The Sacramento Kings have lost 5 straight games and just fired Mike Brown. Now they’ll square off against a familiar foe who beat them in back-to-back games a week ago. That’s right, it’s time for yet another matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers. With Doug Christie assuming the role of interim head coach, can the Kings lay the smackdown on the Lake show?
Let’s talk Kings basketball!
When: Saturday, December 28th, 7:30 PM PST
Where: Crypto Dot Com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
TV: NBCSCA
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM
For Your Consideration
With all due respect (none) to Sacramento’s opponent, all eyes are on the Kings and their bench right now. With a fan base still grappling with whether this was a just firing, a shuffling of Titanic deck chairs, or some combination of the two, the pressure is mounting for the Kings organization. It’s not uncommon for teams to have an emphatic win after firing a coach, often called the Dead-Coach Bounce, and a big win over the Lakers, in LA no less, would certainly provide a temporary reprieve from the pressure the front office and ownership are currently facing. But if the Kings get run off the floor? If they come out flat to start the game? If Keon Ellis still plays minimal minutes? If Colby Jones plays any non-garbage time minutes? Then I’d recommend buying stock in companies that sell torches and pitchforks.
Here’s where I’m at this morning: I think the Kings took the coward’s approach to accountability. Mike Brown, despite his flaws, probably wasn’t the biggest issue. But firing a coach is easier than making a trade to help this team. It’s a last ditch effort by Monte McNair to save his job. “No! It’s not the roster construction, he’s not using it right!” It’s an owner who got bullied by fan pressure into extending Brown this summer and then got bullied into firing Brown yesterday. And they followed it up with one of the most disrespectful statements I’ve seen.
“This was a difficult decision, and I want to thank Mike for his many contributions to the organization,” said Kings General Manager Monte McNair.
That’s it? The second-most successful coach in Sacramento-era Kings history? The man who won Coach of the Year here and helped end the drought? The only coach other than Adelman to win over 40 games in Sacramento? We have the lowest of bars in this franchise and Mike Brown is still one of just two coaches to clear them. All you can muster is that it was a difficult decision??
Shame on everyone involved.
Prediction
LeBron James is overcome with emotion and reflects on his time in Cleveland, and how different Mike Brown’s coaching career may have been if LeBron had just been able to win a title with the Cavs before he left for Miami. He knows he shouldn’t feel guilty. He had a bad supporting cast, and they still came close several times. It can’t be his fault, he’s just a player, it must have been the coach’s fault, or maybe the front office’s fault. But despite what Rich Paul has told him time and time again – “It’s never your fault if your team loses” – LeBron can’t shake this deep sadness within him. And then he realizes the game has resumed, and Keegan Murray just made the game-winning three. As JJ Redick goes in for the postgame handshake, Doug uppercuts him.
Kings 115, Lakers 114
How about “Fox getting traded in the mid-game” ?
More drama would be fascinating………..
Fox is the core of this team. Stop shooting the messenger. The reason he had (chose) to “close out” on Ivey in 3 point zone was because Mike Brown’s defensive scheme predictably failed yet again–leaving a 3 point shooter wide open while failing to foul earlier and give up 2 points. Bad strategy, bad tactics…bad outcome.
It is hard to give up the fantasy. Santa and the Easter Bunny are alive and well.
Fox blew the coverage and that had nothing to do with Mike Brown.
Incorrect. MB told them exactly the right thing to do and Fox didn’t do it.
To the Lakers?
The Lake Show vs. The Shit Show. Don’t swim next to the floaters.
NO CLASS, NO BALLS
Definitely the teams mantra going into the new year.
That needs to be the next King’s Herald shirt, with 2 big basketballs under the slogan!
Wish we could see a full house of these
I’ll take one
Based on the expected and unrelenting trashing of the Kings over the firing, I’d say this move by the front office took some HUGE BALLS‼️
If I squint, i can see the firing of Brown having a bit of a shock effect and the team profiting from the lack of expectations coming with it and win a few games. But right when people will start comparing Doug (the company shill) to Adelman it will all come crushing down.
But if I am really optimistic, everything will go off the rails straight away and they have no other choice than to blow it up.
It will be poetic if this franchise will be saved from its own incompetence by its own incompetence. Not holding my breath, though.
Go Kangz!
If you squint hard enough, you can close your eyes fully.
I take it Rich Paul and Mike Brown aren’t exchanging Christmas cards…. That’s twice he’s got him fired.
For the preview, and only this preview, I wish you suggested the Kings lose by 30…
Rich Paul is an extension of LBJ who is the one that actually runs the NBA. None of this should be surprising.
And Adam Silver enables this, and has no spine.
Was Rich Paul an agent when MB got fired from the Cavs? I’m not sure that he was…
Yeah, Rich Paul didn’t become an agent til 2012 when LeBron was with the Heat…
But he was always the most important guy of LBJ’s entourage, no?
The instability that was a Kangz hallmark has risen (and again buried the recently resurrected Patience Preacher). The pitchforks of blame for a losing streak have bled out another Kings coach burdened with unrealistic expectations.
And now, for the remaining 50 games of this season? Mission Accomplished! The expectations are lowered: What is the new goal? Where are the new goal posts? do you all want tank level losing for the much ballyhooed rebuild OR a Top 6 or Top 10 record – which will need recuperating (multiple) win streaks to attain Mike Brown playoff hopes with new Head Coach Doug Christie at the helm.
Does this make sense to anyone?
Which unrealistic expectations?
Having a team do better than .500 and have a better than .333 record at home?
So, the goal is for the Kings to finish the season the remaining 51 games at 26-25 (39-43) or better ?
No, I am talking about Brown not even meeting these modest expectations; higher than .333 at home and .500 overall.
Which expectations were you talking about and why were they unrealistic?
No, don’t really understand your point tbh.
Mike Brown was relieved of his Head Coach position as the expectation of a better than 13-18 record overall, 6-12 at home, 5 game losing streak with the current roster was not met.
To remedy this disappointment, rookie (and likely substitute teacher) Doug Christie was promoted to captain this team.
What are the markings and milestones that you now expect Coach Christie to attain for the remaining season?
Does it make sense to present these goals at this time with this new Coach and same roster?
I need a scorecard so I can keep track of the new direction and thank you in advance for your guidance.
We need to make multiple trades that either improve our team size and ability to space the floor, or trade a star or stars and get as much draft capital as possible before the deadline. If this doesn’t happen, then Monte must go! If none of this happens and after the trade deadline we have our current roster and Monte is the GM, then we are screwed because ownership is completely inept.
Well, if it’s trades that are needed to assess the coach, they why have a new coach?
And if these multiple trades are not accomplished, what are the goals?
If the trades are accomplished, what are the goals?
April is coming up fast, and February 6th is weeks away – so I appreciate the map
New Athletic article out this morning on Brown’s firing. Worth the read. One little takeaway i Noticed: Christie caught Vivek’s eye yers ago when he floated the idea of making him interim coach after Walton was fired and was used as leverage in getting Gentry to take the interim tag.
Article HERE
Pretty much confirms that Christie getting the interim coaching job is 100% Vivek’s work. And when Walton was fired, Christie had only been an assistant coach for four months and Vivek already wanted him instead of Alvin Gentry. Good grief.
When Adam mentioned yesterday about Vivek picking the 4th coach down the bench for interim, I got a little worked up in agreement.
This morning, I think I have came around a bit. None of us know what the locker room is like, what communication and relationships are like, I expect some in the press have an idea but anywhere close to a full picture.
I know Doug was a bit goofy as a commentator, but he was one of the fiercest competitors to put on a Kings jersey since the moved to Sacramento, and he has always seemed to have a very high BB IQ. Watching him on the sidelines and how often he pulls players to the side, he might have a level of connection with some players, or even the roster as a whole that might be a salve at least this season to get some vibe back.
It seems about mid season last year the lost the Beam Team vibe, and it has continued into this season. I see flashes, but there has been some sort of malaise, perhaps Doug’s competitiveness, affability, and basketball acumen can recharge the Beam Team vibe a bit and get them back to a competitive level and make the team more fun to root for.
Maybe Mike Brown is the Juicy Fruit Gum of NBA coaches, the first few chews make you think it is the greatest gum you have ever had, then after a couple of more minutes its like “well, this gum is fine, not my favorite, but its fine”, then ten minutes later “I need some new gum, this ain’t working for me, where is the Wrigley’s or Dentyne”, something familiar that I know I like.
I want Doug to be great so bad! A legendary player turned coach would be an amazing story. Maybe Doug has the BBIQ to make it happen! We still need more length and floor spacing though…
Don’t forget the Matina factor . See : Vlade .
Fun fact: Doug was very close to being the coach after Walton. We had an article ready.
Interested to see what the rotations will be with Doug at the helm. Does the starting lineup change? Who gets minutes off the bench?
I’d love to see some noticeable changes, but I’d imagine it will take time. I figure they are going to be using Brown’s playbook for the foreseeable future, but Doug can put his imprint on the team with a different starting lineup and rotations.
Does Keon get 25 minutes tonight? More Isaac Jones or O-Rob? Does Jordan get minutes? It will give some insight on the inner workings, and if there was a disagreement on who, and how much, should certain guys be playing.
Domas said when Monk got the starting nod “it’s about time”. I think that is telling, based on current information with Brown being fired.
I think Brown calling out Domas one night and then Fox the next may have meant he lost those two guys. Maybe others, such as Monk. Whatever is actually going on in the locker room it’s fairly evident it produced poor results on the floor. Maybe Christie with a number of fist pumps and ass swats can get them to play to their potential.
I think Doug can at least shift the vibe a bit, and I think he is likely to have opinions on lineup/rotation.
Do you think Keon should start Adam? When I pulled game logs of stats since Monk started, and the big affect that had on DeMar, I am all for Keon starting. Especially when I saw Kevin’s stats in Dec, he was very effective overall.
I think Keon moving into the starting lineup is an obvious move. I also thought Monk starting was smart and that did not work, so I might not be all that smart.
A simple start would be changing up defensive schemes to Kings aren’t constantly leaving 3 point shooters wide open and having to futilely run at them trying to “close out” when it isn’t even close. Or getting continuously caught picked off trying to go over screens 43 feet from the basketball, allowing the dribbler to get downhill and penetrate or kick out (“spray” in MB parlance) to…a yet again wide open 3 point shooter.
I keep saying this. WTF happened to man-to-man? Is this not a thing anymore? Stick with your man. Take pride in knowing your man can’t get shit off against you.
I’m genuinely confused. What happened?
That takes effort.
That’s what Mike Brown told them to do on that last play.
all this “dysfunctional” Kangz stuff is silly.
the national media doesn’t understand that brown was part of the problems here.
he deserved to go, as he wasn’t just doing a shit job this year, but last year also.
the extension was moronic.
im glad Brown is gone. I hope more heads roll.
I hope this season is a dumpster fire and we get the first pick.
Fox can go, he’s no leader. Get more picks.
we retool in the draft. Build on Domas, DDR, and Monk.
fuck Mike Malones salty old ass, fuck
Vivek for failing to do what needs to be done earlier(and doing that extension.) Fuck Monte for this Frankenstein team with no leader.
GO KINGS INTO 2025
Mike Malone is one persnickety dude that really likes to hold grudges. The wanna be tough buy act is getting old. Take away the best player in the world and let’s see where Malone would be at, likely fired long ago like his buddy MB.
Mike Malone has every right to feel that way. He was the best coach since Adelman and on his way to a winning season when he got fired in the middle of Demarcus Cousins sitting out hella games with mono. It’s a trash ass culture and owner.
Have a rec.
What’s a rec?
DDR is an old man in basketball years. Can’t build around him.
Didn’t think this needed explaining, but okay.
no one is saying DDR is the future.
but you need players to run out and make baskets.
you need players to build a team, DDR can be one of those players.
What else is MM supposed to say?
I’d expect a new “coach bump” the next few games where the team plays better. It will be more interesting to see where this team is at at the end of January than the next few games. I’m dubious much will improve in the long run with the two DCs.
NBC Sports Bay Area:
1 article about MB getting fired yesterday
4 Warriors articles yesterday
Would be criminal if the Kings were in the Bay Area.
There would be blood in the bay.
Yea, it’s weird to include Sac in there. So give us our own NBC Sports site if you’re going to be the network that carries the Kings, NBC. Otherwise, cover the Kings like an actual professional sports team.
We are the 20th largest media market in the continental US, FFS.
Anyone else wondering if there could be any tension amongst the coaching staff since Loucks and Triano got passed over by Doug. Those two were hired by Brown while Doug was here under Walton. From my understanding Loucks and Triano were 2a and 2b under Brown as kind of offensive and defensive coordinators. I can’t recall a situation where the 4th chair coach got the promotion to interim over two guys ahead of him. After reading the Athletic article this morning I can’t help but wonder if Triano and Loucks passed on interim tag and it simply fell in Doug’s lap. That being said, my gut still says it’s Vivek doing his usual shit.
They were probably miffed by the situation and refused in protest.
That really wouldn’t surprise me as they know they are likely gone after this season anyway and this roster is going nowhere fast. Who volunteers to captain a sinking ship?
L’ll do it. Might be crazy but I see some positives in this team and or some trades to be made. If Fox screws up again I’ll let him know and he has to own up to this. These are big boys to coach not babies. If Vivek wants to fire me go ahead but in the back of his mind he knew I was right. I love Fox but he isn’t beyond a Lebron James who tells his organization what to do. Fox needs to be accountable and he knows it. If he isn’t a big boy then he needs to be traded. I guess I lasted one week. Oh well.
I have a suspicion that Doug is the company shill and the snitch to Vivek on the coaching staff and was rewarded for it.
There was this story that before him it was Nancy Liebermann in that role and George Karl got mad about after they fired or demoted his lead assistant? I don’t remember the exact details.
Was DC being passed over for Luke Loucks for DC (Defensive Coordinator) position when Jordy left a sign of the rift between MB and Vivek?
Mike Brown had to pick his Lead Assistant – it was either Triano or Loucks. Triano has been the Offense coordinator and has Head Coaching experience. Brown went Triano, Loucks is the Asst Lead Assistant.
I don’t think it was any more political than going with his own guys. I am guessing that Doug Christie was the Assistant to the Assistant Lead Assistant.
Buy maybe not.
Hey, give me credit for extra insight here. After all, the last line of my limerick for the Detroit game was “A Kings loss could get someone canned!”
Credit where credit is due. Have a rec.
Of course it is. Vivek is a world class narcissist and a piece of shit.
Until that guy truly backs off it’s going to be very difficult to move forward.
I really despise Vivek because this team is screwed while he uses it as his toy-to feed his ego. (Even Dolan finally backed off)
And I don’t care if he has the right to be overly involved. He doesn’t have to be a shit owner. He chooses to be.
I’m sick of him and there’s no way to get him out. F you Vivek. You treat your employees and the fans like absolute garbage.
FUCK you Vivek.
You left out the uck. All caps. No thanks needed.
Triano has never had a winning season as a head coach. Mediocre at best. Much better suited to be a tactical lieutenant IMO. Same for Loucks. Jordi had the chops to be head coach, and the Nets saw that and took advantage.
In full disclosure, I’m a huge DC fan (those who remember DC night on Oct 27, 2015 will know that!), and am excited for the opportunity. But as we learned long ago with Paul Westphal and Reggie Theus, among others, not every great player becomes a successful head coach coach. Hopefully Doug’s years spent observing as broadcaster and now as an assistant coach have prepared him for the task.
I’m actually pretty high on Christie as coach. I don’t think he’ll be doing the same stupid shit that Brown did over and over. If he does some of his own stupid shit, that’s fine, as long as he learns from it and doesn’t keep doing it over and over. He seems to be a guy capable of learning things and changing his own shit.
Well now I can say I’m a fan of possibly the most dysfunctional teams in all three major sports: Kings, A’s, and Raiders. I think that deserves some kind of award.
Oh, it could always be worse. Imagine if you were from the South Side of Chicago: Bulls, White Sox, Bears.
and Bad Leroy Brown
At least one of those teams has a title this millennium.
I’m in your club. Fortunately I spend 98% of my pro sports attention on the Kings.
Kings, A’s, Raiders fan too. Just saying that I think I threw up a little bit.
That is quite the trio of owners
To LA with Doug Christie’s chance—
Turn around our poor circumstance.
Addressing each flaw
With a sock in the jaw
And rotations he can enhance!
+1 Nothing swept…under the rug!
&ct=g
Nicely done JMan, as always.
Rec.
Mike Brown’s rotations didn’t make sense to me. If Keon plays more we will be better. I hope the only reason they fired Mike Brown over the phone was to avoid having him fly needlessly and not for fear of doing it in person. In fairness, I might be madder if they fired me in person after needlessly flying me LA than over the phone before.
Imagine firing him midflight and handing him a parachute. Sounds like the kind of thing a tech oligarch like Vivek would dream up.
“… and as you are no longer with the team, get out.” Vivek Ranadive points to the open door at the far end of the master suite of the teams private plane. Mike Brown stares back, dumbfounded.
Diabolical work.
D. B. Cooper style. Millions in Vivek, and his limited partners, money in hand.
Questionable rotations (even with a shallow bench), lack of in-game adjustments, and panic substitutions.
I think Brown has a wealth of knowledge about the game of basketball. I don’t think he is a leader and good communicator.
“Panic substitutions” is such a great way to describe some of the stuff I saw.
This will continue to be the SOP under this ownership. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. I find it more and more difficult to believe that the Kings will ever find true and consistent success as long as Vivek Ranadive s meddlesome little fingers are pulling the levers. The rest of it serves only as a distraction. It all starts and ends with him. Still. And yet again.
I guess the 2022-23 season was the only season in Vivek’s tenure where he “seemingly” didn’t meddle.
If Monte and Vivek had seen enough of the situation between Brown and Fox, how long were they supposed to wait to make a move, exactly? It was fairly evident the situation between them was deteriorating pretty rapidly (after the Detroit game, especially.)
I’m of the opinion that once you’ve identified a problem you address it asap. Vivek has invested far more time and money in De’Aaron Fox, it was pretty obvious how this had to go.
Counterpoint: 12 years of ownership, 1 trip to the playoffs.
Everything but ownership has turned over several times over the past 12 years.
Vivek gets full credit for the 1 playoff year, and full credit for the 11 misses. Because it all starts with him and ends with him.
And 1 – My guess is that there was a lot more at play in Brown’s firing than Brown v. Fox, and to time the firing in this manner and attaching it significantly to Fox would likely enhance him wanting out, not diffuse it. And I don’t care about that much either way, but if Vivek fired Brown due to his time/money investment in Fox, he fucked this up big time.
“attaching it significantly to Fox” was definitely not my complete intention. There’s at least a half dozen things about his actual coaching we (I, certainly,) can point to that would easily merit the consideration of his firing in the first place. I was absolutely highlighting the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
I can understand being upset at the owner, but A) you can’t fire him and B) I think this is the move any GM worth his salt would’ve done and Monte did it.It’s not brain science; Brown hasn’t made the team better since his first season here. And he’d almost completely lost the team for at least the last 2 weeks, if not this entire season. So, trade De’Aaron? What if they had been trying and the offers were trash (or at least not good enough?) Who’s to say. And if the situation continues deteriorating, how long do they wait? Suppose they already knew they didn’t want to move Fox? Then why wait at all? The only scenario that was going to keep MB’s job was winning, and the team gave up on that a while ago. That’s what happens when you don’t believe in someone anymore. Monte probably shouldn’t have extended him, but I’ve seen more than a couple of people say he wasn’t really Monte’s choice in the first place. Which is to your point, that Vivek definitely is more of a muddler than an enabler. If only he were ON the payroll instead of the guy PAYING payroll. Anyways, what is an FO supposed to do when the bottom line is that the coach isn’t cutting it?
Yep, and I don’t disagree with any if your points. It is what it is. Piss poor ownership decisions that ripple downward & throughout his organization. And I can’t see how that changes as long as he is an active part of the equation.
Monte didnt hire Brown or fire him anymore than Pete D fired Malone .
The season absolutely got more interesting, whether you like the plot twist or not. For how long, is the question!
Can DC13 take us back into soaring heights? Or is he a lame duck who’ll awkwardly fly a bit before crashing into the ground?
Will the team reveal that its had the talent all along or does it indeed lack the depth of soul it takes to win meaningful games?
Does De’Aaron have listening ears and the ability to elevate his teammates or is he just another one-man schill for team Clutch, now?
And does Monte make a move to add some additional athleticism and length to his small ball Frankenstein or are we going to be forced to watch Doug make excuse after excuse for this decent, but limited roster?
How nuts would it be if this team played .700 ball the rest of the season? I don’t expect anything close to that. It would be a fun story and a “rise from the ashes” moment.
P.S.
I expect about .500 the rest of the way, barring any major moves.
I’ll take you up on the .700 the rest of the way. This team angers me to no end, but I am overly loyal to the Kings. In such a naive way, I still believe they can turn it around. Every team in the West is beating on each other, which is one reason I think the chip stays in the East this year. But, standings wise, we’re still in it. A good 5 or 6 game winning streak. 12 out of 15 or 16 and we’re cooking.
This is professional basketball. Home of world class athletes. Act like it.
The “legacy promotion” honks probably wouldn’t enjoy having to eat crow over DC coaching this team into the 2nd round, that’s for sure.
I wouldn’t hate it but yeah, the odds seem fairly against it.
Light that thang from Seattle
I’m pretty sure the song goes Tra-la-la, not Troll-Lol-Lol.
I don’t have any expectations. The legacy promotion is just that.
This is the standard team plays hard for the newbie 1-2 games. Then revert back to the mean.
I see the Jan schedule. Too say it’s brutal is an understatement.
Sixers Revitalized 2x
Grizz
Warriors 2x
Heat
Knicks
Celtics
Bucks
Bulls
Rockets
Wizards
Nuggets
Nets
I see about about 4-5 wins there.
This team won’t win many games at all. They will be completely out of the play in conversation by the deadline.
I checked to see if their was ever a time where a coach was replaced midseason and succeeded to turn around the season.
Never.. Unless you count David Blatt being replaced by Tyrone Lue. The caveat. Cavs were already in first place. lol!
Another LeQueen special firing lol. But no one dare ever call Lebron out. Not even for his involvement in Diddy parties. The guy is entitled and untouchable.
Great bball player though.
Frank Vogel did very well as an interim at Indiana, IIRC.
Other than that, you’d have to go longer back.
Didn’t Nate McMillan take over mid-season in Atlanta when they beat the 76ers in the Ben Simmons game where he didn’t shoot the layup?
Oh good one.
But as a sidebar, I think the Hawks were riddled with injuries early in the season and then got healthy later on.
Lawrence Frank with the Nets, George Karl with the Nuggets AND the Sonics, Avery Johnson with the Mavericks, Gregg Popovich with the Spurs – all mid season hires that worked out well for their respective teams, and this is not even counting instances like Mike Dantoni with the Suns, who had a great deal of success after his first half-season in charge.
I’m not saying DC (or anybody else for that matter) is going to turn around this team. Every situation is different and context is king.
Just pointing out that historically, mid season coaching changes, while they usually don’t pan out, are not without their success stories.
Actually, Pop,was GM fired the coach and took over . Became President a year later .
Our defense will be a joke. We will shoot the ball hot and cold. The starting point guard will make dumb plays.
To fix this we need size, talent, and smart players. Vivek will consistently pay coaches he has fired but will not touch the luxury tax to get a real NBA contender caliber team.
Ranadive is playing to Fox — afraid he will leave and we get nothing. I agree that Brown has made a bunch of so-so to bad coaching decisions. McNair has failed to get us a true power forward and it is a glaring hole in the roster. Issac Jones is fun but not the answer. He and Brown thought they can win with small-ball like the Warriors did? They can’t.
Will Carter get minutes soon? I hope so. I want to see what a 6’2″ guard brings to the table. I assume Coby Jones is bye-bye. I like Murray’s game but he seems like a bit of a head-case to me.
Something was wrong. Nearly ever volume 3pt shooter has vastly underperformed (Kevin, Keegan, monk, fox). I know shooters slump, but for 4 of your guys to all slump at the same time probably means there was something going on. Maybe the players psyche was messed with by the coaching staff? Maybe they started to press too much with some mental gymnastics or scheme?
Something wasn’t working, and we will see if it had to do with team leadership.
Good Luck Doug, I think you’ll need it.
Rich Paul is beginning his second week as the GM of the KaNGz. His “star” player is proving to be an idiot when it comes to basic basketball so he had to fire the coach.
What will GM Rich Paul do this week?
As always, appreciate everybody’s thoughts on this one. I have sort of a “meta” take on the firing. Stay with me here…
Sorry, lots of words!
My only point of rebuttal at this point is cross Warren Buffett off the list. There are no ethical, moral billionaires, period.
I also think Malone has more than earned the right to speak his mind on this, since he and Brown are the two coaches most qualified to speak to the internal dysfunction of the team (and he’s got his ring to back it up).
Exactly. Warren Buffet just delegates all the heartless stuff to his underlings. The Berkshire insurance companies are some of the most ruthless anywhere, for one. You don’t get to be a billionaire without being a sociopath with a lack of empathy. Vivek.
I enjoyed reading that quite a lot, I wish you would post more often.
I think your take on MB is pretty fair, he lacked creativity, and lacked the ability to pivot mid game. I genuinely think there is an undercurrent of vitriol for Vivek fueling the outrage, I am not certain there is anyone who loves MB’s coaching versus how much affection and respect they have for him as a person and and professional.
Spot on with other coaches commentary. Of course it is unfair to ever fire a coach, if you are another coach. I thought the same thing about Malone, and his luck in coaching what might end up a top 10-15 player of all time, and Rob said it best, that he has been picking that scab for a decade.
Been reflecting on this decision a bit and I support removing Mike Brown but would’ve waited until at least 40 games or AllStar Break. I’m wondering what plays and offense do they run, probably same stuff but it seems that it’s going to be tough to install much new. Difficult transition for offense and defensive schemes in middle of season, not very smart.
The way I think this played out is that Fox/Paul said he was probably going to leave as a free agent and demand a trade next year, so after another terrible loss Vivek and Monte freaked out because they don’t want to lose Fox. So they are hoping they can still salvage this year and get Fox to stay.
I think it’s a bad strategy, they should’ve kept Brown and got rid of Fox first or both at same time. It seems to me Fox is pretty done with Sac, they should shift gears and get rid of him for as much as possible. Not sure what to do after that but Fox seems good as gone anyway.
Doug Christie could set the defensive tone and expectations in the walk through going on right about now and telling his team to pick up the Laker they are guarding at mid court.
That is precisely what teams are doing to the Kings in the 4th quarter crunch time. Can’t do that for an entire game but they can mix it up on various possessions.
The Kings could also stop cheating toward the lane and guard Lakers at the 3 point line rather than leaving a plethora of shooters open, particularly those that are corner shooters regularly putting up the nearly 2 foot shorter 3 Point corner shot.
Those are small changes that might speak volumes to the players and the fans, who will embrace full court pressure loudly and on their feet in the next home game.
You know basketball from what I see. The only rebuttal I have is you can pick up your man at half-court at least the majority of the game. Defense in my opinion is more mental than physical. You tire your man out, not the other way around.
Cause some chaos early, build a cushion, then run a defensive set or scheme. That would be the in-game adjustment. This is nothing new. We don’t have Dawgs in the NBA anymore. If we do, it’s not many. Everyone needs help on defense now? Really?
People get beat and someone has to step up, fine. But you set the tone by picking up at half-court. If you really want to be like that, you pick up full court every other play and keep the pressure on. There are 2 guards on the court for a reason. On defense sniff out the weaker ball handler on the other team and pressure his ass. Fox and Monk take turns picking up full or at the half court line. Yes defense does take effort, but I guarantee you, when that pressure is applied it changes how the opponents thought they wanted to play.
Anybody that has played basketball knows you play both ends of the floor. This basketball 101. PPP should be implemented for this new generation (Pay Per Performance). Defense has always been a huge part of this game. I’m not sure why some of these guys don’t give the effort on both ends. Someone is getting cooked, switch them out or run a 1-2-2, 2-1-2, 2-3, 3-2. There are options. Just get it done. That’s what you’re paid for.
That is exactly what the Pistons did in the 4th quarter. The Kings played right into it slowing down the offensive pace, letting the
pistons set up their defense and they attacked the ball handler with slapping hands.
Agree with you,100%.
Sounding more and more here like we’re looking at either:
Sad day for those of us who thought they either needed to upgrade the D and bench if they wanted to keep Fox and Sabonis, or just start over. They had two off-seasons to do the first. Time for the second, but I guess we’ll have to wait for Mr. Klutch (not Clutch) to do that after next year. You know he’s not staying.
Bonus Fantasy Content from the Trade Machine:
1. DeMar to Clips for expiring PJ Tucker and Terence Mann
2. Fox to Spurs for Devin Vassell and a first
3. Huerter to Detroit for Isaiah Stewart
New big starting 2 and 4. Murray back to 3. Monk stays. Stewart is 23, Vassell is 24. If they do these by the deadline they just might attract a decent coach. But a good GM would know that…
I think it’s time to go back to the 80s to mid-90s style of Kings Fandom. Where the Kings are technically your favorite team, but then you also have to choose an actual NBA basketball team to be your other favorite. For sanity and self esteem.
Mine was the Indiana Pacers with Reggie, Rik Smits, Mark Jackson, Dale and Antonio Davis, etc.
I’ve pivoted to grand sumo for 2025. I’m serious, love it as you can be fans of more than one rikishi and for any number of reasons. Hakeyoi!
See the espn article??? MB definitely lost the locker room. Guys saying the vibes at shootaround today were way up and positive, domas didnt fly with team because he was ill, after firing made his own travel arraignment to be with the team and to play…
You can listen to player interviews and I think you wouldn’t come away with that same conclusion. Domas said he was still sick when the team flew out and Monk said everybody was happy at shoot around to a direct question about vibes. Players moving forward instead of moping while preparing for the tonight’s game is expected.
Kind of hoping this team gets their asses handed to them today and Vivek wallows in the shame
I hope the Kings absolutely crush the Lakers.
Agreed, only because it’s the L*****
You cheer how you want.
Me, I root for the Kings no matter who they play. So, I suppose I disagree with you my friend.
If it were ANY other team, I would completely agree with you.
But…#FTL.
Yeah man. I’m with the fellas. The Fakers need an ass whooping, and we need to be the team that does it…TO-NIGHT.