Who do you want to coach the Kings next year?

[Kings Faithful]

Could be just the kick in the *** dmc needs. I remember him cussing out the mailman and benching him for poor play.

We definitely need an authoritative coach. The "players coach" approach worked for a little while with Cousins but it obviously didn't last. We need someone who Cousins can respect, and if he doesnt? Then its time to ship him out.

 

[bajaden]

what about Avery Johnson?

I'm not a fan! Talk about suffering from the Napolean syndrome, Johnson is a perfect example of it.

 

[bajaden]

We definitely need an authoritative coach. The "players coach" approach worked for a little while with Cousins but it obviously didn't last. We need someone who Cousins can respect, and if he doesnt? Then its time to ship him out.

Its very possible to be a players coach, and still hold players accountable. All the players in San Antonio love Pop's, but he certainly holds them accountable. He's loved because number one, he wins, and number two, he treats every player the same. He playes no favorites.

 

[Kings Faithful]

Its very possible to be a players coach, and still hold players accountable. All the players in San Antonio love Pop's, but he certainly holds them accountable. He's loved because number one, he wins, and number two, he treats every player the same. He playes no favorites.

Thats what i want though. I'm just tired of coaches that are going to kiss certain players asses and bench others without substantial reason.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

I'm not a fan! Talk about suffering from the Napolean syndrome, Johnson is a perfect example of it.

ya and you think our current idiot coach puts too much faith in Isaiah Thomas, just imagine Avery. every play would be ran for the little guy

 

[butteredbiscuit]

well, there is an "Other" option, which is basically the same thing and I actually thought about adding Jackson, but just couldn't do it.

The word is down here is that Dwight Howard is not resigning with the Lakers unless Phil Jackson is the coach. He says Jackson and himself text each other a lot. Also D'antoni could be on Kings list if it is true...!

 

[HereWeBoogie]

Also D'antoni could be on Kings list if it is true...!

no thanks

 

[kingjatt]

P.S. and oh, and yes to Kingjatt's Calipari mention -- I have thought/noted the same thing now with Patterson here. Thing is there is no guarantee it would work -- Calipari tried the NBA once before and did not get it done. But with three of his former players here, two of them the franchise cornerstones, if ever there was a logical time for him to try again, this might be it. Of course should note the guy who he's always followed in my mind was Rick Pitino, who in his second NBA stint took over Boston and tried to largely recruit too many of his own former Kentucky players, with his Kentucky college system, and ended up tanking spectacularly. Comparatively there is no risk with a JVG. He has won, can win in the NBA, and you know it for 100% sure, no specualtion.

He would cost alot and your right theres no guarantee it would work but i think this would be his best chance/oppurtunity to jump back, plus he has his own guys on the roster along with another former college star in jimmer.

its a lot different here than in Boston, NY, LA etc the media wont eat him alive like they do in the big markets, if he doesnt succeed he wont be dragged thru the streets like pitino, or be the lead on sportscenter everynight, he could go back and have any college job of his liking.

he's a god at kentucky but whats left to accomplish? maybe he wants to conquer the nba too.

Its a great and fun thought but in the end i would still probably go with a proven nba guy due to less cost and more pro pedigree.

 

[lwc]

Calipari has stated numerous times that he will not be a lifer at UK. He even went on record to say that 10 years is a realistic cap for anyone with that job. He has also stated that he woukd love to have an undefeated team.

He might be had for a price and perfect situation BUT I do not think the time is now. This would be THE guy to get Cousins to straighten up and fly right but good luck pulling him away from Lexington.....right now. I live down there, Cal is King of the Bluegrass. Hard to give that up.

 

[KingMilz]

Stan Van Gundy should be the choice look what he did with someone as unskilled as Dwight (great athlete tho) he knew how to get a perfect system in as well as great defense. He won't back down from Cousins or anyone and have consistantly been a winner everywhere he has been.

Perfect choice imo

 

[kingwin]

i have two people in mind to coach the team, depending on what you want...if you want experience and you have the money to spend, i think you go after jeff van gundy. im not sure if he would come or anything, but i think he would be a good fit for this team(personality wise). i think someone whos not on the list that im very intrigued by, is brian shaw(grammar?).. i would love to see the triangle offense for this team and hes a head assistant on pacers, who are very good defensively. people gotta realize since the all star break we've had one the best offenses in the league(WITH KEITH SMART COACHING/ROTATING), so we may not be as far off as our record shows...i think that he would have marc jackson like impact, albeit a lot more quieter than marc, maybe more ZEN like.

 

[mac]

Its very possible to be a players coach, and still hold players accountable. All the players in San Antonio love Pop's, but he certainly holds them accountable. He's loved because number one, he wins, and number two, he treats every player the same. He playes no favorites.

I would say that he plays no favourites, but that he does not treat every player the same. His close relationship with Duncan has been well chronicled, as has his relationship with Parker. Pop was very very hard on Parker in his earlier years, but his once young PG is now the best player on one of the best teams in the league.

 

[rainmaker]

1st choice- Keith Smart

2nd choice- JVG

3rd choice- Jerry Sloan

4th choice- Nate McMillan

5th choice- SVG

Dark Horse- Mike Budenholzer, Pop's lead assistant since 07.

 

[Bricklayer]

Stan Van Gundy should be the choice look what he did with someone as unskilled as Dwight (great athlete tho) he knew how to get a perfect system in as well as great defense. He won't back down from Cousins or anyone and have consistantly been a winner everywhere he has been.

Perfect choice imo

I actually think that Stan's system and smallballing is a primary reason why Orlando lost Dwight. It was dumb. That's not how its done. Great centers aren't paired with gimmick three point chuckers, they are paired with Kurt Rambis and A.C Green and Charles Oakely and Dennis Rodman and Udonis Haslem and Larry Nance and Otis Thorpe and PJ Brown and Horace Grant. Much as Dwight is a prima donna, SVG is now 0-2 with his own great centers (Shaq and Dwight), both of whom detested him to the point of wanting him fired. One of the things I like about his brother on the other hand is that his guys routinely loved playing for him.

 

[Gary]

Sloan, no ifs ands or buts.

The reason being is that with Sloan here (who is a proven winner) we can weed out the players that don't work with his system. He's very good at doing that, rather than leaving the same players that don't play well together on the floor for coach after coach.

 

[mac]

Sloan, no ifs ands or buts.

The reason being is that with Sloan here (who is a proven winner) we can weed out the players that don't work with his system. He's very good at doing that, rather than leaving the same players that don't play well together on the floor for coach after coach.

I suppose with Sloan you know what you're going to get. The issue is whether after "weeding" we can get the personnel necessary for him to run his system.

 

[KingMilz]

I actually think that Stan's system and smallballing is a primary reason why Orlando lost Dwight. It was dumb. That's not how its done. Great centers aren't paired with gimmick three point chuckers, they are paired with Kurt Rambis and A.C Green and Charles Oakely and Dennis Rodman and Udonis Haslem and Larry Nance and Otis Thorpe and PJ Brown and Horace Grant. Much as Dwight is a prima donna, SVG is now 0-2 with his own great centers (Shaq and Dwight), both of whom detested him to the point of wanting him fired. One of the things I like about his brother on the other hand is that his guys routinely loved playing for him.

It would have been a part of it but also the moves they made never worked out, the team never looked the same after they traded Courtney Lee/Hedo, they made alot of moves that didn't work out including the moves to get Arenas/Richardson which killed there cap room. But while SVG was there he made them into a borderline elite team getting them into the finals and playoffs everytime and he helped Dwight nearly become a league MVP during a couple those seasons. I think in the short termf 3-5 years he could help, as far as long term no one knows. But you make a good point, but I don't think Cousins would be as unhappy as Dwight ended up being in a winning situation where he was the man.

Very good argument you made tho I didn't think of it before you bourght it up good points. But I really thought what the Magic had on there roster SVG got the best out of them nearly everytime.

 

[Padrino]

It would have been a part of it but also the moves they made never worked out, the team never looked the same after they traded Courtney Lee/Hedo, they made alot of moves that didn't work out including the moves to get Arenas/Richardson which killed there cap room. But while SVG was there he made them into a borderline elite team getting them into the finals and playoffs everytime and he helped Dwight nearly become a league MVP during a couple those seasons. I think in the short termf 3-5 years he could help, as far as long term no one knows. But you make a good point, but I don't think Cousins would be as unhappy as Dwight ended up being in a winning situation where he was the man.

Very good argument you made tho I didn't think of it before you bourght it up good points.

SVG is notorious for the scathing reviews he gives his players in a public forum. he's a quote machine, and a sports journalist's wet dream, but his flapping gums are hardly the kinda trait that's likely to mesh well with a young, immature center like demarcus cousins. personally, i'd prefer JVG, who knows how to get the job done with a minimum of hoopla...

 

[KingMilz]

SVG is notorious for the scathing reviews he gives his players in a public forum. he's a quote machine, and a sports journalist's wet dream, but his flapping gums are hardly the kinda trait that's likely to mesh well with a young, immature center like demarcus cousins. personally, i'd prefer JVG, who knows how to get the job done with a minimum of hoopla...

Good point, I would be happy with ethier of the Van Gundy's tho

 

[PurpleHaze]

The Van Gundy's (one or the other or both) need to return to their roots. They're originally from Martinez which is just 63 miles from Sacramento. Jeff for head coach and Stan for general manager or vice versa

 

[hrdboild]

Well I'm already on record as preferring Nate McMillan as our next coach and that hasn't changed. The reason he's at the top of my list is that he's shown in the past that he prioritizes defense and his offensive scheme is built around solid no-gimmick half-court sets which are typically what wins you close games in the playoffs. The player Brandon Roy became in Portland under his watch is pretty much best-case scenario with Evans and Aldridge turned out alright too. With Cousins and Evans as our cornerstones, if they remain our cornerstones, our identity should be built around exploiting that size and strength advantage. Find an ace defensive wing (I'm really liking Oladipo in the draft this year -- but maybe we could try to pry Moe Harkless from Orlando since they also have Tobias Harris or try to sign free agent Tony Allen away from Memphis this summer) and find a defensive ying to Cousins' yang (this is the tough part -- I'm not expecting a Nerlens Noel miracle. I still think Oden is worth a look. I'm coming up short here on plausible options... Splitter?). You'll probably also want a do-it-all third option scorer who hopefully can shoot well enough to space the floor. The bench we can figure out later, so that's three positions of need to make McMillan's system work since we already have the two most important roles covered.

The other reason I prefer McMillan is that he sortof bridges the gap between the older generation and the younger generation of coaching. He's a part of the USA basketball staff so he already has a relationship of some kind with the best players in the league and I feel like he might relate better with our young players than some of the older coaches being mentioned. I'd love to see what Sloan could do with this team given 3 years and the full support of our new front office, but then we're probably shopping for a new coach after that in the middle of our window of contention which is a frightening prospect. I like Jeff Van Gundy for a lot of the same reasons I like McMillan, but he's been away from coaching for awhile now. I don't think he's as prepared to step in and start turning this around from day 1 as Nate would be. I wouldn't touch SVG at this point. Even forgetting what happened the last time we tried to sign him, he came out of that whole Orlando fiasco looking almost as bad as Dwight Howard did and he's already cultivated a reputation as a coach that players learn to hate in a relatively short time. I just think he's too volatile a personality to be clashing regularly with DMC.

And Calipari is an intriguing option, but he's not leaving Kentucky this year. Maybe in 5 years he'll be ready to give the NBA another go, but we can't afford to sit around spinning our wheels going nowhere for that length of time. We need to get this coaching problem fixed ASAP so we can start actually making forward progress and shaking loose the memories of the past 10 years of Maloofian incompetence. Phil Jackson is also intriguing particularly for the 'sticking it to the Lakers' potential, but I'm not convinced he's even ready to coach again. Like Bill Walton it seems that he's barely held together with scotch tape at this point. He's on the short list, but he's also going to command the biggest coaching salary in the history of sports, which is asking a lot of a new ownership group that also has to deal with renovating an entire city district (slight exaggeration).

PS -- On a related note, I can't tell you how angry I am that UCLA chose this season to end their Ben Howland train wreck, effectively reducing the odds of USC landing the best coach available to nill. Thanks a lot guys. Couldn't you have let your program nosedive for just one more season? No up and coming coach is going to pick the USC job over the one across town at UCLA with all that history behind them.

 

[Tetsujin]

Too late guys, Sonicsrising says its gonna be Brian Shaw or Nate MacMillen with Phil Jackson in the front office. Oh, and Spencer Hawes would be perfect for their triangle offense.

We’ve all heard the rumors about Phil Jackson possibly taking a key front office position in Seattle if the Kings morph into the Sonics next season.

Does that mean Brian Shaw would be our coach? Possibly. Would Phil see Nate McMillan as a coach he could work with? Maybe.

There would be no ifs, ands, or buts about one thing, however. If Phil Jackson becomes the master chef of our team, the “triangle offense” will be one of his main recipes.

What would the key ingredients be? Two really good swing players (Jordan/Kobe and Pippen/Oden). Exceptional rebounder (Rodman). A decent point guard who can shoot (Steve Kerr).

Oh and one more item for really good flavor. A decent center (Luke Longley) who can shoot and pass. A great center like Shaq would be preferred, of course, but good luck finding one.

The Jordan and Pippen equivalents would also be exceptionally hard to find, but I think we’ve found our man to play the center position.

Am I stark raving mad or would our very own Spencer Hawes be a terrific complementary player in that role? I also think he would be a big upgrade over Longley. Check out the following videos.
Statistically speaking for this season, his per game averages are 10.8 points, 7 rebounds, and 2.1 assists, according to nba.com. Not great, but decent and effective, which is all the triangle offense requires.

So I say, if we get a team next year, let’s also get us some Spencer Hawes!

Some might say that I’m only saying this because he’s a Husky from Seattle. Some might say it’s because of the recent radio interview he gave in Sacramento in which he supported our cause over theirs.

Is this part of the reason? Well. Duh!!!

Let me put it this way. If he were still a player, I wouldn’t be saying this about Olden Polynice, who had an unfortunate twitter exchange with @sonicsman today.

Basketball wise, he would be a good role player in a Phil Jackson system.

Plus, he is Hawesome!!!

So, sorry guys but these guys obviously know what they're talking about. We're screwed.

 

[Gilles]

Kings need hierarchy and defense. For that JVG is the perfect choice. McMillan is too quick to get on his players' nerves, Jerry Sloan is old and SVG has Stern as personal enemy.

 

[ParniValjak]

Too late guys, Sonicsrising says its gonna be Brian Shaw or Nate MacMillen with Phil Jackson in the front office. Oh, and Spencer Hawes would be perfect for their triangle offense.


So, sorry guys but these guys obviously know what they're talking about. We're screwed.

You know what?! Other than the dribble about their Sonics and the deluded fact that Hawes is their answer at C (when Cousins is on the roster), that GM/coach combo is not a bad idea to be honest. Not sure Phil is a Seattle or Sacramento guy to be honest. He will probably in Lakers front office in a year or two.

 

[jalfa]

Kings need hierarchy and defense. For that JVG is the perfect choice. McMillan is too quick to get on his players' nerves, Jerry Sloan is old and SVG has Stern as personal enemy.

really? hadn't heard that one before. he had a clash with fat Raymond Felton and Jamal Crawford, but outside of that he seemed to always get along very well with his players.

aside from that: the points brought up against SvG are definitely worth considering, but I still think that, as a stopgap solution to bring the Kings to the playoffs, he might work and he's pretty good at developing talent. my main concern with his brother is that he's been out of the coaching game for too long and might suffer a fate similar to that of Doug Collins in Philly.

 

[ParniValjak]

really? hadn't heard that one before. he had a clash with fat Raymond Felton and Jamal Crawford, but outside of that he seemed to always get along very well with his players.

aside from that: the points brought up against SvG are definitely worth considering, but I still think that, as a stopgap solution to bring the Kings to the playoffs, he might work and he's pretty good at developing talent. my main concern with his brother is that he's been out of the coaching game for too long and might suffer a fate similar to that of Doug Collins in Philly.

Why go for the stop gap solution?! Why not go for the slam dunk?! Especially with this ownership group who are able and certainly look willing!

 

[jalfa]

Why go for the stop gap solution?! Why not go for the slam dunk?! Especially with this ownership group who are able and certainly look willing!

because I don't believe there to be a slam dunk championship calibre coach available right now. of those listed, McMillan is the one who looks like he might be able to take that step, but none of the rest really convince me. right now, I'd settle for someone capable of sending the team in the right direction. the good news on that front is that most of the coaches listed seem capable of doing that (I regret including Brown. Smart was more of a joke, really).

 

[ParniValjak]

because I don't believe there to be a slam dunk championship calibre coach available right now. of those listed, McMillan is the one who looks like he might be able to take that step, but none of the rest really convince me. right now, I'd settle for someone capable of sending the team in the right direction. the good news on that front is that most of the coaches listed seem capable of doing that (I regret including Brown. Smart was more of a joke, really).

When Popovich took over as a coach of San Antonio, no one thought he was a slam dunk

I very much doubt this ownerhsip group, if they end up buying the Kings, will be thinking about stop gap solutions. They will do their due dilligence and pick the absolute best candidate regaless of how much they will cost! I think we have been conned into thinking about short trm here by our ineptitude to get a good coach ever since Rick Adelman left town! That is about to change! It will first start by getting the best GM for the job and he will be given a job of getting the best coach!

 

[Bricklayer]

my main concern with his brother is that he's been out of the coaching game for too long and might suffer a fate similar to that of Doug Collins in Philly.

Have his entire playoff team traded out from under him in pursuit of an overhyped slam dunk?

JVG has only been out for 5 years. And he's hardly been off raising llamas on a ranch in Montana.

 

[jalfa]

When Popovich took over as a coach of San Antonio, no one thought he was a slam dunk

I very much doubt this ownerhsip group, if they end up buying the Kings, will be thinking about stop gap solutions. They will do their due dilligence and pick the absolute best candidate regaless of how much they will cost! I think we have been conned into thinking about short trm here by our ineptitude to get a good coach ever since Rick Adelman left town! That is about to change! It will first start by getting the best GM for the job and he will be given a job of getting the best coach!

yeah, you're probably right, I'm just trying to temper my expectations a bit. as I said, most coaches of the list would do a fine job reforming the team and assuming control of the locker room to a degree that hasn't been seen round these parts since Rick was chased away. my point, I think, is more that there are very, very few championship calibre type coaches out there and we shouldn't expect to land one right away.

Have his entire playoff team traded out from under him in pursuit of an overhyped slam dunk?

JVG has only been out for 5 years. And he's hardly been off raising llamas on a ranch in Montana.

Collins had already shown first signs of flaming out towards the end of last year, when he started complaining about the mentality of today's NBA players. we'll never know how it would've turned out with Bynum actually playing this season, but I digress. Jeff van Gundy would be a fine coach, too. it'd be a nice change of pace to have a coach that does more than pay lip-service to playing defense that's for sure. he's also apparently been a frequent visitor to the SLOAN conference and might welcome the input of the advanced stats department that's clearly going to come with all these tech guys taking over.