Vlade Divac on Jim Rome

[Bricklayer]

My theory to all this is that Vlade wants to fire Karl but Vivek has probably put that fire out. Vivek doesn't want to be on the hook for paying three coaches at once, and that may be the reason why Karl doesn't like Divac or get along with him. The only solution is to work it all out. However, Vlade has made his choice it's clear as day. It's Cousins. He just created a roster to 100% suit Cousins's talent and cover his weaknesses. Karl is on the hot seat. If he doesn't join the club so to speak, he's done.

Vivek by the way should only be on the hook for 1 coach right now, 2 if Karl is fired. Malone's contract got cancelled when he was hired by Denver, and Corbin's was just an interim deal that should have expired when the season was over.

Otherwise I would generally assume that Vivek would of course be plenty reluctant with Karl. But as I've said before, that's got to resolve one way or the other within a month at the latest. If he's got to be canned, then you absolutely need to make the move with enough time that a new coach can get on in here, assemble a staff, and be ready by training camp. So you need to figure it out one way or the other quickly. The season itself cannot be risked.

 

[Merdiesel]

No matter what Coach Karl possibly did in the past... you fire him now you can forget ever trying to land another big name coach again. At least as long as this front office is concerned.

We have two grown men with a common goal, win basketball games. They need to just grow up and make it work. It will be best for both.

We also don't know what came first, DMC camp requesting a trade or Coaches pursuit to move DMC.

 

[pshn80]

I want both Karl and Cuz to just figure it out....Karl wins and Cuz is an elite talent. Figure this out and win games.

That's not only what I want but I believe it' the best way for the team. I really believe if you talked to any one of them - Cuz, Karl or Vlade - each would agree it is the best way. None of the three have to love each other but trust is the key. I'm confident in Vlade as the facilitator and wish him luck.

 

[funkykingston]

Vivek by the way should only be on the hook for 1 coach right now, 2 if Karl is fired. Malone's contract got cancelled when he was hired by Denver, and Corbin's was just an interim deal that should have expired when the season was over.

Otherwise I would generally assume that Vivek would of course be plenty reluctant with Karl. But as I've said before, that's got to resolve one way or the other within a month at the latest. If he's got to be canned, then you absolutely need to make the move with enough time that a new coach can get on in here, assemble a staff, and be ready by training camp. So you need to figure it out one way or the other quickly. The season itself cannot be risked.

Yeah, and my guess is that if George Karl is fired that's how his career ends. He was out there and available for a while before the Kings snagged him and now at his age and if he's coming off being fired for basically insubordination and inability to get along with a young, star player he'll fail to get another contract. Which means that unlike Malone Vivek would be on the hook for his full salary/retirement package.

I still think Karl and Cousins can salvage their relationship and I think winning cures all. But if they can't then media perception be damned, Karl will need to be fired. Of course that yet again means the Kings trying to scramble to find a coach instead of doing their due diligence with a true search.

I'm hoping for kumbaya rather than WWIII

 

[Livinthedream]

I won't take Karl over DMC. But I will say that a winning coach will find a way to win. Karl will do his job and Cousins will do his. The only problem will come is if we're not any good. And I don't think that's the case.

I'm also not too concerned with Cousins and his coaching history. Webber didn't really get along with coaches either. Including Adelman (as cited by Jerry Reynolds). The common theme being, tempermental players tend to get along with father figure like coaches. Most successful NBA coaches don't play that role. Cousins will eventually learn to play ball as long as he's winning and stop worrying about his coach.

 

[206Fan]

If Karl can't do his job, then Thibbs can...just saying.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

I won't take Karl over DMC. But I will say that a winning coach will find a way to win. Karl will do his job and Cousins will do his. The only problem will come is if we're not any good. And I don't think that's the case.

I'm also not too concerned with Cousins and his coaching history. Webber didn't really get along with coaches either. Including Adelman (as cited by Jerry Reynolds). The common theme being, tempermental players tend to get along with father figure like coaches. Most successful NBA coaches don't play that role. Cousins will eventually learn to play ball as long as he's winning and stop worrying about his coach.

Yup. What's interesting is that once these player personalities get past the initial "don't like" phase,...a lot of times they end up considering them to be the best coach they've had. Gary Payton with George Karl is an example.

I'll guess that's what's going to happen here

 

[Livinthedream]

If Karl can't do his job, then Thibbs can...just saying.

True. I don't like Karl anymore than anyone else. But Karl is here now. I don't think Cousins leaves if we play well. Karl's teams usually play well no matter the personality conflicts. As has been pointed out, Karl will be here temporarily. Just a few years with no chance of him staying longer. Get these wins and find a new coach in a couple years to put us over the top.

 

[kupman]

Westphal, Smart, Malone, Corbin, Karl. Those are the coaches Cousins has had as a King. How many worked out? One. Malone. Did anyone know ahead of time if Malone would work out with Cousins? No, they didn't. There was fear aplenty on the Malone-Cousins relations after Malone was hired. Based on history, there is a one in five chance of Cousins working out with the next coach after Karl. Maybe they luck out and they pick the one in five coach on the first roll of the dice. Maybe it's the fifth roll. Other than his Kentucky coach, who has already dismissed the idea, and Malone, who is now under contract, who could Cousins trust as his next coach after Karl? Isn't that what it's about? Cousins' trust? Is there a coach he's had other than Calipari and Malone that he trusts? Is there a coach on the Olympic team that he fully trusted that is a viable option for the next head coaching position with the Kings? What coach has Cousins had who Cousins fully trusts who has the experience necessary to be an NBA coach? For without a credible option for Coach Number 6, the next coach after Karl is just another crap shoot.

I share your thoughts. I will also go one further. DMC basically played for Cal and Malone for 1 season. I question how long DMC would even trust them. I am done having this franchise revolve around DMC. He is a great talent, but this team will not thrive if making DMC unhappy is constantly a fear.

Honestly, if DMC a and Karl cannot get along I will want both of them gone.

 

[Bricklayer]

I share your thoughts. I will also go one further. DMC basically played for Cal and Malone for 1 season. I question how long DMC would even trust them. I am done having this franchise revolve around DMC. He is a great talent, but this team will not thrive if making DMC unhappy is constantly a fear.

Honestly, if DMC a and Karl cannot get along I will want both of them gone.

You don't get Cousins at all. Many people don't. You can tell who shares personality traits with him.

DeMarcus Cousins will go to his death with his friends. Once you are in, until you betray him, you are IN. Ironically he's about as far from an unsteady or mercurial personality as you could find.

The trick is getting in. Not such a big trick really, but hard for old school egomaniacs who thrive upon their dictatorial powers to manage. As I've mentioned before, you will note how many of our fired coaches have gone on to NBA glory . It rather exactly mirrors the worth of those coaches. Adelman and Malone made it back to coach in the league. Westphal, Smart, very likely Corbin, Theus, Natt and Musselman never have. Its not coincidence.

P.S. blaming a star player for not getting along with Coach Karl is a bit like blaming a dog for yelping when you kick it. In his long career the grand total of guys Karl hasn't eventually rubbed the wrong way probably consists of his son and maybe Gary Payton, who I guess formed some sort of butthead alliance with him.

 

[funkykingston]

You don't get Cousins at all. Many people don't. You can tell who shares personality traits with him.

DeMarcus Cousins will go to his death with his friends. Once you are in, until you betray him, you are IN. Ironically he's about as far from an unsteady or mercurial personality as you could find.

The trick is getting in. Not such a big trick really, but hard for old school egomaniacs who thrive upon their dictatorial powers to manage. As I've mentioned before, you will note how many of our fired coaches have gone on to NBA glory . It rather exactly mirrors the worth of those coaches. Adelman and Malone made it back to coach in the league. Westphal, Smart, very likely Corbin, Theus, Natt and Musselman never have. Its not coincidence.

P.S. blaming a star player for not getting along with Coach Karl is a bit like blaming a dog for yelping when you kick it. In his long career the grand total of guys Karl hasn't eventually rubbed the wrong way probably consists of his son and maybe Gary Payton, who I guess formed some sort of butthead alliance with him.

Isn't Butthead Alliance playing at Coachella this year?

 

[Padrino]

You don't get Cousins at all. Many people don't. You can tell who shares personality traits with him.

DeMarcus Cousins will go to his death with his friends. Once you are in, until you betray him, you are IN. Ironically he's about as far from an unsteady or mercurial personality as you could find.

The trick is getting in. Not such a big trick really, but hard for old school egomaniacs who thrive upon their dictatorial powers to manage. As I've mentioned before, you will note how many of our fired coaches have gone on to NBA glory . It rather exactly mirrors the worth of those coaches. Adelman and Malone made it back to coach in the league. Westphal, Smart, very likely Corbin, Theus, Natt and Musselman never have. Its not coincidence.

P.S. blaming a star player for not getting along with Coach Karl is a bit like blaming a dog for yelping when you kick it. In his long career the grand total of guys Karl hasn't eventually rubbed the wrong way probably consists of his son and maybe Gary Payton, who I guess formed some sort of butthead alliance with him.

beyond all of that, i'd hardly say that demarcus cousins is difficult to please. hell, his preference is to remain in the city of sacramento, of all places. it's not as if he's asking for the moon here. he's a good kid, much smarter than he's often given credit for, very active in the community, and a tremendous talent who just wants to win basketball games. i'd hazard to guess that cousins' expectations of the team he plays for are no greater than the fans' expectations of the team they root for, and i don't think it's much to ask for a roster around demarcus that can compete on both sides of the ball and a head coach who can lead and unify that roster, rather than a coach who could just as easily drive further divisions into a locker room that's been perpetually fractured since rick adelman was shown the door...

it isn't about walking on egg shells to keep demarcus from being "unhappy." he doesn't want to be babied. he doesn't want to demand a trade. he wants to be here. he wants this franchise to figure it out. however, hiring a head coach with a significant history of alienating star players and an insignificant history of coaching star big men wouldn't seem to be the ideal match for a team anchored by demarcus cousins. but again, this isn't about making cousins happy. it's about being smart enough to recognize how this team can build toward sustainable success, because cousins is certainly intelligent enough to recognize a winning strategy when he sees one. after all, it didn't take him long to buy into mike malone's strategy, and to understand how far a commitment to defense could carry both cousins and this team...

 

[Peter_Gibbons]

If Vlade is going to fire Karl if things don't work out with Cuz then he should just do it now. It is too much of a risk to wait any longer since no decent coach will want to take over a job late into the off season. Summer league is already upon us, could Thibs even be remotely interested in taking this job?

 

[Chupacabra]

Anyone know of a way to watch the Vlade Divac interview on Jim Rome? Would anyone be so kind as to provide a link? Cant find it on youtube.

 

[funkykingston]

Anyone know of a way to watch the Vlade Divac interview on Jim Rome? Would anyone be so kind as to provide a link? Cant find it on youtube.

It was a radio interview. The audio is up here.

http://www.nba.com/kings/blog/vlade-divac-talks-kings-jim-rome-show

 

[ninjabiscuit]

Yeah, and my guess is that if George Karl is fired that's how his career ends. He was out there and available for a while before the Kings snagged him and now at his age and if he's coming off being fired for basically insubordination and inability to get along with a young, star player he'll fail to get another contract. Which means that unlike Malone Vivek would be on the hook for his full salary/retirement package.

I still think Karl and Cousins can salvage their relationship and I think winning cures all. But if they can't then media perception be damned, Karl will need to be fired. Of course that yet again means the Kings trying to scramble to find a coach instead of doing their due diligence with a true search.

I'm hoping for kumbaya rather than WWIII

Maybe PDA got Karl hired as a favor to Denver (so they could avoid said retirement package), and then got a nice job from them in return.

 

[jcwkings]

If they fire Karl they have to fire all his assistants as well. I just don't see it happening. They have to work it out, they don't have to be best friends and go to lunch every day, just be professional and do your jobs.

 

[Kingsgurl]

If Vlade is going to fire Karl if things don't work out with Cuz then he should just do it now. It is too much of a risk to wait any longer since no decent coach will want to take over a job late into the off season. Summer league is already upon us, could Thibs even be remotely interested in taking this job?

Vlade has made it pretty crystal what the ground rules are and also who he is backing should it become a DMC vs. Karl decision. Waiting until he is able to address the issue head on after Free Agency is wise. I wouldn't expect the situation between Boogie and Karl to be anything but not pretty at the moment. Karl did say that if Boogie was on board and committed, he would back him 110% (I am putting aside the fact that this phraseology makes me cringe) and Boogie, with his hype tweet just called his bluff.

 

[ockingsfan]

The Kings will Rally behind Vlade and play Good Basketball!

I think Vlade has a presence about him, I think players and coaches can't help but listen to him.

After listening to the interview, it is not so bad what he said. He basically said, yes there is some issues, but I expect to smooth them out come October.

Vlade pretty much laid down the law and basically said, "Look, I'm in charge now, You are both (DMC and Karl) being paid big money to be here and be professionals, so be professionals. I am not going to put up with any crap".

Vlade will NOT be bullied by ANYONE!

 

[Kingster]

Thibs, coached him and Rudy for the USA Basketball team.

There were several coaches on that team. How do we know Cousins would trust Thibs to be his head coach?

 

[Peter_Gibbons]

Vlade has made it pretty crystal what the ground rules are and also who he is backing should it become a DMC vs. Karl decision. Waiting until he is able to address the issue head on after Free Agency is wise. I wouldn't expect the situation between Boogie and Karl to be anything but not pretty at the moment. Karl did say that if Boogie was on board and committed, he would back him 110% (I am putting aside the fact that this phraseology makes me cringe) and Boogie, with his hype tweet just called his bluff.

It all comes down to, how will Karl show Boogie that he can be trusted? Would we ourselves trust someone who just tried to get rid of us? Most likely not.

Karl better have a very good explanation of why things went down the way it did and lay out a very clear answer as to why he can now be trusted.

As complicated as Boogie is at times, I believe he really just wants unwavering loyalty from those around him. He wants to know that his coach has his back 100% of the time. Thats why he played so hard for Malone.

 

[The Hammer]

Thibs, coached him and Rudy for the USA Basketball team.

Also coached Rondo as an assistant w/Celtics, when Rondo was at his best defensively.

Thibbs makes a ton of sense for this team.

 

[Sac.1989]

There were several coaches on that team. How do we know Cousins would trust Thibs to be his head coach?

because they:

a) already have a realationship which
b) was born out of wining something significant and
c) involved his partner in crime rudy (who also is our 2nd option and co leader along with demarcus on this team)
d) did i mention they won something together and all demarcus wants to do is win

 

[Sac.1989]

Also coached Rondo as an assistant w/Celtics, when Rondo was at his best defensively.

Thibbs makes a ton of sense for this team.

Getting thibs in now before training camp is the best thing we can do for this franchise. It trumps a josh smith signing even if you promise me that he would check his ego and agree to come off the bench.

Thibs guarentee's winning, defence and our coaching future. It is the one locker room, culture change piece we need to make. We have laid the foundation with the pieces that this roster needed in FA and the draft but handing the keys to karl whilst potentially sustainable in the short term is not the move that fills me with confidence in the medium/long term.

Vlade make the call. We've ridded this whole golden state, denver connection, got the pieces we need for a balanced roster, karl is the only thing holding us back and it will flare up in the future. A complete reset is warrented and in our best interests. Its not like Karl espoused a winning culture or winning through the close of the season, bar financial, there is no reason to keep him - none. If you totally look at it from a risk/reward proposition he's done nothing for us bar bring a name to the bench. A name which frankly is a fire waiting to be lit.

 

[Gary]

The problem I see with it is it's not worth the risk having this level of issues between Cuz/Karl going into this season. This season is far too important. In no way should we be risking another firing midseason, another blown season, Cuz demanding a trade, what have you. Things can get ugly. I'd actually say it's more likely than not.

And that is why I say fire Karl now. I'll keep beating that drum as we're the last franchise who can afford such a risk. Looking at Karl's history, he's burned bridges almost every stop along the way and that plays into it. It's hope at best that these two can make it through this season and beyond and this squad will be maximized. That's the bottom line in sports, maximize your assets, maximize your team, give yourself the best possible chance for success.

Keeping Karl doesn't accomplish that. It's hopeful at best. We're not in a position to be "hopeful". Eliminate the risk now.

BTW, Vlade also openly admitted he and Karl have issues, he had to do something he didn't want to do pertaining to Karl and Karl needs to trust him. So Karl/Vlade aren't working all that well together and the relationship between Karl/Cuz "isn't pretty". Not firing him can sabotage this thing. Risk management. Take him out. Doesn't work well with our two most important pieces, Vlade and Cuz. Step up Vivek. Learn from your previous mistake with PDA/Malone and correct this now. Show some backbone.

Think it's about the first time I have agreed with you, but if the rift is that bad then fire Karl.. No reason to go into the season with the coach and best player not even close to being on the same page.

 

[The Hammer]

Getting thibs in now before training camp is the best thing we can do for this franchise. It trumps a josh smith signing even if you promise me that he would check his ego and agree to come off the bench.

Thibs guarentee's winning, defence and our coaching future. It is the one locker room, culture change piece we need to make. We have laid the foundation with the pieces that this roster needed in FA and the draft but handing the keys to karl whilst potentially sustainable in the short term is not the move that fills me with confidence in the medium/long term.

Vlade make the call. We've ridded this whole golden state, denver connection, got the pieces we need for a balanced roster, karl is the only thing holding us back and it will flare up in the future. A complete reset is warrented and in our best interests. Its not like Karl espoused a winning culture or winning through the close of the season, bar financial, there is no reason to keep him - none. If you totally look at it from a risk/reward proposition he's done nothing for us bar bring a name to the bench. A name which frankly is a fire waiting to be lit.

This guy gets it. ^

 

[John Galt]

Webber didn't really get along with coaches either. Including Adelman (as cited by Jerry Reynolds).

wait what?

I missed the memo - can you like me to a story on this. I would have never guessed

 

[Livinthedream]

wait what?

I missed the memo - can you like me to a story on this. I would have never guessed

Was in a recent interview with CD on KHTK. Webber is kind of an aloof, introverted personality. A bit enigmatic. I imagine he tends to rub people the setting way as well as get annoyed easily. So not surprising to me.

Cousins personality is different, but tough for some coaches to grapple with just the same.

 

[kingsboi]

Realistically speaking here....I just don't see Karl being fired. There has been way too many coaching changes and stability just needs to be in order. What Karl and Cousins need to do, and I've mentioned this over and over again, suck it up and win for the greater good of the franchise and the fans that are desperately looking for a winner. They do not have to like each other to be successful, this doesn't have to be a buddy buddy love fest here. They just need to agree on the same goals and principles, if they can do that, I think the wins will come. Cousins might think in the back of his head he doesn't want to play hard for Karl, well what he should really say to himself is I want to play hard for my teammates and my city, because this is his city. Play for that.

 

[Kingfanpaul]

Winning cures almost everything and I believe that's especially the case for Boogie. If we start the season strong, I think Boogie and Karl will be fine together. If we start 0-10, it's going to be really ugly.