Wasn't sure if this deserved it's own thread, but didn't want to hunt around for another to tack it on to.
Kings notes: Pacers capitalize on Sacramento's griping
- Thread starter Warhawk
- Start date
PurpleHaze
All-Star
Sadly, Kings are getting a quite easy to trash reputation around NBA. A game earlier in live TV postgame interview Luke Ridnour of T'Wolves said Kings were, "a bunch of great one-on-one players," in an obvious put down of their play. And now this one sticking it to them from George Hill of the Pacers.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
Makes sense. Teams will take advantage of mental weakness any chance they can get.
Not surprised at all. Which of course points back to the coach. Here we've got Keith NASHT trying to be everybody's best friend.
Let me ask you a question: Do you think Jerry Sloan was everybody's best friend? Sloan was a disciplinarian who knew the game of basketball inside and out. And, golly gee, he got results.
We need a coach who can kick this roster into shape. You don't go hard in practice? You don't play. You whine to the officials in any way? You're yanked for the rest of the half, immediately. You don't run the play the coach called? Again, yanked.
These kids gotta be told that they need to figure out if its about the paycheck or about playing good basketball. And if it's about the paycheck, they can earn it warming up the bench.
Let me ask you a question: Do you think Jerry Sloan was everybody's best friend? Sloan was a disciplinarian who knew the game of basketball inside and out. And, golly gee, he got results.
We need a coach who can kick this roster into shape. You don't go hard in practice? You don't play. You whine to the officials in any way? You're yanked for the rest of the half, immediately. You don't run the play the coach called? Again, yanked.
These kids gotta be told that they need to figure out if its about the paycheck or about playing good basketball. And if it's about the paycheck, they can earn it warming up the bench.
Glenn
Hall of Famer
That's funny.
HereWeBoogie
Hall of Famer
same can be said for Popavich
bloom
Starter
We do whine to refs but I’ve seen other teams cry more (and yeah it gets annoying when players do it all the time). Maybe it’s good that he said something, maybe this will light a fire under our players and make them want to be better. I hope that the next time that we play Indiana, the Kings will remember this and beat them.
On a side note, I remember when we drafted JT, he would be complaining all the time. That drove me nuts.
The whining also falls on the coach/assistant coaches. They need to make sure that their players aren’t focused on the officials.
On a side note, I remember when we drafted JT, he would be complaining all the time. That drove me nuts.
The whining also falls on the coach/assistant coaches. They need to make sure that their players aren’t focused on the officials.
Would the fan base be happy with Demarcus and Thornton sitting for most of the game because they wouldn't play the way Sloan wanted them to? Would the fan base, ownership and management back Sloan instead of the players? I really doubt it. Demarcus already had one coach fired and he knows he has all the power he needs to do whatever he wants.
That's been presumed true regarding Demarcus, but don't you think Westphal got himself fired? He picked fights with players on multiple occasions and the team was getting blown out every night. I'd be happy with Demarcus and Thornton sitting for stretches if they continue to play like chickens with their heads cut off. In a sense it's hard to blame the players for acting like spoiled brats on the court when the coach just sits there and lets it happen. In the past Demarcus has performed best when he is held accountable for his nonsense. The pound it inside player I saw at Kentucky is a distant memory right now. Remember how Zach Randolph played under Isiah Thomas? That's basically what we've got.
Yes. Because the coaches we have had since Rick have all frankly sucked. I think the fans would back a serious coach who knew what they were doing. It is obvious Smart does not.
Someone posted on another thread that if you have gone through 5 coaches since then and the product sucked, it can't be the coach. And I say h*** yes it can. You just keep getting crappy coaches.
rainmaker
Hall of Famer
Given Cuz had a good relationship with Calipari, who's a tough as nails disciplinarian and is always in his player's faces, I don't believe a Sloan type wouldn't work with Cuz. Calapari has said Cuz is the most intelligent player he's coached, and Cuz knows when his coach is in over his head like we're seeing now. I actually think Cuz would love playing for a Sloan or JVG as they have the track record which show they know what the hell they're doing.
The idea Cuz doesn't respond well or can't handle a tough minded coach doesn't coincide with his time at Kentucky. I'd also say Cal is a better coach than either Westy or Smart, and Cuz knows that.
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
All that said the "strict disciplinarian who kicks butt and makes men weep" thing woudln't work. Oddly, grown men don't particularly like to be bullied. nor overgrown teenagers for that matter. I think our guys are primed for a change, but there has to be a lot of carrot with that stick.
However, a coach who demanded accountabilty and knew how to make his horses run wihtout having to resort to the lash would do wonders. Its why I am more in support now than ever of an experienced hand who demands respect not with threats and yelling, leading to the inevitable Sprewellesque throttling by Cuz, but just by having acheived so much and knowing so much. Cuz remains I puzzle, I distrust Thornton's ego, but I do trust their competitiveness. They care. They are just dificult to manage. And guys like Tyreke I think would LOVE to have a coach who they could trust ont he sideline.
All pie in the sky though. Some people cry conspiracy with the Maloofs, I just cry poverty, stupidity, shallowness. If they don't finish losing the rest of their money themselves, they are prime candidates to fall for some smooth talking scam artist selling them prime beach property in Nevada. A smooth talker like Smart probably already has the keys to their foreclosed mansions by blowing smoke up their behinds and making them feel all special and informed and stuff. And then you have to remember pride. The Maloofs are dumb as rocks, but desperately want to hide it, and are dim enough to think the secret somehwo isn't out and that they can conceal it just by being stubborn. We didn't **** up! It was all part of the plan! We know what we're doing! Etc. etc. The takeaway of it is Smart is the coach. So plans on what we could do with somebody other than Smart are pointless. It really is a pathetic situation unworthy of major professional sports in this day and age.
However, a coach who demanded accountabilty and knew how to make his horses run wihtout having to resort to the lash would do wonders. Its why I am more in support now than ever of an experienced hand who demands respect not with threats and yelling, leading to the inevitable Sprewellesque throttling by Cuz, but just by having acheived so much and knowing so much. Cuz remains I puzzle, I distrust Thornton's ego, but I do trust their competitiveness. They care. They are just dificult to manage. And guys like Tyreke I think would LOVE to have a coach who they could trust ont he sideline.
All pie in the sky though. Some people cry conspiracy with the Maloofs, I just cry poverty, stupidity, shallowness. If they don't finish losing the rest of their money themselves, they are prime candidates to fall for some smooth talking scam artist selling them prime beach property in Nevada. A smooth talker like Smart probably already has the keys to their foreclosed mansions by blowing smoke up their behinds and making them feel all special and informed and stuff. And then you have to remember pride. The Maloofs are dumb as rocks, but desperately want to hide it, and are dim enough to think the secret somehwo isn't out and that they can conceal it just by being stubborn. We didn't **** up! It was all part of the plan! We know what we're doing! Etc. etc. The takeaway of it is Smart is the coach. So plans on what we could do with somebody other than Smart are pointless. It really is a pathetic situation unworthy of major professional sports in this day and age.
We were "blown out every night" to the tune of 2-5 before he was fired. We weren't getting blown out in Cuz's rookie season. 2-5 is all it took to get him fired, but here we are at 4-12 ...
When we drafted JT? He still does it every single game ...
LPKingsFan
All-Star
And if you keep getting crappy coaches, don't you think it's time to look in the mirror?
Yes, I do. But the owners are the ones with the purse strings and they won't fire themselves. Unfortunately.
Cal is not a better NBA caoch than Paul Westphal. Their respective records bear that out.
And perhaps the reason Cuz got along with coach Cal so well was because he was 18 and looking to make it to the NBA. That and he only had to make 30 games or so and he was would be gone. Combine that with the fact he was so much more talented and physically imposing even as a freshman that he didn't have to try that hard to be great in college.
Maybe Sloan would get along with Cuz just fine but using his relationship with coach Calipari as evidence is a little misguided.
Last edited:
Those 5 losses included a 22pt loss to Portland, a 22pt loss to the Knicks, a 17pt loss to Memphis, and a 27pt loss to Denver to cap it off. Aside from opening night against the Lakers and a win over the worst team in the league, we weren't competitive. We didn't get any more competitive after Westphal was fired, but it's not like his mind-bogglingly stupid press release about Cousins was the only reason we let him go.
The team isn't winning this season, but they're not getting throttled night after night either. The Tyreke head-shake game against Atlanta was a warning sign but the team turned it around after that. Last night's game was the type of game that will get a coach fired if we have a few more just like it. If Tyreke picks up where he left off it might prolong the inevitable for a few more weeks. And if Smart makes it to January there's enough cupcake games to draw it out even more, but for what purpose? It's already clear he doesn't know how to coach this team.
My point was that blown out or not, it was still just 5 lost games at the start of the season with no real training camp. Our team last season was less talented as well. In addition, in those 7 games we didn't have IT or Jimmer or Brooks. JT wasn't playing as well or consistently as he is now. Meanwhile we're here, 4-12, Smart had a full off-season to work with the guys, a full training camp and 8 preseason games and we aren't firing his *** for some reason. And it's not as if Cousins' play has been very inspiring either.
Last edited:
Kingster
Hall of Famer
Couldn't agree more. But I'd go two steps further. Ultimately, you need a GM and owner(s) who back up the coach when he does the things that you suggest above. They have to have the coache's back. It's either that or you have to have a roster of very coachable kids who will do what the coach wants. JT is a good example for that. You just can't have a Cousins on your roster if you don't have solidarity between coach, GM and owners. Frankly, that was my main opposition to drafting Cousins: he was drafted by a weak organization, which increases substantially in my view his chance of failure. If he goes to a solid org (San Antonio would be the logically exteme example), then his risk of failure goes down appreciably imo.
Last edited:
Hey, our owners back up Keith Smart! Coach forever yo!
blackice
G-League
It is very annoying to see lots of these Kings players complaining every single time down the floor, more or less the main culprits here are Cousins, JT and Aaron. That's why I respect a guy like Tyreke, I mean he just keeps quiet kind looks at the official once in a while and runs back on defense. He's very under appreciated here sometimes, at least he's been fun to watch these last few games. Of course once he starts playing good and knocking down the J's he gets hurt, go figure.
Their record speaks for itself.There is always a lot of talking going on during games. Some is trash talking, mostly team communication and some socializing. The Kings specialize in talking to the refs when they should be getting their butts down the floor to stop the opposition. Professional players quickly figure this out and exploit it. They attack opposing players injuries. The Pacers are one the first teams to publicize what nearly all NBA teams already know. Push the ball against Sacramento.
Last edited:
Similar threads
- NBC Sports BayArea
- Kings News Links
- Yahoo! Sports - NBA -
- Kings News Links
- Yahoo! Sports - NBA -
- Kings News Links