Kings first round of coaching candidate interviews comes out
- Thread starter Tetsujin
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id pick Ham out of the 3. We need a guy to hold the players accountable. Also since Vivek still owns the team, I’d guess he would force DC to be an assistant coach and he’s in the Lee type of mold. Which cancels out Lee (not that they’re the same level coach atm). As for Hardy, I like that he’s been a part of 2 regimes
I'm all for this type of coach, but, to be fair, one of the reasons why Joeger got punted was because he tried be an enforcer and accountability guy.
And if that is the type of coach that the Kings are looking for, the absolute best candidate is Ben Howland. Though, as I said before, I think there will be a Sprewell incident within 12 months, because of Howland's style. Very narrow pool of players, who truly thrive in his system. For every Russ Westbrook or Norm Powell there are Honeycutts or Drew Gordon's who can't take it.
And if that is the type of coach that the Kings are looking for, the absolute best candidate is Ben Howland. Though, as I said before, I think there will be a Sprewell incident within 12 months, because of Howland's style. Very narrow pool of players, who truly thrive in his system. For every Russ Westbrook or Norm Powell there are Honeycutts or Drew Gordon's who can't take it.
if he is fired, I wonder if he take a year off. The downside to that is there might not be many openings in the near future as it appears a lot of teams have long term coaches in place. These are the places who don’t now or potentially in the next year plus:
Sac
Charlotte
San Antonio - if Pop retires next year
Brooklyn- if they fall apart
Philadelphia- if they have some weird collapse
Utah
Washington
New York
Atlanta
Houston
Every other franchise has a coach they plan on riding with long term imo. 6 of the 10 teams who have question marks are still more likely to stick with their guy for a couple years.
that doesn’t leave many openings
Sac
Charlotte
San Antonio - if Pop retires next year
Brooklyn- if they fall apart
Philadelphia- if they have some weird collapse
Utah
Washington
New York
Atlanta
Houston
Every other franchise has a coach they plan on riding with long term imo. 6 of the 10 teams who have question marks are still more likely to stick with their guy for a couple years.
that doesn’t leave many openings
Yeah I do. I think he's one of the few actual difference makers in terms of W/L as a coach. Has a brilliant understanding of modern offensive spacing (Jazz 1st and 3rd in Offensive Rtg the last few years as well as leading the league in 3PA) and how to make complimentary offensive lineups. Puts guys in clearly defined offensive roles; (Mitchell, Clarkson are the lead dogs, Conley the secondary creator, Bojan the secondary scorer) that guys don't deviate from. Has obviously benefited with a generationally good rim protector in Rudy Gobert, but has lead excellent defensive teams without all that much defensive talent.
It's not surprising Utah collapsed. Pretty clear they were getting near the end of this build cycle and a few key things started to happen: Mike Conley got old, Donovan Mitchell is a B-tier playoff #1, and Rudy Gobert's lack of offensive creation and ability to be attacked in space became more of a glaring issue year after year.
Even as a near perfectly constructed team around their stars, it's hard to overcome all these problems. Especially now, I think the 2 most important traits from a big are defending in space and being an offensive threat in some capacity (preferably a spacer). The Gobert, Capela, old DeAndre Jordan/Tyson Chandler archetype is just too easily exploitable now.
It's not surprising Utah collapsed. Pretty clear they were getting near the end of this build cycle and a few key things started to happen: Mike Conley got old, Donovan Mitchell is a B-tier playoff #1, and Rudy Gobert's lack of offensive creation and ability to be attacked in space became more of a glaring issue year after year.
Even as a near perfectly constructed team around their stars, it's hard to overcome all these problems. Especially now, I think the 2 most important traits from a big are defending in space and being an offensive threat in some capacity (preferably a spacer). The Gobert, Capela, old DeAndre Jordan/Tyson Chandler archetype is just too easily exploitable now.
He'd be stupid to pass up on the Kings if they are interested. Talk about low to no pressure, a PERFECT building block combo for his system in Fox/Sabonis, and a perfect scenario for a coach whose resume is basically getting a team up to a certain level then failing. Literally all he would have to to is get into 6-8 and we're talking parades in his honor.
It certainly would seem like a sensical move if you believe Monte has the franchise headed in the right direction but I could see him going to Charlotte or waiting a year for Portland or some team that doesn't have Sacramento's dysfunctional stench all over it. Those teams are going to have higher aspirations and he may run into a wall though.
There's a thing Sac has over other teams, the Fox and the Ox. That trade for Sabonis might just come in REAL handy this summer for a coach like this in particular. All the things he couldn't do with Gobert? Yeah, thing of the past. Mitchell is a good, good G, but say hello to Mr. Fox. More true PG and quicker than anyone in the league. Those high pick and rolls he likes to run just became insane with these two.
For me it has to be one of the assistants (Ham, Lee, or Hardy), or Snyder if he actually wants the job. I don’t really see him being interested in the job because of all the baggage with our franchise. However, it isn’t completely out of the realm of possibility considering there is a positive upside with a Fox/Sabonis star duo + low expectations in Sacramento.
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