Sloan available
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I hope I'm wrong, but I expect Sloan will already be the coach somewhere else by the time Petrie and the Maloofs decide Smart isn't the answer. I think McMillan is a better fit for us anyway, but I don't expect he'll last long on the open market either.
HndsmCelt
Hall of Famer
Unfortunately I have to agree that the Maloofs are penny wise and pound foolish enough to not even look at Sloan due to his price tag. I have a lot of respect for Sloan as a coach but I will also say that he may not be a good fit unless the team buys into his system and can handle his style. Bad a s Smart may be he DOES have the ear of the players. He can and should be replaced at some point but it will have to be for a clear upgrade that the players can see. McMillan or Van Grundy maybe Sloan is a longer shot but likely to get better results in the end. Also Sloan would give the team a leg up in the effort to lure AK47.
Uncia03
Starter
I think the biggest fear people have would be regarding the relationship between Sloan and Cousins.
Don't forget that Calipari was a very tough/mean/aggressive coach with Cousins, but it worked for 2 reasons.
1.) Calipari explained why he wanted certain things done. It wasn't an insecure 'just shut up and do what you're told' situation which we seemed to get from Westphal.
2.) Calipari is a proven winner and they won doing what Calipari asked of them.
We know that Sloan is a winner, so provided that he goes in to not only coach, but to teach as well, I think Cousins would work well with him.
Even if it was only for a couple of seasons, having a coach like that, who can install an actual half-court offense and make the players learn to execute would be a tremendous help.
But I don't see it happening. I truly wish we had not given Smart a 2 year deal, as there is so much room for upgrading. But even if we hadn't given him a 2 year deal, we'd probably go with a cheap option anyway.
Padrino
All-Star
i'd argue that it is NOT a positive when a bad coach has "the ear of the players." i don't want the kings' bad habits to persist any longer than they must under keith smart. but jerry sloan's fundamental approach to pick and roll basketball, and his commitment to the defensive side of the ball, are attractive features worth considering in a head coach. ****, i'd be willing to rent sloan for a couple of years just to instill some good habits in this basketball team, as opposed to the mountain of negatives brought on by gimmick ball...
Big Cuz 15
All-Star
no kidding? imagine if we got rid of geoff petrie. we'd be on a GM carousel.
Big Cuz 15
All-Star
jerry would definitely exploit our advantages and put a system in place for these young men to grow into. pop, adelman and jerry are coaches i wouldn't mind guiding this team.
bajaden
Hall of Famer
I'd love to have Sloan as a coach. And as Uncia03 pointed out, there's no more in your face coach than Calapari, and Cousins did just fine under him. I think Cousins is fine as long as your honest with him. When Calapari recruited him, he told him upfront, that he was going to be yelled at, and if he couldn't take it, then don't go to Kentucky. Knowing that, Cousins still went to Kentucky. Lest people forget, the great Karl Malone was a pretty tempermental guy in his early years with the Jazz, and he had his run in's with Frank Layden, and later with Sloan.
Sloan never won a championship, and I guess you can be critical of that, but his teams always won. In his 23 years of coaching there, he had 1 losing season, in 2004/05, when he went 26 and 56. In his first year, he took over from Layden after 17 games and with the team 11 and 6, and finished the season going 40 and 25. In his final year, with all the turmoil, he still posted a 31 and 21 record. Corbin didn't find it quite so easy with the same team going 8 and 20 to finish the season.
Personally I don't think his retiring was because he couldn't handle Derron Williams, but because he was just tired of the grind and needed a break to recharge his batteries. His last 5 or 6 years had been very trying. His wife had died, and he helped engineer one of the quickest rebuilds in league history. After going 26 and 56 in his only losing season, he bounced back the next season with a 41 and 41 record, and never looked back.
As I said, I'd love to have him, but unfortunately, I doubt it will happen. The Maloofs would have to eat Smarts contract, and then cough up some fairly large bucks to attract Sloan. The odds are pretty slim.. But one can hope..
Sloan never won a championship, and I guess you can be critical of that, but his teams always won. In his 23 years of coaching there, he had 1 losing season, in 2004/05, when he went 26 and 56. In his first year, he took over from Layden after 17 games and with the team 11 and 6, and finished the season going 40 and 25. In his final year, with all the turmoil, he still posted a 31 and 21 record. Corbin didn't find it quite so easy with the same team going 8 and 20 to finish the season.
Personally I don't think his retiring was because he couldn't handle Derron Williams, but because he was just tired of the grind and needed a break to recharge his batteries. His last 5 or 6 years had been very trying. His wife had died, and he helped engineer one of the quickest rebuilds in league history. After going 26 and 56 in his only losing season, he bounced back the next season with a 41 and 41 record, and never looked back.
As I said, I'd love to have him, but unfortunately, I doubt it will happen. The Maloofs would have to eat Smarts contract, and then cough up some fairly large bucks to attract Sloan. The odds are pretty slim.. But one can hope..
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Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
I continue to have doubts becuase Sloan has NEVER successfully coached a team built anything like ours. Now in order to significantly change that perception I think you have to move Cousins to PF, bring back Dalembert as the shotblocking C, and...I have no idea what to do at PG. Sloan's system has always depended on great pure PGs. We have nobody close. He's always had big physical defenders at C and SF. We have nobody really close. Always had great PFs. That is what we would have to do with Cousins.
People like the name Sloan, but we are just built so counter to any team he has ever won with there are all sorts of questions. I'd roll th dice, sure. But there are other veteran coaches (McMillan, JVG) I'd roll the dice on a lot sooner becuase I've seen them win with players like ours.
rainmaker
Hall of Famer
Sloan seems like he really wants to get back into the league as a coach again, especially if he's considering Char and working for MJ. Orl is the other team being mentioned, and that is not a great situation at all. D12 is probably on his way out. They have a bunch of old, overpayed players and not much cap room. Probably not any after they resign Anderson.
The second we extended Smart I knew it would be a HUGE mistake, and damnit, even during our off season I'm getting more and more pissed at our FO and we haven't even reached the draft lottery. There is no excuse for that extension about all of two weeks into his head coaching tenure here. We knew others would become available, and some of us were following the Sloan rumors closely and thought it was probable he'd want to re-enter the fray this summer.
Now Sloan wants in.
PJax wants in.
SVG is now available.
McMillan is available.
JVG is an intriguing possibility if we wants in.
If Sloan would consider Char, or Orl with D12 on the way out, I'd have to think he'd consider working with a Reke/Cuz core, especially after supposed interest last summer. Yet here we are once again d***ing around with another below average coach. Know why I don't want him around next year? Because I don't see him finishing the year out. Then once again, we fire a coach at some point during the season, promote an assistant, and throw away another year. Also, for those who liked the extension as it took the lame duck status off him, he'll be back as a lame duck coach a 1/3 of the way into next season if things aren't going well, and the whole team knows he doesn't have a contract past the end of the season.
Also, the Smart/Cuz relationship might the most overblown thing I'm seeing on this board. Cuz got along great with his HS coach. Cal speaks very highly of him, and Cuz speaks highly of Cal. Only coach he had a problem with was Westy, because he was an absolute fool. Some underestimate Cuz and how much he wants to win and be the best. Getting along with Smart isn't evidence of Smart being some miracle worker we need to mend relationships. It's evidence that anyone would have been considerably better after his previous coach demoted him, suspended him, called him out publicly, and then demanded the FO trade him. BTW, Cuz seemed pretty pissed about Smarts subs patterns a few times at the end of the year, and he lost Reke. Unless Smart has a change of heart and remember what he learned under Pop, and not under Nelson(how dumb to you have to be to have been mentored by both, and come away thinking the Nelson philosophy is the one you'll carry with you) I don't see it going well next year,in which case I doubt a 4th yr Reke and a 3rd year Cuz(coming off UAS select team and maybe Olympic team duty, surrounded by very good to great players) will take it silently and bite their lips as they did last year. They want to be the next OKC or Mem, and want a coach capable of bringing them to that level.
The second we extended Smart I knew it would be a HUGE mistake, and damnit, even during our off season I'm getting more and more pissed at our FO and we haven't even reached the draft lottery. There is no excuse for that extension about all of two weeks into his head coaching tenure here. We knew others would become available, and some of us were following the Sloan rumors closely and thought it was probable he'd want to re-enter the fray this summer.
Now Sloan wants in.
PJax wants in.
SVG is now available.
McMillan is available.
JVG is an intriguing possibility if we wants in.
If Sloan would consider Char, or Orl with D12 on the way out, I'd have to think he'd consider working with a Reke/Cuz core, especially after supposed interest last summer. Yet here we are once again d***ing around with another below average coach. Know why I don't want him around next year? Because I don't see him finishing the year out. Then once again, we fire a coach at some point during the season, promote an assistant, and throw away another year. Also, for those who liked the extension as it took the lame duck status off him, he'll be back as a lame duck coach a 1/3 of the way into next season if things aren't going well, and the whole team knows he doesn't have a contract past the end of the season.
Also, the Smart/Cuz relationship might the most overblown thing I'm seeing on this board. Cuz got along great with his HS coach. Cal speaks very highly of him, and Cuz speaks highly of Cal. Only coach he had a problem with was Westy, because he was an absolute fool. Some underestimate Cuz and how much he wants to win and be the best. Getting along with Smart isn't evidence of Smart being some miracle worker we need to mend relationships. It's evidence that anyone would have been considerably better after his previous coach demoted him, suspended him, called him out publicly, and then demanded the FO trade him. BTW, Cuz seemed pretty pissed about Smarts subs patterns a few times at the end of the year, and he lost Reke. Unless Smart has a change of heart and remember what he learned under Pop, and not under Nelson(how dumb to you have to be to have been mentored by both, and come away thinking the Nelson philosophy is the one you'll carry with you) I don't see it going well next year,in which case I doubt a 4th yr Reke and a 3rd year Cuz(coming off UAS select team and maybe Olympic team duty, surrounded by very good to great players) will take it silently and bite their lips as they did last year. They want to be the next OKC or Mem, and want a coach capable of bringing them to that level.
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Glenn
Hall of Famer
If I might say this oddly, our offseason got off badly before it got started.
bajaden
Hall of Famer
While what you say about Sloan and who he's coached for most of his career may be somewhat true, I think it needs to pointed out, that he inherited that team of Stockton and Malone, and got the most out of it he could. It wasn't as if he put the roster together the exact way he wanted and therefore had success. My point is, I don't think its fair to take the success he had and use it against him, and therefore assume thats he's incapable of coaching a different type of team. In 2004, after Stockton and Malone retired, Sloan posted a 42 and 40 record the next year with this great roster.
Andrei Kirilenko
Matt Harpring
Gordon Giricek
Carlos Arroyo
DeShawn Stevenson
Raja Bell
Roul Lopez
Greg Ostertag
Jarron Collins
Maurice Williams
Aleksandar Pavlovic
Mikki Moore
Ben Handlogten
Tom Gugliotia
Curtis Borchart
Paul Grant
Michael Ruffin
Keon Clark
Not exactly a lot of star power in that group of players. Most of which didn't play very much. Keon Clark for instance only played in 2 games. Harpring in around 30 games. Yet, he still managed to put up a winning record. I agree that for most of his career he always had a top PG on his roster. Something just about every coach would want. And one could argue that Sloan helped make Stockton into a winning PG. Its also possible that he might revive Tyreke's career as a PG. I would put more faith in Sloan doing that than I would Smart.
Yet he's interviewing with the Bobcats.
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
I don't assume he CAN'T coach a different style team. I'm just more aware than many people who I think get caught by the fame, that he never has PROVEN he could. Maybe he can. But this is an old guy very set in his ways after 26 years of success, and basically something like 23 of those years with elite PG/PF pairings.
Of course it maybe says somethig that he is reported to be interested in Orlando & Charlotte, neither of which has anybody of note at PG or PF. But that may also just be because those are the first couple of places who have fired their coaches and he just wants back in anywhere, regardless of fit. Who knows, maybe even here despite everything.
Compare that to a guy like JVG who has coached Ewing & Yao and TMac and Sprewell, and you've got one coach who got famous coaching Cs and SGs and another who got famous coaching PGs and PFs. Our team looks a lot more like coach A's turf UNLESS we shift our two young stars back to their positions from a season ago.
Return To Glory
G-League
If Sloan ends up with the Bobcats, it will be the first time in my life I envy Bobcats fans.
kennadog
Dog On It!
The critical comment.
KingsCitizen
Starter
I've been throwing before how Sloan's pick-and-roll sytem could do wonders for Evans and Cousins. I'm still an advocate of the concept despite Evan's rather unreliable perimeter shots simply because both Reke and Cousins are a load down low.
However, if the Stoogies continue to own this team, I just can't dream anymore.
However, if the Stoogies continue to own this team, I just can't dream anymore.
bajaden
Hall of Famer
I get where your coming from, and certainly understand what being old and set in your ways means. I just wanted to play devils advocate a little bit. There's a risk with just about any coach. But I've always felt that Sloan was a good teaching coach. Although he had Stockton and Malone for most of his years there, he surrounded them with many different players over the years, and many of them were draft picks or young players aquired through freeagency. His teams always looked well coached, and well, like a team. As opposed to some of the groups we've put on the floor over the last few years. One thing all the coaches that have been mentioned have in common is, experience, and a good track record. Thats a good starting point..
Uncia03
Starter
Last Friday my wife and I were driving to Pasadena during the Lakers/Thunder game and I told her that I couldn't wait to get to our destination so I could watch the game on ESPN because SVG is a far better color analyst than the very biased L.A. radio station guys calling the game.
I then mentioned how I would love to have him as a coach for this team for the very reasons that you mentioned.
I would take SVG over Sloan, but my guess is that Sloan would be more available because he is in fact looking at the Bobcat job. So if he was actually willing to be the coach there, then he would probably considering being our coach as well.
I don't see the Maloofs offering to pay either coach, but if they were willing to fire Smart and make the smart move to hire a veteran coach, I could see Sloan saying 'Yes', while I'm not certain SVG would leave the broadcast booth and walk into the chaos that is our franchise.
It's so frustrating when you look at the potential positive direction we were heading by the end of last season to where we are now. If we somehow manage to get a top draft pick who can be a major piece for our team (sort of like how Ibaka really helps the Thunder's big 3) then it will have been worth it, but this organization has been burned so much on lottery day that I can't really get much enthusiasm for it this year.
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
JVG I hope, not SVG?
Uncia03
Starter
Whoops, yep JVG.
No way SVG is ever allowed near the organization after what happened last time, at least as long as the Maloofs are owners.
No way would JVG ever work for the Maloofs. He knows that working for bad owners is worse than the job he has.
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