Joerger Status. (He’s Fired)

[Ozymandias]

Ya know... I cant feel bad for Joerger... because of what I watched with my own two eyes.. I think i watched 79 kings games this year only missed 3...

I believe that Dave could've saved his job by designing better plays late in games... I really do... He didn't, so it's moot, but still..

There's an addage about Coaches should be judged on their plays late in games and after timeouts, and I wasnt impressed with Joerger in these aspects.

There were probably 5 wins left on the table like that, games that went to OT that never shoulda went to OT...

and then to me, while were on the subject.... one of the few times where he takes his hands off and lets De'Aaron do his thing late game,, is at the end of the Milwaukee game and Bledsoe stonewalls his drive and, it;'s really that sorta stuff where I think "Joerger might be a good coach but is he really a good coach for this team? I dont really think he was fully calibrated with the chemistry"...


ALSO I'd cite Buddy's shooting % from 3falling off the past buncha weeks of the season... It seems that teams had adjusted and Buddy was still good but he wasn't able to get loose like midseason buddy........ This also has to do with how Zone Defenses seem to throw us out of whack.... We need to find better ways to get Buddy clean looks in times like that...

 

[CelticsFan]

I’m not a Joerger guy. I’m ok with the move though I don’t know who I want for a replacement just yet

If Joerger is such a good coach he should have no problem getting a new gig. IMO I don’t think he will ever be a head coach in the NBA again

 

[Capt. Factorial]

How much blame should we give Vlade for trading away a playoff birth?

At the All-Star break we were 30-27 (.526). After the All-Star break we were 9-16 (.360), which is BAD, but we would have had to go 18-7 (.720) to make the playoffs. I don't think Shumpert could possibly have been worth 9 wins in 25 games.

 

[Kangztillidie]

Joerger hasn't been fired yet. I still don't think he will be.

Spoke too soon...

 

[SLAB]

I’m not a Joerger guy. I’m ok with the move though I don’t know who I want for a replacement just yet

If Joerger is such a good coach he should have no problem getting a new gig. IMO I don’t think he will ever be a head coach in the NBA again

That I dont agree with. He’ll bridge to the next right guy.

 

[Iced Espresso]

Because we've seen what happens when we have a new coach every other year?

The front office was in chaos too. Our franchise player hard to handle.

Cap situation atrocious for awhile as well.

Bust picks.

It's different now.

Joerger's coaching staff did fantastic work with some of our players. I'm sure most of us will agree with that.

But these waters are new.

 

[ockingsfan]

Warriors and Raptors fans said the same thing after firing Jackson and Casey. Sometimes you got to make tough unpopular decisions to take it to the next level

Something that you could see with the Coach and the team was that they didn't have the fire to just stomp on teams throats and finish them off. Having two 28point comeback losses in a matter of a few weeks was unacceptable.

Looking at the bench last night, there was no leadership. Not from the coach and not from the players sitting on the bench watching this. I would had liked the players like Fox and Buddy get up and into the coaches ears and beg to get back into the game and seal the victory. But they ALL just sat their stonefaced and no emotion.

Last night the Coach quit on the team and the players didn't care enough to get up and ask the coach to put them back in. I think they all kinda knew what was going to happen today, and they didn't care.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Just imagine if we don’t blow two 28 point leads, and beat the G-League Pels even once.

42 wins. Does Joerger keep his job?

No. It's a bit of a shame. I'm nervous as heck, scared even. But it's pretty clear now that something is fundamentally broken, I am guessing nobody in the org is surprised though some players may be upset (others will be grateful). And I do think what we saw in the second half last night was clearly a FU to anybody that cared.

 

[Kangztillidie]

The Athletic article shines a light on what our core (Bagley, Fox, Hield) thought of Joerger. They were not exactly endorsements. That’s when I saw the writing on the wall.

His handling of Buddy especially bordered on being out of line.

 

[Tetsujin]

At the All-Star break we were 30-27 (.526). After the All-Star break we were 9-16 (.360), which is BAD, but we would have had to go 18-7 (.720) to make the playoffs. I don't think Shumpert could possibly have been worth 9 wins in 25 games.

The Clippers inexplicably getting BETTER once they traded their best player certainly put a wrench in the playoffs wheel.

 

[Joshoua]

Oh boy, I hate Vlade more now

Already was suspect - coming into this season was thought of league wide as a bottom GM, this season Shump/Burks, Skal, Doncic. Fox was consensus pick, Buddy result of botched Cousins trade

Now this?

I’m going to have to dislike the GM for four more years and watch a worse coach

Haha wow let’s make a bad excuse for every good move he’s made.

Fox wasn’t a consensus pick and Buddy was a great pick up what kinda nonsense is that. I won’t touch the other one we know where I stand on him lol

 

[pdxKingsFan]

You might have missed but I've been bashing Barnes at the 4 and not playing Neminja since it happened. But there's no denying that the trade shook some players.

It most certainly did. And while I like Joerger and am not thrilled with this move, he is the guy who is supposed to correct that. And also get the most from the new guys. And he did not do that.

 

[NME]

The Clippers inexplicably getting BETTER once they traded their best player certainly put a wrench in the playoffs wheel.

So many times I wished the Kings played as hard as the Clippers. We don't have their same physical makeup, but the Kings should have had that scrappy underdog mentality and just didn't.

 

[Iced Espresso]

Something that you could see with the Coach and the team was that they didn't have the fire to just stomp on teams throats and finish them off. Having two 28point comeback losses in a matter of a few weeks was unacceptable.

Looking at the bench last night, there was no leadership. Not from the coach and not from the players sitting on the bench watching this. I would had liked the players like Fox and Buddy get up and into the coaches ears and beg to get back into the game and seal the victory. But they ALL just sat their stonefaced and no emotion.

Last night the Coach quit on the team and the players didn't care enough to get up and ask the coach to put them back in. I think they all kinda knew what was going to happen today, and they didn't care.

I really hope this isn't the case, but what you just said made a whole lot of sense.

 

[ockingsfan]

Ya know... I cant feel bad for Joerger... because of what I watched with my own two eyes.. I think i watched 79 kings games this year only missed 3...

I believe that Dave could've saved his job by designing better plays late in games... I really do... He didn't, so it's moot, but still..

There's an addage about Coaches should be judged on their plays late in games and after timeouts, and I wasnt impressed with Joerger in these aspects.

There were probably 5 wins left on the table like that, games that went to OT that never shoulda went to OT...

and then to me, while were on the subject.... one of the few times where he takes his hands off and lets De'Aaron do his thing late game,, is at the end of the Milwaukee game and Bledsoe stonewalls his drive and, it;'s really that sorta stuff where I think "Joerger might be a good coach but is he really a good coach for this team? I dont really think he was fully calibrated with the chemistry"...


ALSO I'd cite Buddy's shooting % from 3falling off the past buncha weeks of the season... It seems that teams had adjusted and Buddy was still good but he wasn't able to get loose like midseason buddy........ This also has to do with how Zone Defenses seem to throw us out of whack.... We need to find better ways to get Buddy clean looks in times like that...

There was a ton of instances where Joeger left his best players sitting too long on the bench in the 4th Quarter.

He left Buddy on the bench on a couple of tight games which we lost. He also refused to put Fox back in during the 4th Quarter of tight games until the 6 minutes or so mark and the Kings would lose their lead and then the game. Putting Fox back into those tight games a little earlier (i.e at the 8 or 9 minute mark) would had preserved at least 2 or 3 more wins for the team this year.

I think ultimately, his refusal to insert the Kings prized rookie, Bagley, into the starting lineup, even though Bagley was clearly one of the top 3 players for this team, may have cost Dave his job. Vlade may had seen Joeger keeping Bagley coming off the bench next year and that wasn't going to fly.

 

[206Fan]

Something that you could see with the Coach and the team was that they didn't have the fire to just stomp on teams throats and finish them off. Having two 28point comeback losses in a matter of a few weeks was unacceptable.

Looking at the bench last night, there was no leadership. Not from the coach and not from the players sitting on the bench watching this. I would had liked the players like Fox and Buddy get up and into the coaches ears and beg to get back into the game and seal the victory. But they ALL just sat their stonefaced and no emotion.

Last night the Coach quit on the team and the players didn't care enough to get up and ask the coach to put them back in. I think they all kinda knew what was going to happen today, and they didn't care.

Screw the narrative that the Coach quit on his team last night. You know what? It's the players who quit on this team after the ASB because we traded Shump and scrubass Justin Jackson.

 

[SLAB]

Screw the narrative that the Coach quit on his team last night. You know what? It's the players who quit on this team after the ASB because we traded Shump and scrubass Justin Jackson.

Shump yes.

 

[kingdivac]

The Kings finally make it to .500 and have some legit potential all-stars and people think Coach J is the problem? What are you smoking?
Coach J should get some votes for coach of the year.

Do not agree about coach of the year, but do not agree he should be let go. now It was a good season, but there's some frustration with the finish I agree with. The same problems were not really corrected from the beginning to the end of the season. They've been at around 26/32 in FTs all season long. That has to be brought into the high teens at least - bestowing at least +1pt/game average on the offensive end. ON defense they need -2pt/game average bump which will be much more difficult. Those coupled together and everything else remaining similar would put them on playoffs doorstep. It could be argued too that making the playoffs itself is a bigger motivator to improve than missing the playoffs imo.

 

[dude12]

Kangz

 

[Ozymandias]

So what this means is that there's a chance Vivek pays Coach Cal like 15 million a year to coach and recruit Anthony Davis right?

 

[SacKings123]

BS. The likes of Magic, Jordan, Bird, etc typically played all or most of 82 and didn’t take the last game off because ‘they might get hurt’.

Furthermore, this wasn’t a totally meaningless game. Not only a chance for 40 wins for a franchise desperately trying to shakes old labels and establish a winning mentality — not to mention a golden opportunity to further diminish lottery odds of the pick they surrendered. Now instead of guaranteed 14th, they are tied with 2 other teams.

In short, this game was important enough to push for a W instead of allowing players that haven’t set foot on court all season in a KINGS uniform to blow a 28-point lead against another lineup full of scrubs. This wasn’t a hard game to ensure victory.

This is a winners mentality

 

[Folsomkingsfan]

Screw the narrative that the Coach quit on his team last night. You know what? It's the players who quit on this team after the ASB because we traded Shump and scrubass Justin Jackson.

True, the players deserve their share of the blame. They let up on the gas pedal and played like they didn't care far too often. But it's a players league and it still doesn't excuse Joergers poor substitutions and late game strategy all year long.

 

[Iced Espresso]

Shump yes.

I disliked the move, but in a cutthroat vacuum, Vlade moved someone not likely to be here next year and got a weak second. Still has a bad taste, but maybe we will get lucky with that pick or move it for something useful.

 

[Showtime]

Wasn't it Dave on 1140 who said: "You're either a kid, or soft"? Neither is good news for the next coach.

 

[gunks]

I'm torn over the firing.

Joerger did good work with this roster, but it's no stretch of the imagination to think we could do better.

But is that guy out there? I can't think of any names off the top of my head who will be better than Joerger, but I can think of a lot of guys who will be worse.

Maybe Vlade brings in somebody fresh to the NBA head coaching ranks?

Let the rumors begin!

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Screw the narrative that the Coach quit on his team last night. You know what? It's the players who quit on this team after the ASB because we traded Shump and scrubass Justin Jackson.

I'm sorry but last night felt like the ultimate FU to anyone that cared. After the playoff door closed we at least had a great shot at .500 and that walked out the door but still could have closed on a high note, a nice fat 40 win total, and the Blazers gift wrapped the game for us. I mean WTF. I find it hard not to believe stuff was brewing for a few months now but 2-3 weeks ago, I left for a cruise and things were dandy, in the time since then we won like one game, the team became borderline unwatchable and then last night (arguably the last 3 games). If I weren't so scared we were going to screw up the next coach I'd be fully at peace here.

 

[bajaden]

I've repeated this crap the last 2 months but everyone chose to ignore it. The players quit on this team after the ASB. That trade affected them in more ways than anyone could've seen...but I don't see how that's on Joerger. I don't care how much NBA experience they have, that's just how the game is. You need to mature and get your crap together. You need to play 100% every night. You shouldn't need your coach to be your ****ing babysitter.

However, at the end of the day, if it's coach vs players, you have to take the players. So I do see it, but this group of players have completely pissed me off and I won't be sad to see some of them being traded or not brought back. You know what? I'll go ahead and name the names. WCS plays like crap every 4games with questionable effort in the other games. Bogdan played completely horrible outside of a few games late in the season with dumbass IQ. I'm sorry, but I have to call out Fox too. His energy level was nowhere near the same. He ****ing coasted for most of the team's 1st halves. At the same time, Buddy stopped trying on defense..giving up big points to his opponents every single night.

I'm still not happy about this firing at all. He led us to 39 wins when everyone expected us to be the worst team in the NBA. That crap doesn't happen out of nowhere. Best record in a DECADE!!! Then to hear the front runner is Luke ****ing Walton??

Won't argue about Willie, and I've been one of his biggest defenders. However, I also said that this year he had to put up or shut up. I'm still OK with bringing back for the right price (backup center money), but not the big bucks. Kings do need an upgrade at the position. I was equally disappointed with Bogi's play, but I suspected that he wasn't totally healthy. Look, he's a very good basketball player, and has very good basketball IQ. His problem was two fold. One, he just seemed a step slower with his reactions for a large part of the year, which is why I thought he might have some nagging injuries (no proof what so ever). Two, the league now knew his game, and he wasn't sneaking up on anyone anymore.

What happened to Fox wasn't a surprise. He's still a young player who is still getting used to playing 82 games. Frankly I think he started to run out of gas, and as a result, he tried to pace himself. Plus, he got pretty beat up throughout the year, and yet missed very few games. As a matter of fact, he missed one!!! If you look at the 2nd year of some of the great PG's that have played in the NBA and compare it to Fox's, you have to go out of your way to be critical of him. He made one of the most dramatic leaps I've ever seen.

None of that however has anything to do with Joerger's proposed firing, to which my initial reaction was disappointment, but at the same time, I'm not shocked by it. We have to remember were on the outside looking in. We have no idea what happens inside that building on a daily basis. Maybe Joerger was rubbing too many people the wrong way. Apparently it wasn't Valde making a decision of who the winner was between Williams and Joerger, since he's already fired Williams. Maybe Bagley's dad has compromising pictures of Vivek. I don't know!

I'm all about stability, and obviously this firing, or firing's will affect that. The Kings franchise has regained some of it's respectability, and I worry about the coming days. So I hope that Vlade has a plan and that it goes smoothly. They say that for every door that closes, another one opens. I'm curious to see what's on the other side. I've been a fan of Messina for a while, and I think he would be a good hire. I'm sure Pop's would give him the go ahead if he wants to leave. Not sure about Walton. I think I could coach the Warriors. Ahemm, I'am available.

Personally, I liked Joerger and thought he was the best coach we've had since Adelman. That doesn't mean I agreed with every decision he's made, including sitting our entire starting lineup for the 2nd half. I like most of you, wanted 40 wins, and Joerger didn't seem to care that much about it. Who knows, maybe he knew what was coming and that was his way of thumbing his nose at Vlade and company. Don't know, but I wish him well, and hey, maybe he'll get that gig in Minny that he's yearned for.

 

[Padrino]

As with most controversial firings in the NBA, the incoming hire will dictate the foresightedness of the move. Bring in the right head coach who can connect with a young roster on the rise, and it's easily justifiable. But in a vacuum, without the benefit of knowing who will coach the Kings next season, I am not a fan of firing Dave Joerger after a +12 improvement in the win column.

Things were rocky after the All-Star break, and management, the coaching staff, the players, and the fans should be rightly disappointed with the drop-off in consistency. But frankly, it was to be expected after a fairly substantial trade that shook up both the starting unit and the locker room. The fact remains that the Kings' core showed great promise under Joerger this season. Fox improved by leaps and bounds. Hield evolved into one of the best marksman in the league. Marvin Bagley had a stellar rookie season. And again, the team improved by 12 wins. Those are tangible results, and they are praiseworthy.

I guess I find it hard to believe that this needed to happen now. Vlade's contract was just extended, for goodness' sakes. His job is secure. He's got runway to determine what adjustments need to be made to continue improving next season. Perhaps things really were tense behind the scenes. Perhaps Joerger proved too difficult to work with. Perhaps the players voiced concerns of their own. Perhaps Vlade has his eyes on a particular replacement who may not have been available in a year's time. But absent concrete knowledge of these factors, I still say it was a hasty and risky move.

 

[Chupacabra]

Vlade as headcoach/GM? If it happens we must build a 50 foot tall iron statue.

 

[kingdivac]

Post all star game, the team entered an epic collapse. Blowing 28 point leads is not something that management is going to ignore. I mean, their loss to Brooklyn was literally historic. If Joerger wasn't under the microscope before that, he definitely was after. If the team started the year with their post all star record, Joerger would have been fired and I don't think anyone would have complained. In my opinion, it was worse to collapse after showing so much promise.

Take out the word "epic". It was a collapse but not an epic one. Epic would've been 3-24 or 4-23 .They lost an additional 5 games off their earlier pace.