Crazy Thoughts About Coaches

But as anyone who watched the Kings over the past three seasons knows, the Kings haven’t had a system! They’re a blank canvas. They’re a block of unsculpted clay. They were ready for a system. So even if the new system isn’t completely in place, there’s something.

Heh, I don’t know. Theus wanted to run the Triangle; why i don’t know but he did.

It’s easy to say coaches didn’t have a system when they haven’t had success with a roster. The reality is that Natt had 2 different rosters last year; Theus never had the roster he thought he had at the beginning of the season. When Theus was fired he said there was nothing Natt could do; was he wrong?

At the time, I remember TZ pointing out that the Kings were starting to run the Princeton. Yet, as time wore on, the Kings either didn’t run it, or they were running it and it’s proof that the system is probably not the best to be run on the pro level. Even Pete Carril would tell you that.

I agree that the coaching staff’s of the past 3 years set up Paul Westphal to look like a genius if something like this happened. I disagree that Paul Westphal has done anything different than he did in June, VSL, September workout’s, or training camp.

Paul Westphal doesn’t look like a genius if WaBeno Udrih doesn’t emerge. Paul Westphal doesn’t look like a genius if Ime Udoka has a 2-11 shooting night. Paul Westphal deserves a lot of credit for many things up to this point.

He deserves credit for never giving up on Beno at any point. Consider the following:

• Beno barely played or effectively on the opening road trip
• The first time Beno got major minutes was when Tyreke hurt his ankle and was recoving vs Memphis
• Beno in many ways is the perfect backcourt mate for Tyreke Evans because he can handle the ball and shoot it which are 2 things that Tyreke Evans does not have with the same level of consistency
• Beno’s career was on life support until this little run he’s had; if it continues he will have trade value which means the Kings will have to consider whether trading Beno is the best thing they can do for the team
• You can argue that no coach will ever matter more to Beno than PW if for nothing else because of the timing of the juncture that the two got together

I think PW is a terrific coach. I don’t know if I would consider him a brilliant offensive coordinator, but this team has an idea of what it wants to run with a host of offensive talent. Kurt Rambis was quoted as saying he was holding Jonny Flynn back because there are things he needs to “learn” before he will let Jonny go.

Tyreke Evans is a lot of things right now, but the one thing that is clear is that his basketball genius is effervescent to the point where you might get burnt by being within 10 feet of him. PW is no dummy; he knows that Evans is the key to winning on both ends of the court. Other than Evans & Thomas & Udoka, only Hawes right now is at a ‘plus defender’ level for the Kings. Everyone else is average or below that. What level of credit that goes to Mario Elie or Truck Robinson I don’t know; the reality is that a quality coaching staff works together with the head man’s goal. Reggie Theus and Kenny Natt had different goals than Paul Westphal has had. It’s funny when you consider that the organization quietly pushed Theus to hire a veteran head coach, and you have Paul Westphal WHO IS a veteran head coach in the NBA having hired several coaches with experience (Jim Eyen & Mario Elie), taking a risk on Truck Robinson and bringing in a coach who has shown to be effective in the development of talent (Bryan Gates).

Winning games ultimately has something to do with the coaching staff and it’s perspective. In fact, it has a lot to do with it. On the other hand, the players are the one’s who have to execute. When great players and coaches work together (key word: work) they win championships. I didn’t say that; Jerry Reynolds did. (He knows what he speaks, yes?)

I respect what Paul Westphal has done. I know that he’s brought about a professional coaching staff that has addressed the various components of a young, inexperienced and maybe devoid of talent (although I disagree with that). You have young talent capable of many things (Evans, Greene, Hawes), you have smart, tough, driven young talent (Thompson & Casspi), and you put them with veterans like Martin (as pure a great scorer as there is in the NBA), Garcia (skilled, fiery and tough), and Thomas (been consistent defensively), you can find great things in this group.

The last time you can say that about a coach is Rick Adelman. And, given the talent and circumstances Rick had to work under, he did very well. If anything, Paul Westphal has stepped into a void that Rick left. If anything, Paul Westphal recognized that this franchise was a perfect opportunity for a retread head coach who had success, and failure, at his 2 previous stops. We know the analogies from Paul Westphal to Rick Adelman; they’re plainly obvious.

What isn’t plainly obvious is that Adelman respected the game, the organization and Geoff Petrie enough to recognize that when you draft offensive players, you’re going to have teams that focus on offense more than defense. Fans don’t always seem to get that sometimes, but the way you play top tier defense is to have players who are brilliant on that end. And, that led to trades like Ron Artest. It was funny; suddenly the Kings defense got a whole lot better with Artest & Adelman around. With Musselman it dropped off despite the “focus”.

You can NEVER focus an offense without defense, or vice versa. There are 2 ends and only 5 players. You have to get players to buy in to the system, and ultimately believe you have their back. PW is often considered an offensive coach and has spent 95% of his media time talking about defense & rebounding. Gee, might that be an emphasis?

If anything, I knew these lessons already although I didn’t always know how to express this knoweldge. The thing about Paul Westphal is that he doesn’t make me appreciate the job Adelman did. Adelman did that on his own by the end of his 7th season. (It stands in my view as good a job as Rick will ever do which includes this season with the Rockets.) Rick Adelman has made me respect that a professional coaching staff and interested, committed players are a fun thing to pay attention to. This might be the start of something special, no question. I appreciate PW because I appreciated RA’s tenure far more by the end than I did at the beginning. I don’t want to make the same mistake ever again with any head coach.

So what does that have to do with these 8 games? I don’t know. But when smoke becomes a burning building it won’t be a fluke any longer. Right now, you can categorize Kenny Thomas’ play as a fluke (don’t really think that), Beno Udrih’s play ditto, and the luck of opponents who have many flaws relative to the position they hold.

With regards to my statement how PW did it, I don’t honestly know. My only regret is that these past 3 games aren’t the NCAA tournament; the Kings would be in the Elite 8 right now.