his better size, rebounding, and shooting and they completely benched him until NOW late in the last game of the season? WTF was that?

 

[Kingster]

I'm not in favor of firing Mike Brown in the least. To get players to buy into defense in the NBA is of the more difficult things a coach can do and Brown has done it. He did change the culture for the better. Ellis and Mitchell both improved fantastically. Keegan's defense improved. Heck, everybody's defense improved. I can quibble with some things like every other fan, but overall I'd give him a solid B or B+. There were things on offense I didn't understand and I've already said that I would look carefully at the offensive assistant and the job he did, but I'm not willing for the Kings to become another laughingstock to look for the Holy Grail coaching alternative to Brown.