For the last two years we’ve heard nothing but excuses for Luke Walton.
It started with the India trip last season. That trip was such a distraction, and didn’t allow Luke Walton time to implement his system. We were told THAT was why the Kings had such a disappointing start last season. That excuse ignored the fact that several other teams had international games in preseason and those teams weren’t impacted like the Kings were. Well anyway, the Kings had no such trip this preseason, and yet nothing changed.
Last season injuries were blamed for the team’s struggles. And there’s no question that the Kings had some unfortunate injuries last year, but that’s life in the NBA. This season the Kings have been overwhelmingly healthy, with Marvin Bagley being the team’s only major injury. Yet last night the Kings lost to a 15-win team that was missing its best player to injuries.
This season the early excuse was Covid. Of course, that has impacted every team this season. Everyone is living under the same disrupted conditions, and the Kings have lost far fewer players than most teams due to contact tracing or quarantines. So we can cross that excuse off the list.
“But there’s been no practice time this season!” Well, once again this is the case for every team in the league, and yet plenty of teams are playing well. This includes teams with first-year coaches. And, of course, the Kings actually had a practice day before this Pistons game. Extra practice didn’t seem to help.
Let’s see, what other excuses have we heard? Ah yes, roster construction. Monte McNair got rid of the bench from last year, so we couldn’t blame Walton for the results when the bench unit was so bad. And yet after the trade deadline we all agreed that McNair’s moves improved the bench. McNair brought in Delon Wright, Terence Davis and Maurice Harkless. Since they arrived, the bench has been better. Not a championship bench, but that’s not the standard of success for a bench that just wants to pretend it can make the 10 seed. Walton got a better bench, and the team still struggles. Walton even went so far as to move Tyrese Haliburton back to the bench to strengthen it, and yet the team looked as lifeless as ever last night.
De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Delon Wirght, Terence Davis, Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, Richaun Holmes, Hassan Whiteside, Chimezie Metu, and Damian Jones. That’s 10 players on the roster who have shown themselves capable of being rotation NBA players. As a third string point guard I’d argue you could also add Kyle Guy to that conversion. Luke Walton can’t claim he doesn’t have NBA players. So let’s cross off the “lack of bench” excuse off the list.
So what’s left? Some of the local media is now blaming the players. I’m not going to say the players are blameless, nor am I arguing that a player like De’Aaron Fox is above being questioned. But the team has made a lot of changes to the roster over the last year and a half. De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, Marvin Bagley and Richaun Holmes are the only players who have been here for Walton’s entire tenure. Nobody has ever questioned the effort of Richaun Holmes, so that excuse it out. Nobody questions Barnes’ professionalism or effort. Buddy’s performance is inconsistent but his effort is never in question. Bagley isn’t with the team. So now we’re seeing fingers pointed at Fox because he’s the last one left. Every single other player is new. Some came in the offseason, some came at the deadline, but the team has gotten rid of starters and bench players and yet we still see a team that is unmotivated and unprepared for their opponent.
We keep hearing a list of excuses for Luke Walton. And every time one excuse gets invalidated a new excuse pops up. How much longer before we accept the simplest answer is likely the correct one?
I have rarely seen a coach in my 43 years of watching NBA basketball have less feel for the game. He rarely understands when to call time out, he doesn’t seem to understand match ups nor how to create effective lineups throughout 48 minutes. His weaknesses here are the exact same as they were in LA. I watched quite a few of those games, as I thought their collection of young talent was very interesting, but it was the same thing we are now used to: odd lineups, unmotivated players, inconsistent play, poorly defined roles, no identity. Just fire him. This is bad for the fans and bad for the players who will be on the roster next season. Alvin Gentry is not going to lead us to any great heights, but I bet there will be a better offense than watching players shoot a contested three pointer after one or two passes in the offense.
My unscientific analysis of Walton’s timeout usage is that he calls one any time the other teams dunks the ball after going on a 4-0 run or longer.
Occam’s razored.
Oh Kings waltoned.
The eye test says that the Kings have been on the overwhelming good side of the injury ledger this year. It seems that they miss marquee opponent after marquee opponent while being pretty healthy in comparison. This was probably the softest schedule that the Kings have seen in the past decade when you factor in how many top level players they avoided.
The old saying is that you can’t fire the team, and as much as we might like, we can’t fire the owner, either. The coach gets the axe, fair or not. Based on the results under Walton, I have a hard time swallowing that his dismissal would be unfair, but if it is, so be it. But it sure seems as though a change is in order, and the most realistic option is the coaching staff.
And 1 – Kyle Draper was pretty unforgiving (and accurate) in his post-game assessment last night. He questioned the team’s heart and wondered if Fox is a leader. But one thing that he said that I take issue with is that he doubted that any other NBA coach could do better with this team. Draper need look no further than the opponent’s bench last night. Dwane Casey had his team (sans Jerami Grant) hungry, engaged, and ready to play. Now, if Draper is arguing available coaches, that might be slightly different. But that’s not what he said, and to intimate that Casey, Pop, Snyder, Spoelstra, Rivers, McMillan, Carlisle, Malone, Stevens, Budenholzer, Thibs, Williams or Stotts (among others) could not get more out of this roster is ludicrous.
Over-and-over we question whether or not Fox is a leader, but if he actually were a leader we wouldn’t be questioning it.
He’s still young, but this organization’s penchant for pounding square pegs into round holes is certainly a cause for concern. Buddy’s a ball handler, Bagley’s a small forward, and so it has gone for years, under various GMs and owners. So it is very possible that they are trying to make Fox into something that he simply is not. Tough position to be in – not too many non-all stars are the face of their respective franchise, and that next step up for Fox will have to be a huge one.
I wonder what the accountability is for the players. Pure speculation as I am not behind the door, but these guys seem to like Luke in the same way that we used to love substitute teachers, in that substitutes really could not hold us as accountable as our regular teachers. And while it’s true that the hard-arse coach of yesteryear might not play in this day and age, there has to be a clear set of goals, effort and accountability. And I’m just not seeing it here.
Again, pure guess, but I think that Fox would flourish under a stronger coach, one that demanded better performance and aided in that goal.
(Fify)
I want my teams to compete for conference championships, and I hope a title comes from it. That’s the goal. My other team, the Sixers, are there right now.
Fox would be the fourth best player on that Sixers team. Think about that for a moment if the goal is to build towards titles here in Sacramento. Really think about it.
I’d flip him for sure. Absolutely no question about it.
I’m not sure that noticing that Fox would be the fourth-best player on a team very likely to make the conference finals at a minimum is the sick burn that you think it is.
Embiid & Simmons are all-stars, and Harris should absolutely have been one. Fox has been on the cusp this year, and continues to improve. But because he’d only be the fourth-best player on a loaded team, you feel it’s smart to flip the best player on the Kings?
Think about that for a moment.
I’ve already thought about it, which is quite simple to understand. I’d want as many elite ping pong balls over a two year period as possible. I need Fox for that. I don’t need him to help win enough games to keep me out of the lottery.
It’s called A PLAN. I know it can sound like a foreign language to some, I get that. It’s easier for some fans to just think a good player is actually great.
Fox is here because of ping pong balls. I don’t think that dumping a known quantity, who has an excellent chance to be an all-star one day for the opportunity to select someone who may end up not even being a rotational player isn’t so much a plan as it is a tantrum.
Ahhhh. So a two year plan I’ve talked about for over a year, which includes the standard practice of flipping your most valuable asset, is a tantrum.
As I said, this is a foreign language to some. I’ve tried to translate it as best I can.
And here you go either with some type of name calling or a disrespectful dig. I think the guy who championed Bagley for 3 straight years should look in the mirror.
I had to make sure that you were responding to me.
Perhaps you could explain what this word plan means for those of us who are too dumb to understand?
For what it’s worth, there is something of a difference between championing a player, and suggesting that paying a high lottery pick to go away isn’t going to be helpful. Although given that this, uh, plan, was it? is to get rid of your best player in order to move from 11th to 7th in the lottery, perhaps the latter is all part of doing the same thing over and over while hoping for a different result.
Agree. Also, I’ll add that Fox isn’t the problem w this franchise. He’s one of the few good things we have going. As far as his leadership, I’m not worried about it, mostly because I think Haliburton ends up being the leader and de facto PG of this team.
Fox just needs to keep doing what he’s doing.
Fox is a very good player who is inconsistent and displays disinterest in playing defense. Life here is comfortable for him. Max contract without the demands that he fulfill the expectations that come with one. I see no reason to expect him to change, except that his offensive efficiency will continue to marginally improve.
So, if the Kings want a leader, to hold others accountable and lead this team to the playoffs, Fox isn’t that player. Maybe, Haliburton will become one, or maybe, the Kings will draft one. Keeping him long term runs the risk that he demands a trade and blames the organization for his own deficiencies.
Best case scenario, the Kings draft their 1A guy this year, and Fox/Haliburton are 2A/2B.
This brings me back to something Jerry said on one of the podcasts. Why did they have to give Fox the extension prem,aturely? The whole CBA was structured so that a team could wait until the final year, and re-sign him as a FA, giving him the opportunity to explore the market.
Fox is 20th in the NBA in points per game. 14th in assists per game. 22nd in steals. 10th in FTAs. He’s undoubtedly a max player in this league. And while the CBA allows you to wait, it also allows you to reach an agreement early. The only thing that would have been accomplished by waiting is creating strain in the relationship between the new front office and the team’s best player.
This. There is what the CBA allows, and then there is the reality of who wields the power in the NBA. And make no mistake, the power belongs to the top 60-90 players and their agents.
Why would it create a strain? For allowing the new GM to do his due dilligence on a guy they are planning to give a shitload of money to, in accordance with the rules of the CBA?
I mean, it’s funny that Monte has a gap year to evaluate, but took the biggest decision at the start of his tenure without any in-depth investigation on how Fox comports himself on a day-to-day level, without really knowing and understanding his personality, strengths and weaknesses.
And “the team’s best player” currently isn’t able to steer his healthy team to the 10th play-in spot.
Counting stats are nice, and Fox is a very good player, but is he really worth being paid as a franchise player? I have my doubts.
Your assumption that only franchise players are receiving max contracts isn’t borne out by reality. It’s not really a stretch to say that there are teams that don’t currently have a franchise player, regardless of what they’re being paid. I think Fox could be a franchise guy, but that’s a nebulous distinction, and I’m not really prepared to say whether he currently is or is not.
The notion that McNair walked in here knowing nothing at all about De’Aaron Fox and just threw a max deal at him is beyond ridiculous. I’m not sure what your conditions are for an executive to perform due diligence on a player, but I’d wager that McNair covered all of them, and then some.
To be fair, Fox is basically a top ~12 player on offense already. He was always getting a max deal. The only real decision was to trade him or sign him to an extension.
Yeah, I think this is right…Fox was going to get a max deal regardless, so extending him early doesn’t hurt his trade value (if that’s the direction the team decides to go).
I think it’s ok to have Fox on that deal if he’s your third best player. But he needs to be your third best player (IMO) if you have ambitions of getting past the lower tier of Western Conference playoff teams. The question remains – how will the team find that superstar player?
Another question would be Monte’s decision to re-up Bagley for another year before he had to.
I would double check that – I think that they have to pick up rookie options a year in advance, though I may be mistaken.
This isn’t true. I don’t know where this narrative started, but it’s patently false. Bagley, like Fox and Hield, had his option picked up in accordance with the terms of a rookie scale contract. The same terms that apply to Tyrese Halliburton and his rookie scale deal. With the same time frame applying (all options must be picked up by the team a year before they kick in) as it has happened before with other 1st rounders.
Simply put, ALL 1st round picks are subject to this deal. If you are saying that the Kings would be better off with Bagley being a FA like Harry Giles was this past offseason, fine. But I don’t get the sense that’s the thrust of that argument.
The Kings extended Buddy early as well.
Buddy’s contract is the early contract extension that has hurt the Kings.
“Hey kids, My name is Mr. Walton and I’ll be your substitute teacher today. And you know what that means, right? We are going to watch the tape! So you’ve got two choices today: Air Bud or Teen Wolf?”
“All right! Who’s Dick Hertz?”
It sounds as though you are making excuses for Luke. Luke has done nothing right. Fox is a good player. How we should handle Fox is another conversation. Luke has failed, not just his team and us as fans, but management cannot ignore Luke failing their own mandate to get them to the play-in. They never spoke that mandate in the media, as far as I know, but actions speak louder than words. Luke has not won a game since they “up-graded” the bench. Can Luke use the excuse that the bench isn’t in fact better? Can he point the finger at McNair? That’s about the only spineless thing left for him to do at this point, that he hasn’t already done.
Your Sixers are my pick to go all the way. That said, Fox would be, at least, the third best player on that team. Same could be said of my T-wolves. You can’t expect the players to do it in spite of the organization. That’s why the Sixers hire professionals.
no sir. To me Luke doesn’t matter. He’s gone this off-season.
We don’t have superstars and I’d flip everything to try and get them. Luke is just a time filler.
Fox is not better than Embiid, Simmons, or Harris. Sure, Fox gets to the basket better than all three, but that’s where it ends.
Not sure I have similar confidence here – by all indications the team (and more importantly, the team’s best player) likes the guy. And just as this team is losing games to shitty teams right now, they may well go on a hot streak, get to the play-in game and this stretch will be forgotten/ignored by the decision makers.
I think when it comes down to it, Fox would rather win games working for a ballbuster than lose them under the tutelage of someone who couldn’t find his own ass with both hands and a roadmap.
Agreed. I see no guarantees Walton is gone. The only thing I’ve seen is that McNair said Walton was great in an interview or presser, and then qualified it to Walton has been great with the players (or something like that) with Carmichael Dave. I will not be surprised if Walton is coaching this team again next year.
My theory is that all of McNair’s chips are on a superstar trade, so he doesn’t necessarily need to get rid of this bad coach until that unicorn trade happens.
This is why I was so pissed off at the deadline. This is the year to maximize the team’s draft chances. There was clearly an opportunity to move Barnes, which would have led to a better draft spot. Same with Holmes, who they seem likely to lose for nothing in the offseason. The opportunity to move up in this draft is lost, and it’s made worse if either or both of those players are moved in the offseason. At that point, we’ve gotten a higher pick for no reason. I also think the Kings front office is overvaluing the net rating of the starting group(s).
Here’s what I think is going on: Vivek wants a playoff team. McNair is enamored of the Harden to Houston , Irving to the Celtics or Kawhi to Toronto scenario, so he’s not going to tank, and instead will put all his chips on that happening. This is what McNair means when he talks about maintaining flexibility.
This means we’re not going to see a lot of meaningful movement of players on this team, unless an individual trade is a clear personnel or asset upgrade. I don’t see any veteran deals like Vlade would have made, because only players on bargain deals are fodder for a superstar trade. In other words, McNair must win every trade to build assets for a future Kawhi, Kyrie or Harden-type deal. That means we’re not going to see a lot of players for picks deals, and we’re not going to see any tanking at all.
It also means that no one is safe, including Haliburton or Fox, because everyone and all draft picks are on the table for a Harden, Kyrie or Kawhi deal.
It also would explain why he got the job. Vivek seems very much like a short term thinker and clearly does not want to tank for long term success. McNair believes that a superstar deal (and not tanking) is the way to success, which fits Vivek’s need to compete. The problem here is that if that kind of trade doesn’t come to pass over several years, and the team makes trades and signings that only provide incremental improvement, McNair risks looking like a do-nothing GM.
Where I think we will see player movement, and where the “value buyer’ thing comes into play is that McNair is going to churn through second round picks, GLeague and bench players trying to find the next Christian Wood, to either serve as a compliment to his planned superstar deal, or as part of the deal itself.
I really believe this is where we are. At most, expect incremental deals in the offseason and at next year’s deadline. If McNair is lucky, eventually he’ll be able to move a set of players for superstar player. If he’s not, we’ll more or less tread water for three or four years and McNair will eventually get fired having accomplished little.
Edit: Where the rubber meets the road is Bogey was not retained because his deal was not a bargain, so has no value in trade for a superstar. I think Holmes is likely to suffer the same fate. If they can keep him at a bargain, they will, but much past what Montrezl Harell got (2/$18m) he’s gone.
I do expect Buddy to be moved if possible, just to get out of a bad deal that’s in the way of a future superstar trade.
tl;dr
Every move the Kings make is in anticipation of trading for a superstar later. Tanking is not going to happen.
And again, the details of the potential trade for Barnes that McNair walked away from are…?
Don’t worry about it, I’ve been asking the same question for two weeks.
“In other words, McNair must win every trade to build assets for a future Kawhi, Kyrie or Harden-type deal. That means we’re not going to see a lot of players for picks deals, and we’re not going to see any tanking at all.”
I don’t necessarily disagree that McNair and Vivek are thinking this way, but all superstar deals require agent cooperation. What agent of a player of this caliber would allow their client to end up in Sacramento?
It’s nearly 100% coaching, IMO. Just look at what Thibs has done with the Knicks. They’ve been basically Kings East for the past decade and they now have one of the best defenses in the NBA and are looking to make the playoffs.
Last year we clearly had the worst GM and Coach in the NBA, I’d argue we still have the worst coach and the GM is undetermined.
Monte McNair is definitely in the yet to be determined category, 100% agree. Halliburton may have fallen into McNair’s lap, but his lack of boldness at the trade deadline leaves a lot to be desired.
We still have (pretty much) the same motley crew starting, and if McNair thought this bunch would even sniff the play-in tournament, I believe his judgement of talent now becomes very questionable.
McNair selects who may end up being the best all-around player in the draft, who, it’s important to note, eleven other general managers took a pass on, but Haliburton just fell into his lap? There were certainly still a number of players whose selection would have made sense at twelve, but NcNair succeeded on dumb luck?
The sample size for McNair remains too small to properly assess, but thus far, his moves in regard to talent have been almost uniformly on the nose, The bench is considerably improved, and I have serious reservations that he or any other intelligent observer ever thought the Kings were making the playoffs. The play-in is not the playoffs; it’s only a second chance to get into them, and a bone the league is throwing to appease networks and advertisers. It’s a cheap gimmick, and further diminishes a tournament that already included more than half the teams.
McNair going on television and not expressly saying that this is another lottery year seems like the prudent stance for someone in his position.
First, it was refreshing to see Draper be honest and blunt and not let Kayte shill for 30 mins. That being said, I agree with Draper to an extent. The team has no heart and are soft. Vlade built this team. He signed a vet “leader” in HB who has never shown flashes of true leadership. He signed Buddy to a big contract after Buddy complained to the media about not having a big contract. He picked Bagley over Luka.
Could another coach pull some wins out of this team? Possibly in the short-term, but these players are who they are.
Nailed it.
So you don’t think that this team would be better under Pop or Snyder or Spoelstra, and that they would not be able to maintain a higher level? Man, I strongly disagree with that.
Not saying that this roster is upper echelon NBA, but under a top flight coach I could easily see them over .500, which would place them at 15th in the league instead of 22nd.
Put another way, swap Pop for Walton and make no roster changes and the Kings are in the thick of it for the 8th seed while the Spurs are somewhere in the 12-15 range in the West. It doesn’t solve everything, but it is an important incremental step.
holy cow where did I say anything like that?
ok, 15th in the league with arguably the best coach of all time. Still leaves us with the same roster that’s going nowhere.
You need a coach to show the potential of each player in a system in order to analyze what players to keep and move. In Walton’s system of pick up basketball, you basically will only see natural creators excel and role players falter. How can you assess the pieces with inadequate data? Walton is the biggest move to make to get a real sense of direction Monte can take with this team.
Swap Pop for the Kings coach and the Kings are right in the thick of it Period. Now and for the last twenty years. Exactly! And no Gm in the league would trade Fox for Tobias Harris. Lol!
Probably not, but not because Fox is a better (or more valuable) basketball player right now.
The team is soft because they don’t have a starting caliber center. Holmes is a great back-up. We don’t know what’s in these guys hearts anymore than we know what’s in yours. They lack leadership because the coach sucks. Sacramento knows better than to go Philly-fan on our best player like they were doing to Embiid just a couple seasons ago. Remember when he called in sick with a tummy ache for a playoff game? The NBA isn’t judging players for their performance in Sac and hasn’t in years. They leave here and go back to becoming play-off contributors for other teams. We won’t truly know who any of these guys are until we see them under competent NBA quality coaching.
The team is soft b/c Metu broke his wrist on a dirty play and his teammates did nothing. The team is soft b/c they come out against the 2 worst teams in the NBA and laid an egg. The team is soft b/c they let other teams score at will. This could go on awhile…
I think he can be (and has shown) he can lead by example, but I don’t know if Fox will ever be the heart and soul of the team.
And 1: Fox, Hali, Barnes and Holmes all have different leadership qualities that compliment each other well. Fox is the engine, Haliburton is the glue guy, Barnes is the consummate professional, and Holmes is the hustle guy. I really think they’re only one starter away, it just so happens to be they’re missing the leader of the crew. I hate to say it cuz it’s an overused term, but they need an alpha dog.
But when only one of those is a “hustle guy”, the ceiling is limited. Detroit is far less talented, but had twice the effort last night.
That “one starter” better be a superstar.
“The eye test says that the Kings have been on the overwhelming good side of the injury ledger this year. It seems that they miss marquee opponent after marquee opponent while being pretty healthy in comparison.
All the good NBA teams have LOAD MANAGEMENT written in highlighter next to their games with the Kings.
A good thing about having a goal of making the playoffs is that you can then make personnel changes based on failing to meet that goal.
test
Dear Luke,
I’ll have to watch tape.
The tapes?
We need that “You Suck” videotape GIF that (I think) LaBradford did a while ago, just for this occasion.
Brilliant!
Did Lucy pull the football again?
Lukesy. You spelled it wrong.
Testing, testing, testing…
I think we can all universally agree that most likely Monte wanted to bring in a new coach but was likely told no for financial reasons. This season was never meant to be. Walton will be gone at the end of the year and Monte will be able to bring in the guy he wants. Monté? Monty? Montie? I’m never sure…apologies
I like this theory. A half-assed run for the ten seed, knowing what’s best for the organization is to miss it. By empowering Luke to win, Monte’s given him enough rope to hang himself.
next year we’ll likely have a good(not great) draft pick and a shiny new coach in addition to whatever other offseason moves we make.
Great article! I agree with everything in it 100%, with one minor exception… IMO one/you can definitely question Buddy’s effort. I hear that he does extra shooting practice which is great, but his effort on defense is not consistently present. If he’s not giving 100% effort on D, It almost doesn’t even matter how many threes he’s making… Walton should have him on the bench.
I laughed so hard when I saw CoJo was the leading scorer last night.
That was a great time to laugh hysterically at our situation.
Hit the road
JackLuke!Is Luke a bad head coach? Yes. Should the blame be put on him? I say no. Vlade hired him without interviewing anyone else. The Luke mistake falls on Vlade/Vivek.
Every negative article written abt the Kings from now on should be focused solely on Vivek. and specifically the Vivek/Vlade era.
The current state of the team is scary for Kings fans:
I don’t think it’s out of line to lay some blame at Walton’s feet for simply being terrible at the job that he was hired to do. Should he ever have been hired? Of course not! Is there another potential head coach that would have taken an exciting speed-based team and tried to turn them in to the 1992 New York Knicks?
I mean, it’s possible, but jeez, he’d need to be pretty damned stupid.
By that logic, you can’t blame Vlade for any of the decisions he made, because Vivek hired Vlade. And you can’t blame Vivek for any of his mismanagement, because his purchase/leadership of the franchise was facilitated by David Stern. And you can’t blame David Stern, because….
Where does it end? We can’t blame God, or can we? It is incumbent on mature adults not to accept responsibility they are not prepared for. Accepting an offer of a job means you are accepting responsibility for doing that job competently. If the Constitution was magically altered overnight and Congress offered me the job of President of the United States this morning, there is no way in hell I would take it, because I know I would screw it up badly.
The blame for Luke’s incompetence falls on Luke. Period.
Your Stern argument is a little silly as Vivek appeared to be the only guy who could keep the team here, which is what Stern wanted.
After that, all this franchise’s failures fall on Vivek. He is the constant in the current iteration of the franchise. Vivek fired Malone, hired Pete and Vlade, had/has a major say in team decisions, etc.. He has shown zero ability to adequately run a basketball franchise in any way whatsoever.
“When you get back from Flingers, we’d like to see you in the conference room, Mister Walton.”
“Mr. Walton, what would you say you DO here?”
“I’d have to watch the tape.”
Hopefully the Luke Walton era is over after this season. Been so unimpressed with the guy Vlade hired because he didn’t believe Joerger “could take us to the next level.”
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2019/4/11/18306483/dave-joerger-fired-kings-coach
Scene…a lovely spring day in DoCo. A solitary figure dejectedly sits on one of the park benches, glumly looking at the image on his phone.
Cut to a shot of the screen of the phone…
[UofArizona AD]: “New phone, who dis?”
If you qualify for the playin game and do not win… is your streak for missing the playoffs still in tact?
Yes. Only 16 teams make the playoffs.
In my total armchair, non expert, barely paying attention anymore, probably uninformed and worthless observation…(enough qualifiers? ) Luke strikes me as someone who is trying to pattern after one of his mentors (Phil Jackson) but without the required skills and attributes to pull it off. He wants to be all Zen and chill, but the reality is he just comes off as uninterested, low energy, and lost.
I don’t know what Luke knows about basketball. Probably 1000X more than me or even many of you… but he doesn’t seem to get leadership to my eye. Some guys can lead by being your friend, but that is not always (or even often) the case. If as a leader you allow yourself to become a peer, you allow those you are leading to blame shift and shirk their own responsibility. Walton doesn’t seem able to hold the players accountable and is too concerned about them “liking him.”
It’s either that, or they just don’t believe him or buy into his system. It could be a combination of both, but they sure don’t go out and give their 100% effort for him, or even for each other. They are all “ok” with taking it easy. That is on the coach. I don’t like him as a coach. (nevermind as a person, don’t like that either, but it’s not relevant here.) I’ve never liked him as a coach. He just doesn’t have that “it” thing that says “follow me, I’ll get you there.” To the eye test he is outmatched on almost every level by other NBA coaches. He needs to be gone, and Monte needs to be VERY careful and solid in his next selection.
I wonder if the players have rationally decided that playing extra-hard to get into a stupid made-for-TV play-in game is a waste of time and frankly humiliating, and they want no part of it. It’s like the high school football player who sat on the bench all year because he’s completely unskilled, then the coach puts him in on the last play of the season, draws up a play for him, and then the other team purposely steps aside to let him score because awwww look, so inspiring! It’s humiliating, if you think about it, and I wouldn’t blame the players at all for not wanting to be the pitied kid in this scenario.
I would imagine that a portion of them have contract incentives that would plop a nice bag of money on their doorsteps for making the play-in/playoffs.
Yeah, that’s fair. I suppose I’m once again trying to find reasons for this team’s awfulness besides “they just stink,” and that never works, does it?
Next selection? He hasn’t been permitted to male his first selection yet.
I wonder if after that ass-whoopin the Kangz just took at the hand of a crappy team if he is still not interested?
I wonder more… why would AZ even want him?
It’s all old-boy network shit, same as it ever was. Luke Walton would never have even played in the NBA except for who his father is.
Right now…the new lineup is not working with Harkless as the starting SF…
so, I would like to see if Walton is trying to insert Woodard as the starting SF to see if it works…..
We sucks, and please play the rookies more, Coach Walton !!!!!!!!
I’m not saying that Harkless replacing Haliburton in the starting lineup is the smart move, but one game in, I don’t know that it can be said with any certainty that “the new lineup is not working.”
Mo Harkless is completely washed…………..
I would say move Hield into the 2nd unit, and play Davis / Wright as the starting SG should be a nice try
That dunk was pretty sick though.
I agree with you on Hield, but why not insert someone like a Metu for Barnes in the starting lineup? Why does Barnes always get a pass?
I mean, we stink anyway, and Barnes shouldn’t be around next season. At least I hope he’s not, if McNair was shopping him at the deadline.
I still can’t get the image out of my head of Harkless kicking the ball after someone else’s missed free throw, as if that moment epitomizes him as a player.
Why are we talking about lineups?? This team sucks! It doesn’t matter!
Walton is absolutely a great poster child for the power of mediocre white men to attain influence and privilege beyond their abilities and what they deserve.
Ah, race was mentioned, so it must be only for effect, and completely wrong.
Legacy hires continue to destroy this country, and no one gets more of them than idiot sons of idiot sons.
In this case, IMHO, it is wrong. Walton was not privileged because of his race. He was definitely privileged because of his dad’s accomplishments. Big difference. Nepotism, not race. Reasonable people may disagree. I’m going to stop here before this thread turns into something the mods need to shut down.
Nepotism is big here as well, plus Vlade being the dumbest front office executive in the history of sports.
We’d be laughing so hard about it if he’d been hired anywhere else.
several mediocre white men with unearned influence disagree
Luke, you can only “not watch the tape” so many times…
I was all ready with GIF comments last night but the comments for me weren’t working…but it seems like I’m back again!
You could re-title this article “The Kings are running out of excuses for Luke Walton.” Then re-write it with excuses starting right after hiring him, for his alleged inappropriate conduct, and ending with “Well, we owe him a lot of money now, so we’re not ready to admit the mistake we’ve been refusing to acknowledge all along.”
Luke should have been fired 48 hours after he was hired. The fact that he was not, and the team all too willingly stayed mum while he reached an undisclosed settlement with his accuser (translation: he paid her or some victims’ rights group a lot of money and probably gave her a verbal apology), is a black eye on the Kings organization. That, and the hirings of Terence Davis, Rajon Rondo, DeMarcus Cousins, Matt Barnes, Darren Collison, etc etc etc. Despite its public stance on social justice issues, the Kings have happily ignored the conduct of their own employees for the sake of a few fewer ping-pong balls each season.
I don’t think Walton’s situation was a black eye for the organization, mainly because both eyes are already black due to so many other failures.
Walton’s situation is less a black eye, and more akin to blue balls.
It is hard to take this virtual basketball season seriously. I’m a bike racer and there have been virtual races on pelotons to keep some competition. I take these just a seriously as this years basketball season as being real. It feels more like a extended Summer league. I expect the players motivations to make a playoff in a short season without fans as not enough, if you have to take the game in your own hands.. With the rest of the team un-motivated for a 10th seed.
I can’t judge Walton’s coaching of a team that is this un-motivated. He is not a top head coach, but even I could not get up for games this year. I’m hardly watching them.
Hiring Divac is the worst move this franchise has ever done.
So many years have been wssted.
Unretire him.
They should definitely take his jersey out of the rafters.
Bought for$540M and now worth $1.7B. Mr “Arrogant and Dismissive Little Chap” thanks for all you’ve done, now please take your profits and GTFO
That is his player’s jersey, and he earned its ascent to the rafters. His GM suit, however, should be burned in the middle of DoCo.
OK, I can live with the jersey stays, but he is not spoken of for the next 25 years. Fair?
The theatre play el tuerto es rey just about sums up being a Kings fan.
OT: I think there’s something funny still going on with comment posting. I posted a comment in the game recap article and somehow it ended up in this one..
I agree. Seen some comments deleted in this thread. It was at 90 comments, then went back down to the 70s an hour later.
Comparing the Kings to Sears is perfect because like Sears, the Kings are irrelevant and a dead franchise.
Lukenbill would have figured it out by now
Well written.
Accountability starts at the top and trickles down.
I really don’t understand why Bagley is allowed to rehab away from the team. Even if he’s not in your long-term plans, it sets a bad tone and precedent towards the rest of the team. Also, even if you view him as a (monor) asset, you want to protect that asset and keep an eye on him.
That’s a strike against Monte.
Also, it’s funny that when Tyrese was brought into the starting line-up, people were quick to point out how Monte was giving input on line-ups and rotations in Houston. Maybe he suggested this tweek to Luke?
Now, my point is not that Monte is responsible for the benching of Tyrese. It’s that a good organization has clearly marked lanes, and everyoine stays in his lane, is responsible and accountable for his lane.
If Monte has input on line-ups, how much can we hold Luke accountable for failure?
If Dumars has input on basketball opps decisions, how much can we hold Monte accountable?
If Bagley is away from the team doing his rehab, how much can we hold the medical and training staff accountable?
This should be a comment in reply to the accountability article!
It’s a glitch!
We’re like all those poor kids who tried to play Atari’s ET game.
Well said.
Comment that I worked 20 minutes on: gone.
Great article, Tim.
This was beautifully written and quite accurate. Thank you for the good read. Let’s hope McNair is up for the task at hand.
I agree with all of this…and now I’m also getting In-N-Out for lunch
Jealous…
Our comment section is the Sears of TKH comment sections right now. We’re working on it – apologies everyone.
Sounds like you worked at the Sears at Arden Mall (sadly closing this month) and then the In n Out by the mall opened and you wound up there. Arden is quentissential Sac.
Anyways, time to boycott this franchise. I believe fans are allowed to attend games soon. Best way to show this franchise that the product is unacceptable is to
not attend games.
just my simple suggestion. Times are hard, don’t waste your hard earned money on this sh@t franchise or it’s douchebag owner.
Absolutely nailed it.
There really is a bg problem with commenting.
I tried hard to think of good things to say about Vivek, Vlade, Matina, Dumars, Shaq, Luke and Andy but couldn’t find any.
A tall order, indeed.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
I have never posted on this page. I visit before every game and after. I read most of the post. I participate as a long time fan/season ticket holder. I decided that this is a good one to start. The comparison of Sears to In-and-Out
is, well, perfect. Part of my lack of participation in the past was the sense that it just doesn’t matter. What player is good? Who should be traded? Who isn’t holding up their end? All meaningless when the WHOLE F-ING ORGANIZATION IS BROKEN! I guess I am part of the problem too, as I continue to give them many thousands of dollars every year, despite knowing they just don’t give a damn.
A lot of agreement for me with this, it’s well laid-out. A couple of things:
The offseason will be telling, particularly as it relates to the head coaching job. I do think McNair got stuck with another season of Walton, and if somehow he remains coach next season, that will be the only thing that you need to know about the kind of constraints under which McNair is permitted to do his job.
Honestly, I was surprised when I woke up today that Walton was still here. Should he stay, it’s clear that ownership is content to run out the string for the season before tossing him. I’m resigned enough to allow that it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, so long as Walton gets bounced before he retreats to the locker room after the final game.
Anyway, this obviously posted to the wrong thread.
Upset much, are we Tim?
That said, it’s certainly a healthy response. If I thought it mattered, I’d be more upset. But it doesn’t matter. And that’s just the sad truth of it.
Venting can be helpful though.
Data-dependent decision making says LUKE, YOUR FIRED!
Test!
The commenting glitch is a practical joke by pro-tankers.
Works for me
I don’t watch the games any more and only follow through the herald for the community and to watch the banter. They need to bring wholesale change before I pay them a dollar to watch again
But let’s say the cable/satellite/internet package through which you receive content includes the Kings games. Do you cancel the service entirely, or demand that they prorate it off of your bill?
I but league pass or did
Prorate by the number of wins, with 25% of revenue going to crisis intervention for every accused domestic abuser on the team.
Perfect Tim. Great write up. I’m depressed.
Amen brother! I have been a Kings fans for years, but I just feel like, if this organization takes us (the fane) for granted, why should i care anymore. They think we are stupid apparently.
I largely concur. This is an ownership issue. They have to figure out what sort of franchise they want to be.
Kayte will never run out of excuses, which sadly, is effectively her job at this point.
It’s time to fire the managing partner of this smoking turd fire and bring in someone with more basketball savvy than a rich guy who coaches his daughter’s team. The only way to do that is to boycott the kings. He makes bad hire after bad hire and has no clue to winning NBA ballonly that he wants what the Warriors had. But they were a flukish occurrence that had more to do with luck, timing, and more luck than with astute hoopsense. Curry was a once a generation shooter, paired with another talented shooter, connected to defensive minded power forward. Their luck seems to have run out on them lately and may never return. Plus they could bargain for firstrate FA Durant. The Kings can only sucker third rates to steal their money.
We had a coach in Malone who seemed to strum the right chords on a busted guitar for a while, but Oh No, señor swish no likee plodding defensive game. So he switches GMs and coaches, and the losses continue. The mojo is shot on this group. Time to roll the King.
Test
Let’s try this!
Badge Legend