Has the time come to get smart?

[hrdboild]

Another embarrassment of a loss tonight where the only good thing that could be said about the game was that it was finally over. Guys getting hot can carry us for a little while, but up against a legitimate NBA team we look like fresh roadkill right now. And you could kindof see this coming. Tyreke's timely resurgence disguised some of our deficiencies for a short time, but he was initiating much of the offense in those games on his own -- finding open shooters and working the two man game effectively with Demarcus. Take him out of the lineup and we're back to shot happy guards and isolation ball. And the less said about the defense the better.

I've been calling for a new coach since the end of last season, to start building something positive rather than treading water but now Coach Smart has entered the part of his tenure where he's doing damage to the psyche of the team and the longer Petrie sits on his hands the harder it's going to be to reverse course. I don't care who they get at this point, just do something. Soon.

[mac]

Oh wait, so you mean that whole running thing isn't a reliable offense? Shocker.

[andremiller07]

Smart geting fired might make us slightly better but the reailty is, other than Evans and Cousins we have zero shot creators, Outlaw, Garcia, JJ and Salmons wouldn't make another teams roster and therefore imo shouldn't even be in the NBA and our PGs defense and assisting completely sucks,Thomas Robinson is a good athlete but atm hes another low IQ guy. We can't really make any significant trades without giving up Evans or Cousins which puts us back to square one, the supporting cast is just bad and poorly designed.

[UK_King]

Has anyone watched the Wizards, Toronto, Cleveland or NOLA this season? We all have similar records but i bet we're the only team that has absolutely zero offensive sets.

I bet even the Wizards have a semblance of an offense they work around.

[andremiller07]

Has anyone watched the Wizards, Toronto, Cleveland or NOLA this season? We all have similar records but i bet we're the only team that has absolutely zero offensive sets.

I bet even the Wizards have a semblance of an offense they work around.

Those teams all also have very good tradeable pieces which we don't, Toronto in particular and the Wizards if both Nene and John Wall were healthy from the jump would have a better record than the Kings.

[mac]

Smart geting fired might make us slightly better but the reailty is, other than Evans and Cousins we have zero shot creators, Outlaw, Garcia, JJ and Salmons wouldn't make another teams roster and therefore imo shouldn't even be in the NBA and our PGs defense and assisting completely sucks,Thomas Robinson is a good athlete but atm hes another low IQ guy. We can't really make any significant trades without giving up Evans or Cousins which puts us back to square one, the supporting cast is just bad and poorly designed.

How many shot creators does a good team really need though? Outside of Durant and Westbrook who really creates shots for the Thunder? Most teams don't have guys in their second units who draw double teams and stuff, they just execute good offense by setting screens to get roleplaying shooters open looks.

[Warhawk]

From today's Bee:

The team's lack of improvement and charisma have left Petrie with few allies among the owners. His contract expires at the end of the season, and if the trend continues, he could be gone within weeks. The Maloofs wholeheartedly endorse Keith Smart and are adamantly opposed to firing another coach.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/12/02/502...#storylink=cpy

Of course this is our old friend AV, so she is probably just pushing her agenda as opposed to doing any real "reporting".

And, if true, it's probably just because they don't want to pay for one.

[Spike]

Because, unlike Rachel Phelps, they actually found someone who will do what they want him to do without asking him to do it. Smart doesn't need any meddling to bumble up this roster. Bringing in someone good might actually show that this is a good group of players. It might bring the fans back to Sacramento, and make it harder for them to relocate.

[CruzDude]

As the Kings came out thru the fan high five tunnel at Staples Center I could see their very down demeanor, no enthusiasm, no spark, even their high fives were low down with no real interest in us fans. Then there was the warm up jackets and pants, bright red! exactly the same on the Kings as on the Clips. With NBA logo visible. Never found out why. But took away what little identity they might have had.

As game started and wore on our group of 28 found little to cheer. No effort except from JT. No sets. No cuts or real player movements. Just going thru the motions. Finally, late in the third one of our group yelled out, "make a bucket and send him to the line"! Meaningless at the time but everyone laughed. The only time the whole night we even smiled. Even Clips fans in our area had sympathy on us and were pleasant, unlike prevoius visits by Southern California KingsFans including 12 who came down from SacTown for the game. Don't know about them but I'm done driving a hundred miles on LA freeways to watch that kind of ball game. At least we have a real team to watch, the San Diego State Aztecs.

[Mojo]

Why fire Petrie mid season? Wouldn't be better to just let him go out at the end of the year?

[Kingster]

Just replacing Smart with one of our assistants would make us feel better for a day and then we'd be right back where we started, or worse (remember Natt?). You've got to have a coach that is without question a very good coach, a coach with credibility among fans and players from the get go.

It's interesting to me that Smart yanked Cousins within the first 5 minutes of the game, and acknowledged at the end of the game that the first 5 minutes had lousy energy from the players. Cousins played 17 minutes in this game. It's got to be very difficult for a coach to be tethered to Cousins, but the Kings made that decision a couple of years ago, so now they have to deal with the consequences and have a coach with the stature necessary to deal with Cousins. With a coach of the diminutive stature of Smart every move in which he discliplines Cousins will be questioned, whereas a name coach can withstand that kind of scrutiny.

[origkds]

Just replacing Smart with one of our assistants would make us feel better for a day and then we'd be right back where we started, or worse (remember Natt?).

I'd like to feel better for a day.

[Mojo]

Then there was the warm up jackets and pants, bright red! exactly the same on the Kings as on the Clips. With NBA logo visible. Never found out why. But took away what little identity they might have had.

I believe this was done for world AIDS day. All the NBA teams wore those same red jumpsuits last night.

[jcwkings]

The owners could give two ***** about this season, also no quality coach would dare take this mess of a team/franchise, we would be stuck with desperate assistants like always

[Glenn]

The owners could give two ***** about this season, also no quality coach would dare take this mess of a team/franchise, we would be stuck with desperate assistants like always

You might be right but a good coach also may see the quality of the players and a know few tweeks that could be made and want to take the challenge. Once hired, I doubt a quality coach would be affected by the Maloof's shenanigans. But hoping for a quality coach is a bit of a pipe dream, isn't it. This is a disgusting situation. A little off topic, if the league rewards the Maloofs for this, I'll be very disappointed. I understand at some point they can't do anything but the fact that the Maloofs are sabotaging this team is obvious. As I have said before, the real problem isn't Smart but it's the people who hired him.

[IfAt1st]

2 things:

* If the AV article is correct, and the Maloofs are adamantly opposed to firing Smart, then well this season will become a battle of wills between them and the fanbase. If the fans came to the arena and simply chanted "Fire Smart! Fire Smart!" the Maloofs' hands would be forced, and constant pressure would be applied to the organization to make a change. Further, this would make the conflict clear for the league,that the owners are not making the changes necessary for the team to get better. This of course assumes that the players will continue to tank for this coach out of an attempt to get him fired (it's quite obvious by now IMO).

* I don't care WHO they get to coach - if they picked up some college coach that would work for peanuts, he could HYPOTHETICALLY instill SOME kind of offense and defense. We KNOW that Smart won't, because he hasn't been capable of it from the beginning. Any coach off the street could instill basic screens and pick-and-roll sets - the fact that Smart hasn't means he that is his choice as a coach - and I don't want a coach that ignores the two basic offensive plays of the entire NBA anywhere near this team for one day longer.

Seriously - I want some reporter (and absent that, I'd like some fan with access yell it) to ask this organization why they aren't running screens and pick-and-rolls like almost every other team in the league does. They aren't attempting them at NEAR the rate of the other teams! That observation alone makes it clear to me that this team is deliberately being run into the ground - until they run similar plays at similar frequencies to other teams, then this tankjob is deliberate, all the way down the line.

[HereWeVivek]

This of course assumes that the players will continue to tank for this coach out of an attempt to get him fired (it's quite obvious by now IMO).

i agree. we all know that none of the players agree with the stupid crap Smart does

[bloom]

i agree. we all know that none of the players agree with the stupid crap Smart does

I agree. I also have a feeling that Demarcus isn't a big fan either anymore.

[butteredbiscuit]

It's funny to me that we always think it can't get any worse, when in fact it could always get worse, and what do you know...it has.

It could get worse. The Kings leaving town.

The problem with the team is that it is young and they dont really have any veteran leaders. Evans is too quiet and Cousins isnt really leadership quality. A Chancey Billips would do wonders on this team. The ownership is a problem. Maybe someone can talk to the NBA about letting the Kings move to Virginia Beach and then there will be 2 more teams in the Eastern Conference than the Western Conference and then the NBA will award 2 expansion franchises to the Western Conference Sacramento (market #20) and Seattle (#12) Only way to do this...

[macadocious]

Smart has lost this team, the are not even listening to him anymore.