Paul Westphal: Whats your grade so far?

[sactownfan]

ok so hes not Reggie Theus, Kenny Natt or Eric Musselman... so with that in mind i think Paul and this thread are off to a good start.

i was gonna wait till after tonights game but if i start it now after a win and feeling good, we might have some sober minded replies first...in case we lose tonight... and people start chanting RUBIO again.

ok so heres the deal... Westphal joined this team when it literally couldn't have been any worse... We got off to a great start on the year and capped it with the 35pt comeback to set our record at 13-14... we even played our hearts out and almost won a ton of close games against the lakers/cav's/etc....

but since then we've only won 4 games. our kids hit a wall.

BUT !!! WE DO HAVE AS MANY WINS AS ALL LAST SEASON...

this roster isn't loaded with talent in a balanced fashion such as frontline/back court balance... we dont have a lebron james, or a kobe... although Evans looks able to reach that stage eventually... and is pretty dang good now but he's STILL A ROOKIE!!! and will be mistake prone, hes not anywhere a finished product.

we are crazy young, one of the youngest in the league. were trying to build chemistry after losing 2 key and important players for most of the season so far... Garcia and Martin... also Martin is clearly not 100% yet so people need to chill out a bit on him (side note).

we clearly have HUGE NEEDS on the front court.

all of the above isn't Westphal's fault... he cant make them superstars right away and he cant make them older, or turn Hawes into Dwight Howard...

Westphal didn't have the luxury of knowing this team like a coach whos been with the same organization for years... and it showed in his line ups in the beginning... Westphal had also been out of the coaching game for some time and so like our kids deserved a little slack to adjust...

Sure hes made some questionable decisions with substitutions, time outs, etc... hes not perfect...

ALTHOUGH... he seems to have settled on a solid rotation of players... and seems to be distributing mins like all of us here would like to see for the most part... Udoka/Sergio/sean may/kenny thomas have all been put in their deserving place... minus when were getting destroyed and Westphal gets desperate... the only exception is NOC.... WE WANT TO TRADE THIS GUY! WE HAVE TO GIVE HIM MINS AND PLAY HIM! sometimes at the cost of players we want on the floor. thats just how it is... im reserving judgment on Westphals usage of NOC until after the trade deadline...

overall this team just isn't ready for the playoffs... duh... and a lot of things arent Westphals fault (front line, mental break downs, slumps). this team is showing much more fight than last year tho... just look at all the comebacks or near comebacks. it just lacks the composure or consistency that you get with older more veteran teams... another plus is hes not afraid to bench guys for lack of hustle like Brockman starting over hawes...

I'd give Westphal a

C+ or B---


whats your grade?

 

[kennadog]

Obviously things have bogged down a bit, but I think I'd go with a B or B-, still. He's been more or less saying we have a front court problem from the very beginning. And we do.

 

[Kingstime]

Id give him a B+ or A- hes doing fine with what he has. I don't really look at this season to see much improvement, as this is really the same team from last year with a significant rookie added to it. I sometimes dont like his roations, but then again it is a nice thing to have a coach that will reward effort as every guy on this team has gotten a chance to shine ATLEAST once this year.

 

[LWP777]

I give him a "C"

 

[mr. moustache]

B+

I don't think this year is about wins and losses and I think he's done a fabulous job developing the young guys.

I give Petrie a C-. He'd be at D- if it wasn't for the Evans + Casspi picks.

I give him a "C"

 

[=LarryLegend=]

I think with no Kmart or Cisco to start the season with I give him a B.

 

[pshn80]

I don't see a reason to mark him down. Who would we rather have? I can't imagine anyone having a better outcome so far. Let's keep him for a couple more seasons.

 

[kennadog]

I have no problem with keeping Westphal, at all. I probably shouldn't have downgraded him. This team moatly looks and feels better, even without necessarily showing a big uptick in wins.

 

[Jechtsphere]

I think he deserves a solid B.

 

[Wuster]

B+.

 

[CruzDude]

Coach is learning the really young players who are learning NBA and the rest of the coaching staff. Considering the hand he was dealt and the 5 rookie/kids and several more newbies, his grade needs to be at least B+ or A- as he has done great job under very difficult situations with half the team with little or no NBA experience.

Players meshing and team chemistry has little or nothing to do with the coach this first year. By the end of this NBA year he'll better know who meshes and who doesn't. Team chemistry is what it is for now, apparently quite good and no real internal problems. So I'll go with: A-

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I give him a solid B, he is doing a nice job distributing minutes but I was hoping that by now we'd have found a more solid rotation. I understand that's not all his fault though. Still we're much better off than we were under any of the previous coaches, I think that he understands his role, probably because he is an older vet coach and knows that success isn't measured by winning % when you don't have winning talent.

 

[captain bill]

Id give him a B+ or A- hes doing fine with what he has. I don't really look at this season to see much improvement, as this is really the same team from last year with a significant rookie added to it. I sometimes dont like his roations, but then again it is a nice thing to have a coach that will reward effort as every guy on this team has gotten a chance to shine ATLEAST once this year.

I agree with this in large part, but I would add that I'm severely disappointed with how the Kings have played since Martin's return- far worse than I would have expected- and have been on a skid since before he got back (that has only worsened since).

So- first part of season: A for an exciting and overachieving team.
The slide to Martin's return: D for losing the team and not adjusting with martin.

I think the A is stronger than the D: what the Kings were doing early on looked great, and what's happening now is at least understandable. The Knicks game gave me hope that this thing can turn around, so I'd give him a C+/B-, with the understanding that if this team improves I'd be happy to bump him up to a B+ or an A even.

 

[ParniValjak]

I think he has done a pretty good job considering.

People forget that this is a development year despite a good start. The slump was always coming, it just happens with young teams.

For the first time since Adelman I can say that we actually have a coach. I feel much more comfortable about our future with Westphal as our coach.

When the losses start piling up, people always blame the coach and its no surprise that some are blaming Westphal. Just remember, you were saying the same thing about Adelman. We need to realise when we do have a good thing, not when he is gone.

Westphal gets a B from me so far.

 

[Rug King]

I give him a B+.

 

[dbfish]

I give him a C+

B+ for the first part of the season.

D+ since.

 

[Kings Fan Gerard]

Coach of the year.

Spoiler

Should have been if it wasn't for our team's spiral of death. But seriously, I'd give him a B.

 

[KingNoy]

I give him a B. He would have gotten an A if he had won all of those close games, but B is still something to be proud of.

The thing is, Westphaul had come off of a long break from coaching and was put into a pretty bad situation here in Sac. KT wasn't happy, Beno was coming off of a down season, Greene's maturity was being questioned...a bunch of factors that other coaches wouldn't want to deal with.

Yet, despite all of this, Westphaul has come in, made everyone happy, and is leading a team that, for the most part, looks like they're having fun out on the court. Even though we're getting blown out now and then, I still see the chemistry developing within this squad. The problem is that our guys are still very young and very raw. On top of that, some of them have been here long enough to survive 2-3 coaching changes.

I don't think it's all Westphaul's fault that the Kings are where they are now. They're definitely an improvement over last year given that they've already tied the number of wins from last year.

Give Westphaul at least a few weeks after the trade deadline to figure out this team. You never know, within the next two weeks, half the face of this franchise could change in one big trade and Westphaul will have to start from scratch again.

 

[Kingster]

Westphal deserves an "A". He has double the wins of all of last year. He has an excellent temperment for a coach, and obviously is intelligent. He hasn't "lost" anybody on this team, and has gotten these guys to play hard consistently. I hope he's here for a long time, at least long enough to see the fruits of his labor.