Where's the Love for Coach Walton?

2

206Fan

All-Star
#61
#61
As someone who hasn't been a fan of Walton at all, I have to admit that he's got the team playing very good now. The defense has been so much better. Compare our 7-1 record to the previous 9 games where we went 2-7.

Other 9 games we gave up: 102, 137, 124, 144, 122, 132, 138, 128, and 115

Since then, we've given up: 94. 107, 124, 104, 109, 111, 114, and 110.

A lot of these were very close games and I think the team has finally learned how to close out games.. the first time in a LONG time. Nothing that we've even seen under the Cousins era.
 
P

ppine

Starter
#62
#62
Rob-The-Great said:
I'm still not on board. If fox wasn't playing the best basketball of his life we don't win half these games. Not some great playcalling, not some great substitutions. Individuals playing almost hero ball and getting away with it is how we are winning.

Bagley is being underused by any standard.
Whiteside is finally getting the minutes we called for early in season
He still over using cojo.
Barnes getting to many minutes we could easily sprinkle more Bagley in there to alleviate this.

I will say something clicked with the team during this streak. They are playing more as a team. I attribute this to player leadership and growth. Walton must be Givin something for this I guess. But I haven't seen any adjustments that he's doing now that he wasn't doing during our losing streak except the bone headed move of not playing Whiteside
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I attribute the win streak to much better defense, sharing the ball, running the floor and much improved confidence. Fox and Barnes have emerged as the leaders of the team. None of that probably happens without competent coaching. Hero ball is not why the Kings are winning.
 
SacTownKid

SacTownKid

Hall of Famer
#64
#64
kb02 said:
Kings have been playing great and Buddy is starting to show a lot of RESPECT for Luke. I was wrong when the Kings looked like sh*t. Give me my crow. Will happily eat it with some Sirracha.
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Luke changed up the game plan to fit his players. FINALLY. If he keeps on and keeps showing that fire on the sidelines this may be salvageable.
 
Padrino

Padrino

All-Star
#65
#65
Luke Walton and his staff definitely deserve their share of the credit for the Kings' recent hot streak. When you play in the western conference, it is so difficult to win at this rate in any sustained fashion if you're not a part of the upper echelon, especially as a young team. You don't get there without some quality work on the sidelines.

I don't know if Luke Walton is the coach to help the Kings reach the promised land; I've certainly not been his biggest fan since he arrived. But it's honestly in the best interests of the team for Walton to reach his potential on the sideline, just as it's in the best interests of the team for each player to reach his potential on the court. With so much coaching (and front office) turnover in the last decade-and-a-half, any semblance of consistency or continuity has been a vain hope in Sacramento. With so much instability, whatever talent the Kings have managed to acquire over the years has never had much of an opportunity to thrive. Starting from scratch with another head coach yet again would not be helpful to Fox's continued ascent, nor to the development of Bagley and Haliburton.

If Walton can adapt his game plan to maximize the talents of his players, and if he can achieve genuine buy-in from those players, then I say keep him around long enough to see what these guys are made of. There will be losses. There will be games where the team seems to revert back to their bad habits. But often chemistry, continuity, and confidence are the most important ingredients to sustained success. If the Kings can build the confidence of a winning team, then maybe Fox gets a few more calls at the rim. Maybe Buddy pushes even harder on the defensive end. Maybe Bagley hits a few more three's on his way to being a serious threat from beyond the arc. Etc.

I'm not ready to make any bold proclamations about Luke Walton as a coach or about where the Kings will finish in the standings this season or in seasons to come. But I do think they're nearing an inflection point where they are a legitimate threat to win on any given night, where a bad quarter or a bad game or a bad stretch of games doesn't completely derail the team's confidence. Credit to the coaching staff if they can keep this up.
 
SLAB

SLAB

Hall of Famer
#66
#66
ockingsfan said:
What other proven NBA player do the Kings have to put in as the 4th guard currently? Eventually, Kyle Guy may gain the trust of Coach to give him those minutes, but CoJo has been a quality defensive guard in the NBA for 9+ years. He was considered one of the better backup point guards in the NBA up until these last 20 games.

If this is truly the worst that all you Walton Haters keep coming back to, complaining about CoJo's minutes as the 4th guard, I think Luke is doing a pretty good job. You guys are complaining about the 4th guard minutes and the Kings are currently 12-11 and in the 7th seed for the playoffs. SMH
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There is no defending CoNo or Walton’s use of CoNo. He’s abysmal and brings the team down every single time he steps on the floor.
 
ockingsfan

ockingsfan

Starter
#67
#67
SLAB said:
There is no defending CoNo or Walton’s use of CoNo. He’s abysmal and brings the team down every single time he steps on the floor.
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So, basically, if Walton stops using CoJo or CoJo gets traded, then Walton would be the best coach ever, because that's all you guys seem to have to complain about coach. ;)
 
P

ppine

Starter
#68
#68
There are sports fans and sports whiners. You have to figure out which one of those categories you fit in.
If you are complaining about Coach Walton while the Kings are going 7-1 you are definitely a sport whiner.
 
DynaPamm

DynaPamm

Bench
#72
#72
ockingsfan said:
What other proven NBA player do the Kings have to put in as the 4th guard currently? Eventually, Kyle Guy may gain the trust of Coach to give him those minutes, but CoJo has been a quality defensive guard in the NBA for 9+ years. He was considered one of the better backup point guards in the NBA up until these last 20 games.

If this is truly the worst that all you Walton Haters keep coming back to, complaining about CoJo's minutes as the 4th guard, I think Luke is doing a pretty good job. You guys are complaining about the 4th guard minutes and the Kings are currently 12-11 and in the 7th seed for the playoffs. SMH
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The opportune words are HAS BEEN
Cojo has been there
Cojo has been in the NBA for +9 years
Cojo has been and now it’s time to move on
 
T

Turgenev

Starter
#73
#73
I'll join the chorus. As someone who has criticised Walton the team has been playing well and seem to enjoy playing together. It's not a finished product yet, but credit is due to the coaching staff. Let's see how the rest of the season plays out.
 
R

Rob-The-Great

Starter
#74
#74
ppine said:
I attribute the win streak to much better defense, sharing the ball, running the floor and much improved confidence. Fox and Barnes have emerged as the leaders of the team. None of that probably happens without competent coaching. Hero ball is not why the Kings are winning.
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Fox and Barnes have been leaders on this team since beginning of season.
We haven't blown a team out all seasons, all of our games have been very close and came down to hero ball in 4th mostly fox and rook hitting a clutch 3 or play. To say different just doesn't follow the facts. Regarding the defense. Is it better def or are teams just hitting less open shots? I feel teams where on fire against us down the stretch Moreno than a improved def. I feel this is really who we are. Effort was never an issue. We haven't made any major changes for you to say coaching has effected it. Except you think he changed something. But rotations are the same, plays are the same. And I'm not sure if that's a good thing all. But I don't mind the debate or the opinion. I'm glad we are winning
 
R

Rob-The-Great

Starter
#75
#75
ppine said:
There are sports fans and sports whiners. You have to figure out which one of those categories you fit in.
If you are complaining about Coach Walton while the Kings are going 7-1 you are definitely a sport whiner.
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Some are just looking at the big picture. Every one is happy about the streak. Just wondering why cojo is getting his minutes and why Bagley can't get time in 4th. That's all really. And maybe some better plays out of timeout
 
R

Rob-The-Great

Starter
#76
#76
ppine said:
I attribute the win streak to much better defense, sharing the ball, running the floor and much improved confidence. Fox and Barnes have emerged as the leaders of the team. None of that probably happens without competent coaching. Hero ball is not why the Kings are winning.
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Our star gets player of the week, we winning our games by less than 5 points on average. If that's not hero ball nothing is
 
L

Livinthedream

All-Star
#77
#77
Rob-The-Great said:
Fox and Barnes have been leaders on this team since beginning of season.
We haven't blown a team out all seasons, all of our games have been very close and came down to hero ball in 4th mostly fox and rook hitting a clutch 3 or play. To say different just doesn't follow the facts. Regarding the defense. Is it better def or are teams just hitting less open shots? I feel teams where on fire against us down the stretch Moreno than a improved def. I feel this is really who we are. Effort was never an issue. We haven't made any major changes for you to say coaching has effected it. Except you think he changed something. But rotations are the same, plays are the same. And I'm not sure if that's a good thing all. But I don't mind the debate or the opinion. I'm glad we are winning
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There haven't been major changes. There has been continuity in the lineup and then there has been Fox playing at an all star level. The team plays hard, but Walton's style won't lead to having a lot of blow out wins. The team needs another star alongside Fox before that happens.

A couple of ways to for a coach to approach young team/players is 1. Play to the players strengths and clean up their weak spots on the back end over time. 2. Not allow players to do the things things they really want to do until they fix their weaknesses to the coaches satisfaction. Luke falls into the latter obviously. It's what he did to Buddy last season, which led to friction and decreased offensive production. It is what he is doing to Bagley this season. A carrot and a stick sort of thing. This approach perfectly matches this market and fan base, but it doesn't lend itself to developing a star.

Stars are made on the offensive side of the ball and Luke suppresses offensive talent. He wants guys to be all around players. This is fine in theory, but most super stars start by being high scorers, then learning how to be serviceable to good defenders along with learning how to actually win in the league by doing the little things later on. When a player's offensive talent is suppressed by coaches in favor of role player qualities, what you get is talented role players whose potential all star status seems to be visible if you squint real hard, but is just out of reach(Buddy). Yes, after Joerger's last year, there was real conversation that Buddy was on the all star bubble. That talk faded away quickly after the coaching change. Talented role players will get you to the playoffs eventually for sure. The team will have to trade for another star though to make a real push.

Again, Luke's method is probably appropriate for the current temperament of this market. There is my backhanded compliment of Walton.
 
R

Rob-The-Great

Starter
#78
#78
Like I said. Here is your praise of Walton. You get none from me. This streak is a players streak period. Not a coaching adjustment. If anything, his stubborn unwillingness to adjust is holding is back. Todays game is a disgrace
 
Tetsujin

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#86
#86
Livinthedream said:
I know my previous post was probably too long to read. But we agree. I think Luke's coaching prevents talent from shining through.
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I will say that Woodard looking like G-League PG3 after spending an entire two months parked on the bench in favor of Glenn Robinson III (I could at least understand if it were DQJ, who is a young player who needs playing time) is not exactly a great look for Luke.
 
King Baller

King Baller

All-Star
#87
#87
IMO the team will decide the fate of Coach Walton and the direction of the team. Make the Playoffs things stay the same. Fall out of contention by the trade deadline and Guys will be moved for assets. Or if the fall is later Guys moved at draft time and the off season. I think for Walton its Playoffs or the highway.
 
Albatros

Albatros

Starter
#90
#90
Yeah when we win it's in spite of him and when we lose literally everything is his fault.

At least when we have Gentry we'll definitely not follow the same cycle we've followed for 12 years.
 
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