The former Nuggets head man also did little to hide his interest in the opening after Sacramento fired Michael Malone.
George Karl appears to be the top candidate to take over the Sacramento Kings' coaching job should the team decide to replace interim Ty Corbin, according to ESPN's Marc Stein. Karl did little to hide his desire for the position, telling Sirius XM radio that "if they are interested in me, I'm interested in them."
The former Denver Nuggets coach has been working as an ESPN analyst since being fired after guiding Denver to a 57-25 record in the 2012-13 season. Karl wanted the Nuggets to extend his contract, but management was unwilling to do so, leading to a split. Karl is close with Kings general manager Pete D'Alessando, who was the assistant GM while Karl was in Denver. He is actively seeking to return to the NBA so he can break Don Nelson's record for coaching victories, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Kings are expected to let Corbin have a chance to win the job outright after firing Michael Malone on Sunday, but it is widely expected that the team will pursue a bigger name. While Corbin will be the man in charge, there's a sense that Kings management will attempt to influence his decisions to suit their desire for an up-tempo team. Owner Vivek Ranadive is expected to push for radical strategies like playing 4-on-5 on defense, according to Wojnarowski.
Other names that have surfaced for the job include former Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro and current Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry, who reportedly turned down the chance to be Malone's lead assistant over the summer. The job eventually went to Corbin.
Per one insider, the Kings head coach job is George Karl's to lose/turn down. Alvin Gentry and Mark Jackson also prime targets.
In the aftermath of the Sacramento Kings' stunning decision to fire Coach Michael Malone, the biggest question (aside from "Why?") has been on his successor. While many names have been thrown out, including Vinny Del Negro and Mark Jackson, George Karl is the name that is being bandied about most often. Karl himself added fuel to the fire in an interview on SiriusXM today saying, ""I'm humbled. If they're interested in me, I'm interested in them."
Kings GM Pete D'Alessandro and Karl have a connection from Karl's previous stop in Denver, where he coached for 9 seasons and led the Nuggets to the playoffs in all of those years. He's a very creative offensive coach and is known for his fast-paced up and down teams, with his Nuggets teams having a top 5 pace in every year but one that he coached them.
Karl is also one of the winningest coaches in NBA history, with an all time record of 1131 wins and 756 losses over 25 seasons which put him at 6th in the record books for most wins as a Coach. He's also reached the playoffs in 22 of those year and the NBA finals once with Seattle in 1996.
There are other considerations to keep in mind however. Karl would instantly be one of the oldest coaches in the NBA, turning 64 years old in May. Gregg Popovich is the current oldest coach in the NBA, turning 66 in January. Rick Adelman recently retired at the age of 68, and that's about how old Jerry Sloan was when he retired a few years ago.
If the Kings do pursue Karl, it likely wouldn't be until after this season is over. Until then, Tyrone Corbin will be the interim head coach and the Kings will probably do their due diligence and look at other names as well. But it seems clear that George Karl is at the top of the list for now.
The Bucks are basically the "gifted" class of the NBA. They have natural abilities that put them ahead of other kids in their class, but they're still learning how to put those skills to good use. But man alive, they have playmakers with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker and Brandon Knight."
High praise and a three spot drop seem like an odd pairing, but going 1-1 on the week and earning an impressive, but schedule-aided victory vs. the Clippers isn't exactly cause for a rise either. The Buck are still in the middle of the rankings and continue to impress viewers, which is more than anybody was expecting. We'll take it.
"The .500 record no one expected at this stage under Coach of the First Trimester candidate Jason Kidd could be even better if the young Bucks were seasoned enough to close out close games. They're 1-4 in games decided by three points or fewer while still clinging to a top-10 spot in defensive efficiency."
I'm not one for moral victories, but it is fun to watch the Bucks take good teams down to the wire when their best players are a combined age of 39 (or 42/43, if you replace one with Brandon Knight). They'll learn how to win those games in time, and it will be very fun to watch once they do.
"Larry Sanders should be averaging roughly 12.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. Instead, those are his per 36 numbers, and his stat line is only 7.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. The reason? Foul trouble has helped limit Sanders to 21.7 minutes. His 6.3 fouls per 36 minutes are the most of any starter in the league."
I don't have a snarky comment for this one. The Bucks need Larry Sanders on the floor for longer stretches of time if they want to maintain a solid defensive efficiency.
"FEAR THE DEER. The Bucks are in the rare position of competing on a nightly basis while they play their young core regularly. Jabari Parker is struggling to find his NBA three-point shot, but is shooting 49 percent overall. That's a great mark for any "perimeter" player, especially a rookie."
Parker has shot 60.6 percent from the floor in December, fourth among all qualifying NBA players. His steady of diet of dunks helps keep those percentages up while he gets comfortable with his outside shooting. The encouraging part is that Parker already realizes where his strengths and weaknesses are and is focusing on maximizing those strengths.
"The Bucks have scored 100 points or more in 12 of their last 14 games. The last time Milwaukee did that was in 1991."
They've scored 100 points in nine straight games as well. Our friend Alex Boeder recently took a look at the Bucks offensive surge, and it is well worth a read.
"The Bucks rank eighth offensively over the last three weeks and outgunned the No. 1 offense in that time on Saturday. Their starting unit has been OK, but all other lineups have scored 109 points per 100 possessions in the last 10 games. Jerryd Bayless and Khris Middleton totaled 25 points against the Clips and are a plus-75 in 213 minutes together."
Still plenty of room on the "Jerryd Bayless is a very serviceable backup combo guard" bandwagon. I have the engine running. Quick, hop on!
Recap:
The Bucks made a .16 climb across this week's Power Rankings for an average finish of just under 15th at 14.8 This standing will get put to the test as the Bucks head West to face the Suns, Blazers, Kings, and Clippers, all on the road.
The son of Pistons assistant Brendan Malone lost his job the day after losing to the Pistons.
Josh Smith going off on the Kings was seemingly the final straw for Mike Malone, who opposed ownership's plans to trade for the "talent" during the offseason. Despite an 11-13 start, of which seven losses came without their star DeMarcus Cousins, Malone was fired Sunday because of an irreparable relationship with the front office. Or simply because losing to the Pistons these days is a fireable offense itself.
Stan Van Gundy, who reportedly turned down a trade with the Kings for Smith, was asked about Malone's firing on Monday [via Detroit News]:
"They've played very good basketball and then their best player, who was playing at an all-star level easily, goes down and they struggled a little bit. Very, very strange." [...]
Van Gundy was asked if he could sense any discord from the Kings in their talks, although he has never publicly acknowledged the trade discussions ever got serious from the Pistons' end.
"I never really talked to them, so, no, I didn't get anything there," Van Gundy said. "We obviously follow them more than other teams and I knew how well they were playing early in the year. And I think they're still playing really well, they're just missing a big piece of what they do. It's unexplainable to me."
Obviously follow them more than other teams? There's your public acknowledgement. (UPDATE: Just kidding. They obviously followed them more than other teams because of the familial connection. I obviously wanted to take that another way.)
Here's another theory, though: Maybe Stan Van Gundy got Malone fired. Hear ME out. The Kings' front office wanted Josh Smith and pursued a trade for him despite Malone's objections. SVG turned them down. Smith puts up a huge, box-score-stuffing game that leads to another Kings loss. Ownership takes out their frustrations on the guy who didn't want Smith from the start. Maybe, just maybe, if SVG accepts the Kings' offers for Smith, as he should've done, Malone still has a job today.
Sam Amick drops a bit of his bombshell in the latest update to this unfolding saga.
In the 24 hours following the Sacramento Kings' dismissal of head coach Michael Malone, only one thing is abundantly clear. Malone and the Kings' management did not see eye to eye on many elements of roster construction. Early reports on Monday highlighted the Kings' penchant for pushing new and exotic ideas, and particularly the meddling influence of owner Vivek Ranadivé. Now, in an update published late Monday evening, Sam Amick is delivering the other side of the story, emphasis mine.
From Malone's reluctance to endorse the offering of contract extensions for DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay to his preference that departed point guard Isaiah Thomas was re-signed in free agency to the pursuit of a new lead assistant coach during the summer, there were disagreements about personnel and style of play at every turn that brought them all to this tipping point.
It's perhaps a bit easier to understand the reluctance to extend DeMarcus Cousins, as Malone hadn't really worked with Cousins at all at the time the extension was signed. And it certainly seemed that Cousins and Malone built a strong relationship during their time together. But Rudy Gay? An emerging theory is that the Kings waited to fire Malone until after Gay was extended, since Gay was such a fan of his coach. That Malone apparently wasn't on board is a real shocker.
Over the next few days we're likely to continue seeing various reports painting all of the involved parties in a negative light. There will be truth to most of these accounts, but keep in mind that the sources of various reporters are pushing their respective agendas. Look at reports with a an eye on who benefits, collect all the anecdotes, and then remember that at the end of the day the truth likely falls somewhere in the middle of it all.
We delve into the problems with the Sacramento Kings, what Coach Corbin might do differently tonight, and the words exchanged between Perk and Gay.
It looked like the Kings were finally back contention earlier this season, as the team soared to a 9-5 start. But injury to DeMarcus Cousins, some injury to Rudy Gay, poor transition defense, and a heap of turnovers have conspired to send the Kings back to their losing ways.
Tonight, the drama continues. The Kings will be coached by former Utah Jazz head man Tyrone Corbin. He was named to the interim position upon Michael Malone's firing on Monday. Still, Corbin will likely be given a run with this team.
Why the firing? According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Malone wasn't hired by current ownership and was on shaky ground over the off-season. Malone was still given a shot to run the team, but the 2-8 December slide was enough to get him sacked. Two long-term candidates appear to be the ridiculously popular George Karl and the ridiculously unpopular Vinny Del Negro.
But we're not here to discuss the Kings' future. We're here to discuss tonight's game. What kind of impact is Tyrone Corbin going to have?
What we will likely see is a coach who isn't afraid to make unpopular calls. There's an excellent Yucca Man post over at SLC Dunk chronicling some of the decisions Corbin made during his tenure there. The Jazz roster was consistently stuck in the flux between good and bad, so Corbin had to constantly cover for flaws while trying to simultaneously develop players. This post by My_Lo of SLC Dunk does a great job of describing how Corbin had to put the pieces back together in the wake of Jerry Sloan's firing.
On the Kings, Corbin will be in a bit of a similar situation. Sacramento is temporarily without their star and loaded with highly paid players that expect to win in a impossible conference. These next few games are highly crucial if the Kings want to stay alive, so you can bet that Corbin will reach deep into his bag of tricks. For example, Malone ran the Kings 10-12 deep and would often use platoon substitutions. (Basically, Malone would sub in his entire bench at once. Lineup mixing was rare.) Corbin, on the other hand, isn't afraid to pull his dudes early. If someone was having a bad game, they'd be yanked immediately. This will often lead to some unconventional lineups that the Thunder will have to adjust for.
It's also likely that Corbin will be using less of the bench. This post over at Sactown Royalty by Aykis16 pretty much lays you how ineffective the reserves have been for Sacramento, particularly on the offensive end. Lastly, as the aforementioned article also points out, turnovers are a huge problem for Sacramento. They're the league's worst at forcing them, and the league's sixth worst at committing them. Unfortunately, Corbin isn't a sight for sore eyes here. In his tenure with the Jazz, Corbin saw Utah fall from a middle of the pack turnover-forcing team in 2011 to the league's worst turnover-forcing team in 2014. Corbin's team always manged to stay in the middle of the pack when it came to avoiding TOs, though.
But the coaching carousel is not the only dose of drama that we'll get this evening. Kendrick Perkins got into a verbal spat with Rudy Gay, inspired by some silly reporter. You see, there's video of Perk saying "These motherf*****s are still the Sacramento Kings" before OKC's upset win over them on November 9th. It's a pretty par-for-the-course statement as far as pre-game huddles go. Nevertheless, someone in the Sacramento media huddle decided to ask what he thought of Perk's gesture. He responded in kind, saying:
"He might as well play with his face painted, he's a clown to me. Quote that, you can quote that, he's a clown to me, he might as well play with his face painted."
Word got out, and of course someone in the Oklahoma City media huddle had to ask Perk for a response. What we got was gold:
"I'd rather be a clown than a virus.... At least if I paint my face I can wash the paint off. A virus gets in your bloodstream. You can't get rid of that."
Presumably, Perk is referring to Gay's disastrous tenure with the Toronto Raptors last season. Adding more to the picture is the fact that Perk had a positive contribution to the Thunder's win earlier this season, playing key defense on Boogie and adding 9 points. Meanwhile, Rudy Gay had an above-average performance, turning in 23 points on 9-19 shooting with 10 rebounds and 6 assists.
Tonight, both of those players will continue to have key impacts on the game. Rudy Gay is obviously the more important of the two, as he becomes the Kings' primary source of baskets in the absence of Cousins. Gay filled the role well initially, but has seen his shooting percentage dive below 30% over the past two games. The reason is as obvious as it might seem: teams are doubling Gay, and the Kings don't have the shooting to stop them. Furthermore, according to a well-written comment by pookeyguru over at SR, Darren Collison is taking too many of the shots that should go to McLemore.
On Perk's end, his role off the bench could be absolutely critical. He's managed to have much more of an offensive impact this season, and even managed to hold his own on Sunday night against the fast-paced Suns. Perk's stats are almost never without error, but he is averaging 7.7 rebounds, an assist, and a block over the past 8 games. That's nothing to sneeze at. But even better: Perk will likely get some minutes against Hollins, who is a whopping 50 pounds lighter than him. I can't wait!
Looking at the Thunder generally, there are definitely some other things to watch tonight. Jeremy Lamb didn't play at all on Sunday night against the Suns, due to a sore foot. Perry Jones and Nick Collison both saw time in his place, but only one of them will play if Lamb isn't ready to go. Meanwhile, KD remains on his 30 minute a game restriction, and will likely yield a majority of shots to Westbrook. Considering how terrible Darren Collison's defense is, I'm licking my chops. Lastly, Mitch McGary currently sits on the active roster, ahead of Lance Thomas and Grant Jarrett. He only had garbage time minutes against Phoenix, but who knows what the future may hold.
In any case, I see the Thunder winning this one easily. Just too many things are going wrong for Sacramento right now. I could see their starters making a run under the right situation, but they just hired a new coach and have one of the weakest benches in the league. When you also consider that the Kings don't push the ball and that the Thunder are third best in the league at defending the three, the result seems obvious.
Prediction: Oklahoma City Thunder 104, Sacramento Kings 92.
What do you think of tonight's game? Drop a comment and let us know!
2014-15 NBA Season Game 25
@
11-13
(Won 6)
11-13
(Lost 3)
December 16th, 2014
Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento, California
9:30 PM Central Standard Time
TV: Entertainment Sports Programming Network, Fox Sports Network Oklahoma, Comcast Sports Network California
In the latest edition of FLANNS & ZILLZ, we discuss the Kings' shakeup and whether the system can be outmaneuvered.
The Kings fired Michael Malone on Sunday, and though he hasn't said a word, the team's managing partner Vivek Ranadive is at the center of the story. We took the opportunity to talk about Vivek, the new class of NBA ownership and the perils of innovation in this, the latest edition of FLANNS & ZILLZ. Enjoy.
FLANNERY: So, this Kings thing doesn't make a ton of sense. I don't know if Michael Malone is a good coach or not -- 100 or so games just isn't enough time to make that kind of assessment -- but he had them playing really well before DeMarcus Cousins got hurt. I know the Kings want to win yesterday, but the timing on this is awfully strange. If this isn't really performance-based, how bad can those "philosophical differences" be?
ZILLER: There's a strain of thought that Pete D'Alessandro and Chris Mullin never really wanted Malone (he was hired before them) and that they finally had an opening with three straight absolutely brutal losses and a dwindling win percentage. There have been some signs of minor discord with the team's style, though nothing that indicated this was coming.
What's so goofy to me is what this says about Vivek Ranadive. We've heard about his -- ah -- innovative ideas, like playing 4-on-5 defensively or going with a full-court press. We know the front office has installed a heavy-on-threes system in Reno, where the D-League team gets nearly half of its shots from beyond the arc. We know Malone, an old Van Gundy and Mike Brown guy, is way more traditional. The question is why the heck Vivek hired Malone knowing what he wanted and who Malone was.
I'm also deeply concerned that Vivek looks at this roster -- one with the best pivot scorer in a decade and few good shooters -- and thinks a Grinnell style offense will work.
FLANNERY: Couple of three things here. First, if the GM and the coach aren't seeing eye to eye, it's better to make a move and get everyone on the same page than allow something like that to build into a him-or-me situation. That rarely, if ever, ends well. (Even Phil Jackson and Jerry Krause started off as allies.) And look, Vivek isn't the first owner to have second thoughts about his initial hire.
Second, the notion of preferred style versus actual personnel on the roster. Everyone wants to play like the Spurs, but the Spurs didn't play like the Spurs until they realized that Tony Parker was ready to take on a larger load and that Tim Duncan was willing -- eager, even -- to let it happen. And then they went out and methodically added players who fit the system, like Danny Green, Boris Diaw, et. al. As you say, this Kings roster doesn't lend itself to a helter-skelter pace.
But you also bring up an excellent point about not just Ranadive, but many of the new owners entering the league. My perception is they think they can outsmart the system, yet the system is pretty impenetrable. That's not to say there can't be tweaks and innovations, but style of play ebbs and flows with the times. It's not about being first, it's about doing it better.
ZILLER: That's so true and such a problem with the current crop of franchisees. Consider Vivek, a pioneer in the field of real-time finance data. He did outsmart the system in his field of expertise and he thinks he should be able to do it again. (That he led his daughter's team to success by breaking the mold probably doesn't help.)
Other franchisees are molding teams in their image. Mark Cuban did it a generation ago. Isn't Josh Harris' investment M.O. basically all about leveraging depressed assets, a la tanking? Robert Pera tried to innovate in Memphis; at least he had the agility to bring Mayor Chris Wallace back in the fold. The innovation in Golden State seems to be a front office by committee, which is reflective of ownership and front office.
It seems like we're in a time in which franchisee egotism is at an all-time high. Or am I overreacting?
FLANNERY: Well, John Y. Brown damn near ran Red Auerbach out of Boston.
ZILLER: John Y. Brown!
FLANNERY: Mind you, that was after running through half the ABA with the old Kentucky Colonels, folding the franchise to get into the NBA, trading almost everyone on the Buffalo Braves roster and then TRADING FRANCHISES with Irv Levin, who eventually moved the Braves to San Diego and gave the world Donald T. Sterling. So, no I don't think owner egotism is at an almost high.
What I think we're seeing is a bunch of new-money owners who are bringing their business practices with them to the league. Some of that may be positive; you'd have a hard time convincing me a guy like Cuban is bad for the NBA. Like all rich guys, they want to have fun with their new toys just like the "sportsmen" of old wanted. In any era, there will be good owners who hire smart people and let them do their jobs. There will be owners who think they can spend their way to a title and there will be cheap owners looking to wring every last cent out of the enterprise. There will also be owners who think they know best, and many times they don't.
Ranadive's timeframe confuses me. I imagine Kings fans are thrilled that he saved the team and is getting a new arena built. He's got DeMarcus. Why not trade off that goodwill and build patiently to have a potential powerhouse in place when they move into the new building?
ZILLER: Your point about persistent egotism is well-taken; we should all remember that the ruling class is forever enamored of its own prowess. I think that's the issue with Vivek here, too. He could be patient and pragmatic and sane. But he went from $50 in his pocket to founder of a billion-dollar company. He took a group of overmatched 12-year-olds to a championship game. He believes in his ability to outsmart everyone, which carries with it a belief that the system is ripe to be outsmarted.
Funny enough: that's probably what made Vivek hire Malone in such rash fashion in 2013. The normal path -- hire a GM who hires a coach -- was too Basketball 2.0 for the league's next great innovator.
I should say here, of course, that I do think the Kings and league will benefit from franchisee-led innovation, as it has. But it can be a bit much.
FLANNERY: That's sort of the bottom-line, isn't it? Do you want Vivek Ranadive, who maybe cares too much and has big ideas, or the Maloofs, who are bereft of any? There is no such thing as a perfect owner. I guess someone like Peter Holt or Mickey Arison comes pretty close, but there are so many things that have to be put in place for something like that to happen.
The NBA is a weird ecosystem. The NFL, for example, is a place where year-to-year innovation can actually be beneficial if you manage to stay ahead of the curve. I'm just not convinced there's all that much a management team can do in basketball that's never been done before. The bottom line, always, is talent; you're just not going to win a championship without major talent. Maybe you can win a trade here or there or find a hidden gem in the draft or free agency but even the best evaluators swing and miss occasionally.
One of the side-effects of the new wave of ownership is front offices have become smarter. There are fewer suckers and even less lopsided deals to be had in the day and age. I think the thing that separates teams is the willingness to be flexible and adaptable, depending on circumstances. That's harder to do when an owner has a set vision for what he wants.
Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé shares a lot in common with the Grizzlies' Robert Pera
With the Memphis Grizzlies holding a 19-4 record that even the most optimistic of Grizz fans probably didn't predict, it's easy to forget the front office meltdown that transpired in the Bluff City over the off-season.
That is, it was until late Monday night when Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski dropped some of the most shocking news of the NBA season, that the Sacramento Kings had fired head coach Mike Malone after an 11-13 start that "didn't meet the win-loss expectations of ownership".
The Kings have been a franchise trapped in futility, winning 28 games or less every single season since 2007-08. Few expected this season to be any different, until Sacramento jumped out to an impressive 9-5 start featuring wins over the Spurs, Blazers, and Clippers. Since star center DeMarcus Cousins contracted a case of viral meningitis a few weeks ago, the team has trailed off — dropping seven of its last nine games — but the Kings' overall record is still one that surpassed any reasonable expectations for the roster.
Couple this with owner Vivek Ranadivé's outlandish statements made in the past, such as lobbying for a 4-on-5 cherry picking strategy, and there are some parallels to be drawn between the Kings' owner and the Grizzlies' own, Robert Pera.
After all, it wasn't all that long ago that this Chris Mannix Sports Illustrated article was giving everyone the impression that Pera was an asinine, meddling new owner bound to derail any hopes of a parade down Beale Street, just a year removed from the franchise's first ever appearance in the Western Conference Finals.
Where Vivek had cherry picking, the public thought Pera had a head coach receiving instructions from a headset. Where Vivek had interests in the "Grinnell System". Pera was accused of having interests in Mike Miller as a player-coach — and let's not forget the infamous one-on-one game between Pera and Tony Allen. (Ed note: the 1-on-1 with Allen is the only thing that can be confirmed as actually being a tangible idea from Pera, and it wasn't a good one.)
Robert Pera began his journey as an NBA owner by treading down a dangerous road, involvement with Jason Levien being the first stop along that path. But luckily for him — and the Grizzlies — he was able to recover from it. Things settled down after meeting with Joerger and reshaping the front office, and his public image was mostly restored after Twitter Q&As and radio appearances.
Oh yeah, and winning. That one always seems to do the trick.
Perhaps if the Grizzlies stumbled out of the gates this season this wouldn't be the case, and question marks regarding the Grizzlies' owner would remain. Or worse, Pera could fall back to his mentality from last season and can Joerger, much like Ranadivé did to Malone. Perhaps then Pera would still be viewed by some as a know-it-all billionaire running his franchise into the ground.
Robert Pera and Vivek Ranadivé have taken two similar paths in their young tenures as NBA owners. Pera was able to learn from his mistakes, and as a result, the Grizzlies are well on their way to the best regular season finish in franchise history. For Sacramento, there is only the hope that Ranadivé can follow in Pera's steps, or the Kings could be in for several more years of turmoil.
Late last night, Karl called into NBA Tonight to discuss the now vacant coaching position in Sacramento, and he had some pretty interesting things to say...
Now this is just my interpretation, but I think it's pretty clear "Swaggy" wants to return to the NBA... and soon. Given his existing ties to the front office, and meshing offensive philosophies, it would also appear that Sacramento is a good fit. Knowing that Ty Corbin isn't likely the longterm solution, I don't see any reason to prolong the process. And for my money, I don't see how you can do much better than one of the winningest coaches in NBA history. Karl mentioned that the two sides have yet to discuss anything, but If his interest is real the front office should get him in as soon as possible.
Wojnarowski cites an anonymous NBA general manager who says, "All [Mullin] has to decide is that's what he wants and the job is his."
Ranadivé is apparently intrigued with the success of Steve Kerr with the Golden State Warriors and wants to make a splashy hire. Mullin shares some similarities with Kerr in that he has previous front office experience but no coaching experience. However there is one major difference between the situation Kerr landed and the one Mullin would inherit; The Warriors were already a team that showed they could win a lot, having made the playoffs for two years in a row already. The Kings meanwhile are 11-13 which is their best start in years but not particularly close to making the playoffs in the deep Western Conference.
It's important to note that Mullin himself hasn't committed to becoming a coach yet, as he's preferred to be a front office type since retiring as a player. Perhaps the most important part of Woj's latest piece is this tidbit (bold emphasis mine):
The Kings will keep Tyrone Corbin as the interim coach for the near future, but haven't ruled out the hiring of a full-time coach sometime this season.
Corbin will have a chance to prove himself, especially since DeMarcus Cousins is coming back soon, but should he stumble out of the gates, the Kings could choose to be aggressive in searching for Mike Malone's replacement. Whether that's Mullin, Karl or someone else remains to be seen.
Tonight was supposed to simply be a special night to celebrate Peja Stojakovic's jersey retirement on national tv but instead we have a few new storylines to follow. Durant and Westbrook are back and have the Thunder playing awesome. Rudy Gay and Kendrick Perkins apparently hate each other. Oh and yeah, Tyrone Corbin is our head coach now. Tonight's action tips off at 7:30 pm on ESPN and on KHTK 1140.
3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR
1. Corbin hasn't had much time to prepare since taking over for Malone and he got about as tough of an opponent as you can get in the Oklahoma City Thunder. It will be interesting to see how the Kings play differently with Corbin and especially how much faster they play since that is apparently now the prime directive. It will also be interesting to see what kind of substitution patterns Corbin uses.
2. Oklahoma City lost their first game with Kevin Durant back but haven't lost since, winning six in a row with most of those wins being by double digits. They are fully healthy for the first time in a while and have been doing very well on both ends of the court. Without DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings don't really have a plus matchup across the board.
3. Peja's jersey retirement is going to be awesome. I can't wait to see that #16 go in the rafters tonight.
MATCHUP OF THE GAME
Kevin Durant vs. Rudy Gay
This is the premier matchup of the game. Rudy has struggled mightily the last couple games, but hopefully being in front of a national tv audience and going up against the game's best SF will inspire him to have a great game, because it's almost guaranteed that Durant will have a great game. Durant is one of those rare once in a generation players that are almost impossible to stop. Nevertheless, we will have to try.
PREGAME LIMERICK
Let's celebrate the great Peja Stojakovic, whose stroke was akin to a perfect pitch. He thrilled us so, much to opponents' woe, and even caused Ben McLemore's jersey to switch.
PREDICTION
Kings 115, Thunder 114 after Peja Stojakovic celebrates his jersey retirement with the little known NBA rule of "Celebrity shot" to make the game winner.
Matt Moore of CBS Sports joins us to discuss Michael Malone being fired, and what's next for the Kings.
The Sactown Royalty Show is back! This week I'm joined by Matt Moore of CBS Sports. We spent almost the entire episode just discussing Michael Malone's firing, and next steps for the Sacramento Kings. We talked about George Karl, and his potential fit, along with some other candidates. Matt's been on the show before, and he's always a good guest, but this was a really great conversation. Give it a listen.
Note that this episode was recorded late Monday night, so some of Tuesday's developments were not discussed.
Like the show? Subscribe to us on iTunes or on Stitcher! Leave us ratings, leave comments, let us know how we're doing. Ratings and comments on iTunes really help us out with promoting the show. And of course, continue the discussion in the comments below.
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In the wake of firing Mike Malone as the team's head coach, the Kings should get former Denver Nuggets coach George Karl to Sacramento immediately.
Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive is on a fool's errand if he thinks that Hall of Famer Chris Mullin - an advisor for the franchise - is the best man for the vacated head coaching job in California's state capitol. Instead, Ranadive and the Kings' brass (which includes former Denver Nuggets front office executives Pete D'Alessandro and Mike Bratz) should look outside their organization to the man who currently ranks sixth in all-time wins for NBA head coaches with 1,131 victories: former Nuggets head coach George Karl.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Chris Mullin fan. Watching Mullin throughout my formative years as an emerging NBA fan, Mullin ranked among my favorite non-Nuggets. I loved his game. Loved his flattop. Loved his thick Brooklyn accent. And loved the "RUN TMC" Warriors of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Mullin of the early 1990s, guided by a mad scientist head coach in Don Nelson. I'll never forget opening night in 1990 when the "RUN TMC" Warriors faced off against our very own Nuggets at the old McNichols Sports Arena and beat Denver 162-158 (not a typo) with Hardaway (32 points), Richmond (29) and Mullin (38) combining for 99 points. The next time they played in Denver the Nuggets actually won, 150-145 (again, not a typo) and Mullin had 37 points. Thank you, Paul Westhead.
But I loved Kiki Vandeweghe as a player, too. And Isiah Thomas. And Magic Johnson. And Clyde Drexler. And Dan Issel. And Terry Porter.
What do all those names have in common? They, like countless star players before them, were all terrific basketball players who didn't necessarily translate into good coaches (with apologies to Issel for his admirable run as the Nuggets head coach from 1992 through 1994). And while Mullin shouldn't automatically be penalized thanks to the litany of previous star-players-turned-crummy-head-coaches, when will NBA teams wake up and realize that advisors / general managers (like Kevin McHale, Thomas, Vandeweghe and Issel), newly retired players (like Jason Kidd and Derek Fisher) and broadcasters (like Doc Rivers and Mark Jackson) with zero coaching experience, even at the assistant level, often fail big time in their first go-around as head coaches?
Wouldn't the Kings be better served bringing in a sure-thing like Karl while letting Mullin sit at Karl's side as lead assistant for three years and build a culture of success for the present as well as the future? And even though the "sure thing" line probably just made Mark Kiszla's head explode, Karl is the closest thing to it among all available NBA head coaches.
After all, Karl has done this before ... and right here in Denver!
As most Nuggets fans remember, the 2004-05 Nuggets squad that Karl inherited wasn't dissimilar from this year's Kings squad, with the exception being that today's NBA Western Conference is slightly more brutally competitive than the Western Conference of 10 years ago. Like this year's Kings roster, the 2004-05 Nuggets had a shoot-first / ball-stopping small forward (Carmelo Anthony), a mercurial big man (Kenyon Martin), a serviceable but not spectacular point guard (Andre Miller), some high draft pick busts (DerMarr Johnson and Rodney White) and a tantalizingly talented but inconsistent backup big man (Nene Hilario). And somewhat like this year's Kings, the 2004-05 Nuggets had put themselves in a giant hole before Karl showed up to coach the remaining 50 games. When Karl took over the Nuggets in 2005 they were 17-25 and went on to finish 49-33 ... 42-8 under Karl, the best mid-season coaching replacement in NBA history.
At 11-14 now, the Kings aren't exactly in a "giant hole" like the aforementioned 2004-05 Nuggets. But if interim "coach" Tyrone Corbin and his 112-147 career coaching record sticks around much longer the Kings could easily be 17-25 themselves in a few weeks. Just watch.
Prior to the Kings' best player DeMarcus Cousins going down with viral meningitis, which has cost him 10 games and counting, the Kings - under previous head coach Mike Malone - were the darling upstarts of the Western Conference at a very respectable 9-6. Sans Cousins, they're 2-8. And yet Malone, by all accounts one of the more inspiring young coaches throughout the NBA, got fired the other day. Reportedly due to differences with ownership rather than management. And now Ranadive is allegedly meddling in the coaching search and is hand-picking Mullin (although it should be noted that Mullin and D'Alessandro are close friends going back to their days at St. John's University playing and working, respectively, for the legendary coach Lou Carnesecca).
Per a Tuesday night report by ESPN's Chris Broussard, Mullin is thus far resisting Ranadive's offer as he doesn't want to jump into coaching mid-season. Probably a good move on Mullin's part. Karl, meanwhile, has made no secret (to me directly and others) of his desire to coach again and, in my humble opinion, is the perfect fit for the Kings. Not only would Karl thrive if given the opportunity to play Western Conference underdog, but he would instantaneously make Kings basketball fun again ... something it hasn't been since Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Jason "White Chocolate" Williams and Peja Stojakovic departed a decade ago. And with Ranadive recently breaking ground on a new state-of-the-art arena, doesn't he as owner want the cowbell atmosphere back in Sactown sooner than later to get those asses in the seats when the new building opens?
If Mullin continues to resist Ranadive's overtures, the Kings' owner should give up the pursuit, bring Karl in right away and watch the Kings once-exciting-now-aimless season get back on track. As D'Alessandro and Bratz (if asked) would tell Ranadive, things were pretty damn good for pro basketball in Denver when Karl was here.
And if Ranadive doesn't want their advice, he should just ask Nuggets fans what their thoughts are now that we live in a post-Karl world in Nuggets Nation.
Thunder star Russell Westbrook scored ten fourth quarter points to hold off a late run by the Kings on a night that featured Peja Stojakovic's jersey retirement.
Playing in a nationally televised game without their superstar and only days removed from a shocking coaching change, the Sacramento Kings managed to keep the score close late in the game despite all the recent turmoil - but in the end, the star power of the Oklahoma City Thunder proved too much.
Russell Westbrook had 32 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals to lead Oklahoma City (12-13), while Kevin Durant added 26 as the Thunder won 104 to 92. Rudy Gay led Sacramento (11-14) with 22 points and six rebounds, while reserve Carl Landry added 14 points.
Facing their tenth straight game without DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings trailed for most of the contest but stayed tough in the fourth quarter, taking a 84-83 lead with eight minutes left. The Thunder regrouped thanks in most part to Westbrook, who scored ten fourth quarter points and connected on late buckets that consistently kept Sacramento out of reach.
The Thunder won their seven straight game and look primed to regain a top spot in the West now that their squad is fully healthy. While their star duo did most of the work, Oklahoma City combined to shoot 47.1% from the field while keeping the Kings at 42.9%.
In Tyrone Corbin's first game as Head Coach since taking over for the ousted Michael Malone, the Kings started the game sloppy but recovered in the second half. Sacramento managed more assists (21 to 18) and more rebounds (48 to 41) than their rivals, but they also turned the ball over 19 times and allowed 24 points off those miscues. Oklahoma City had ten turnovers and allowed an absurdly low four points off those mistakes.
Aside from Gay and Ben McLemore (10 points and three assists), the Kings starters were outplayed by their bench counterparts. The starters not named Rudy combined for just 26 points, while the reserves finished with 44. Ramon Sessions had his best game as a King, finishing with 11 points and four assists while completely outplaying Darren Collison (six points and three assists on 2-8 shooting).
On the first play of the game, Westbrook stole a lazy screen pass and drove all the way for an easy dunk that gave the Thunder a lead they'd only relinquish twice. Aside from McLemore, the Kings looked listless in the first quarter; Sacramento turned the ball over seven times while allowing Oklahoma City to shoot many open looks that led to a 59.1% clip from the field.
Sacramento's bench unit regained some momentum in the second quarter thanks to impressive stints from Sessions and Landry. The Kings cut the lead to four multiple times, but even with the bench unit producing at rare levels the Thunder never made the mistakes Sacramento needed to fully close the gap. Gay had a show-stopping dunk over Serge Ibaka to pull the Kings within 61-54 at halftime.
A quick start to the third quarter cut the lead to 65-61 after a hookshot by Jason Thompson, but again the Kings failed to pull any closer. Gay was whistled for a technical foul for barking at the refs, and the Thunder again regained a safe lead thanks to a seven-point run by Durant.
The Kings made their biggest threat early in the fourth as the Sacramento bench outdueled the Thunder bench with Durant and Westbrook on the sidelines. A 9-0 run capped off by a hookshot by Ryan Hollins brought the Kings within 83-82 with 9:17 to go, but Westbrook's heroics quickly put the game out of reach.
The most beautiful part of the night was halftime, when the Kings retired the jersey of Peja Stojakovic in front of a screaming audience and many of Peja's former teammates. In a week full of turmoil for Sacramento fans, it was a much needed reason to celebrate.
The Oklahoma City Thunder won their 7th game in a row and 9 out of their last 10 by defeating the Sacramento Kings on the road, 104-92. In a game that was marked by plenty of drama off the court leading in, credit goes to both teams for being able to maintain focus and play a competitive and physical game throughout.
The Thunder jumped out to a big 14 point lead at the end of the 1st quarter, but the Kings showed tremendous resiliency despite missing their key player DeMarcus Cousins. When it seemed like OKC was going to run away with the game, the Kings ended the 1st half with a 9-2 run to cut their deficit to 7.
The Thunder were able to push the lead back to double digits in the 3rd, despite their offense showing signs of being affected by the Kings' physical play. However, the Thunder defense rose to the challenge as well, holding the Kings to only 17 points in the 3rd.
In the 4th quarter, things got tense with Russell Westbrook sitting with 4 fouls and Kevin Durant still dealing with some minute restrictions (though he recorded 35 tonight, a season-high). The Kings made a strong push to start the 4th, actually taking the lead 4 minutes in at 84-83. However, once Westbrook and Durant returned, things were quickly corrected. Behind the firepower of Westbrook and Durant, OKC closed the game on a 21-8 run and put the game out of reach.
The Thunder were led by Russell Westbrook, who continued his torrid pace in recording 32 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals against only a single turnover. Durant finished with 26 points, although he is still showing signs of struggle with shooting consistency. The Kings were led by Rudy Gay's 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.
The Thunder record is now 12-13, one game under .500. With a win on Thursday against the Warriors, OKC can put into a dead heat for the 8th seed.
What is your initial reaction to tonight's result?
Many believed that without Cousins playing and with the coaching turmoil behind the scenes, the Kings would be out of sorts and roll over. We were pleasantly treated to the exact opposite, as the Kings showed a great deal of heart and determination to repeatedly recover from double-digit deficits to actually take the lead in the 4th quarter. Sometimes adversity can galvanize a team, and I think that is what we saw tonight.
However, also as predicted, in the end the Thunder's top-end talent is too much to handle. Westbrook is a one-man wrecking crew, and the combination of Darren Collison, Ben McLemore, and Ramon Sessions did barely anything to slow him down. It is fascinating watching Westbrook slowly harness his talents before our very eyes. His maturation on the court is remarkable, and when the game was on the line he returned to the court and made winning play after winning play. Upon returning, Westbrook practically took apart the Kings' chances himself, scoring 10 of those 32 points in the final 7 minutes and gathered 2 steals amidst constant pressure on the Sacramento backcourt.
What was, overall, the main reason why the Thunder won?
The Thunder rode a big 1st quarter to a lead that they held for most of the game, which was critical because the Kings were playing playoff-intensity basketball. Despite that early deficit, Sacramento made the Thunder work for their points in the 2nd half. A combination of Kings' defense, Thunder sloppiness on offense, and a letdown with their bench unit nearly led to a disappointing ending. The bench in particular got heavily outplayed in the 2nd half, surrendering a double-digit lead and for the game getting outplayed by their counterparts by a score of 44-28.
Fortunately, OKC is not a finesse team and they pushed back hard. Scott Brooks elected to stay with Steven Adams for the majority of the 4th quarter, and Adams' physical presence in the lane played a big part in preventing Collison and Gay from getting to the rim for easy shots. Adams finished with 10 rebounds on the night, 4 of which were offensive, demonstrating his resolve off the glass on both ends of the court.
In the end, it was the timeliness of Westbrook's return, combined with staunch defense, that allowed OKC to close the game well, sign off on a hard-fought game, and look forward to a chance to get back to .500 on Thursday.
We expose a simple, but glaring error in Jeremy Lamb's shot.
Just about every Thunder fan has be be frustrated with Jeremy Lamb at this point. Despite coming in with so much potential, Lamb just hasn't been able to put together a streak of good offensive games. Sure, there's always flash-in-the-pan games that make you think Lamb has what it takes. But Jeremy usually follows those up by laying complete eggs when it matters.
Making things worse is just how sink-or-swim Jeremy Lamb is. Consider this: Lamb has shot 60% or above in five of his 19 games this season. He's shot 29% or below in five other of his 19 games this season. This leaves Lamb shooting between 30-59% in only 9 of his 19 games this season, or less than half. All the while, Lamb is averaging 9.1 attempts a game. As fans, do we really want that much of OKC's offense trusted to such a wild variable?
I had to get to the bottom of Jeremy Lamb's problem. As someone observing Lamb in the context of the game, I was really puzzled. Lamb seemed to get just about the same darn shot attempts every single night. The vast majority of Lamb's shots are virtually unguardable, and his drives to the basket utilize his length over anything else. Since it seemed to have little to do with his defenders, what in the world could Lamb's problem be?
Once I started looking at Jeremy Lamb's feet, it all came together. Lamb's footwork is awful. He simply doesn't know how to set his feet before a shot. Check out these five missed shots he took in last night's Kings game.
Shot 1 (Feet too close together, one foot in front of the other.)
Shot 2 (His left foot is not pointing towards the rim.)
Shot 3 (Left foot is too far behind.)
Shot 4 (One foot in front of the other, both feet pointing away from rim.)
Shot 5 (Hard to see, but feet are close together and one is slightly in front of the other.)
Honestly, I'm pretty baffled as to why someone on a pro basketball team would be using such poor form. I mean, Jeremy Lamb was literally playing against Darren Collison and Nik Stauskas. Darren Collison is a mismatch for a larger point guard like Westbrook, and should be cake to a longer two guard like Lamb. Meanwhile, Stauskas is a offensively-focused rookie. There's absolutely no reason Lamb shouldn't have scored 20 tonight, yet his lackadaisical play forced the Thunder to re-assert their lead in the fourth quarter.
Just for comparison's sake, I'm including three made Morrow threes here. Morrow is a classical shooter whose form is is greatest asset, and he's playing basically the same position as Lamb. Even when Morrow misses, he almost always manages to maintain good footwork and balance throughout his shot. Morrow's size and release are usually what kill him.
I really don't know whether it's even worth trying to fix Lamb's game at this point. I've already broken down how terrible his defensive stance is, and I've also gone into how his negative energy can kill the team's momentum. Playing Lamb is simply accepting him for what he is: an extremely streaky player that's not going to be able to recover from a bad game.
I'm gonna be real....I just want a trade.
What do you think of Jeremy Lamb's season so far? Do you think he needs a longer leash? Drop a comment and let us know!
Jackson, currently an analyst for ESPN, was in Sacramento covering the nationally televised game between the Thunder and Kings. Afterwards, he reportedly met with Kings GM Pete D'Alessandro, advisor Chris Mullin and star center DeMarcus Cousins, "where they had requested that arena workers and others give them some privacy," per Amick.
It's not certain that the different sides were discussing Sacramento's head coaching gig, since Mullin and Jackson are friends from their playing days, but that seems the most likely topic, particularly considering Cousins was involved. Could Jackson, less than a year after getting ousted in Golden State, really replace the recently fired Michael Malone?
Why it makes sense
The Kings seem content with letting interim coach Tyrone Corbin handle things on the bench for now, but Malone's firing was a sign that the team wants to stir things up. Several big names have already come up in rumors, including Jackson and George Karl, and it seems likely one of them eventually takes the job.
Sacramento wants a coach who can take the team to greater levels of success, and Jackson is coming off a 51-win season in Golden State. The Warriors might not have believed that Jackson was the man to lead Stephen Curry and company to a championship, but he's earned the opportunity to coach again somewhere else.
That makes Jackson a reasonable candidate in Sacramento, particularly given the apparent win-now aspirations of ownership. It didn't take Jackson long to turn the Warriors into a legitimate playoff team in the West, and with a core led by Cousins, it's possible ownership thinks he could work similar magic in Sacramento.
Jackson is also friends with D'Alessandro and Mullin, two prominent voices in the Kings leadership. D'Alessandro was a video coordinator at St. John's during Jackson's senior season at the school, and Jackson and Mullin played together in college and the NBA for several years.
Why it doesn't make sense
Just because the Kings have interest in Jackson doesn't mean it's being reciprocated. Jackson has given no indication he's unhappy with his current role at ESPN, and even after getting fired from the Warriors, it's possible he waits for a better gig to step back into the harsh waters of NBA coaching.
The Kings opening has some clear drawbacks, starting with the ownership of Vivek Ranadive and the recent handling of the Malone firing. Ranadive has developed a reputation as a meddling owner over the past couple years, culminating with the removal of Malone from his position partially because of the coach's refusal to implement certain strategies.
If Jackson occasionally had trouble with the involvement of owner Joe Lacob in Golden State, it's hard to imagine he's too excited about the idea of butting heads with Ranadive. And given that other vacancies will arise in the near future, Jackson may prefer to wait and see.
Likelihood it happens
Jackson is a talented coach who's destined to get another opportunity in the NBA soon, and the Kings are a team on the cusp in need of a leader. That makes for a pretty good fit, but it's hard not to ignore the elephant in the room when you're talking about an independent coach and an owner with a habit of getting involved. If Jackson is a candidate, he's probably not the frontrunner. 3 out of 10.
Michael Malone is out and Tyrone Corbin is in as head coach of the Sacramento Kings. The players were surprised by the move.
The Kings stepped onto the floor with new head coach Tyrone Corbin at the helm on Tuesday for the first time. The game came on the heels of Sunday's news that Michael Malone has been fired. The Kings lost to a tough Oklahoma City Thunder team 102-94 on the same night that Kings legend Peja Stojakovic had his jersey retired.
Following the game, the topic of Malone being fired was the main line of questioning from reporters. The players seem to be in full support of Corbin, but most expressed how caught off guard they were by the change. Rudy Gay said Malone factored in "a lot" in terms of his decision to sign an extension with the Kings.
Below is what several of the players had to say.
On whether they were surprised
Darren Collison: "I think it caught everybody by surprise, but in this business, it is what it is. We wish Mike [Malone] well; he's a good coach. Respect him highly. I'm sure he's going to have a future job somewhere, but I think the organization is looking to go in a different direction .... It's been frustrating because you never say it's a good time to have change, but it is what it is."
Rudy Gay: "It came as a surprise to me, so I can't say I felt it needed a change. It definitely came as a surprise, but that's not my call. It's way above my pay grade."
Ben McLemore: "I didn't see this coming … second year, me and Ray [McCallum] have been talking about this, how many teammates we've had so far as a rookie and going into our second year and now having our first coach fired … I was pretty shocked."
On Michael Malone
Collison: "He gave me a lot of leeway to be myself and a lot of freedom. So I respect him for that. Just allowed me to be a point guard in this league."
Gay: "I can sit here and talk all day about what I've learned from him. I think he's made me a way better player, offensively and defensively. Once I got here, he allowed me to get a chance to expand my game and I thank him for that."
Ryan Hollins: "Coach Malone poured his heart into what he did man. I have the upmost respect for him and everything he's done for myself, my family and this team. He's going to be alright. He's one of the great basketball minds in our game and he's one of the hardest workers that I know. But that's a part of the business."
Carl Landry: "I trust in this organization, I trust in the owner, his staff and I believe with what they are trying to do we'll become a better basketball team. And that's not taking anything from coach Malone because like I said, he's the best coach since coach Adelman of the last decade."
Ben McLemore: "I thank him a lot for the things he did, and worked with me and helped me improve as a player and helped me learn more about the game."
On Tyrone Corbin
Collison: "He's been there before. He knows what it takes to win games. At the end of the of the day, you've got to respect him as a coach."
Gay: "We've had one practice and shootaround so it's too early to tell. But I'm confident in him, I know he's done it before and we have to just believe in him no matter what."
Hollins: "Ty has got so much experience, not just coaching, but as a player. You can't make that up. He's still finding his way and picking his moments. We're behind him ... From his Utah days, he likes execution, likes to get the ball on the block and that's not too different from coach Malone so you'll probably see different play calls, but he's the same competitor. As far as difference, I don't think we will ... We ran a lot of our same plays tonight and that's just respect to coach Mike Malone. I don't think Ty is coming in trying to just change everything that Michael did ... he's going to put his own imprint on the game but we believe in him."
McLemore: "It's a little different, but we know what we need to do to adjust to it. That's all we've got to do is just adjust to what he wants us to go out there and do."
On moving forward
Collison: "This isn't a time to put our heads down or feel sorry for ourselves. We've got to find a way to come together and still try to win. Teams are coming in here, they don't care what our situation is ... I think we'll be alright, I think we'll eventually get over the hump."
Gay: "Everybody has been pretty professional. You know, but it's tough. I'm not going to sit here and say it's easy to just come in here and play for a new coach even though we've been around coach Corbin. And obviously, it's not easy for coach Corbin so all around it's tough."
Landry: "I just trust in ownership and hopefully we become a better basketball team."
McLemore: "We all have just got to move on now and focus on getting better and trying to figure out what we need to do helping this organization get better."
Hollins: "It's going to be tough man, but that's adversity and that's professional sports. He's not the first head coach to be fired ... So I know coach Malone will be alright ... It's not my opinion to know what goes on behind closed doors, it's my job to come in and play because let me tell you something, there's always going to be something going on behind closed doors and we come in to work and be ready. I'll run through a wall for coach Malone and I'll run through a wall for Ty."
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