Thud! Sacramento Kings Hit Rock Bottom
The Sacramento Kings are unraveling and it’s painful to watch.
It’s gotten so bad that DeMarcus Cousins, who is having another fine season, told reporters after a loss to the Dallas Mavericks that it’s the most frustrating it’s been in five seasons, which is absolutely stunning considering the amount of losing the Kings have done during that time span.
Who can blame Cousins? A season that started off with so much promise and so much hope has come crashing down and there is no blaze of glory in sight. Since Dec. 9, the Kings have gone 6-21 and erased all of the positives that came with the 11-10 start when they fired former coach Mike Malone.
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The team hasn’t changed. The only thing different is the guy at the end of the bench.
It’s unfair to pin the blame on new coach Ty Corbin, however. Corbin is just doing what he has been tasked with: Be the warm body on the bench until the front office figures out who they want as their head coach for 2015-16. It’s like a captain trying to keep the ship afloat by using a coffee mug to toss out the excess water.
The decision to fire Malone is showing itself tenfold, and it’s worse than anyone could have imagined. The metrics of slightly increased offensive efficiency and lack of defensive efficiency have turned the Kings from a promising young team to another gaggle of NBA players who can’t seem to figure it out. The players were buying into what Malone was selling, and even though the results weren’t there initially, there were glimpses on what it could have been.
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Instead, the Kings have strengthened the losing culture that has plagued the organization for seemingly forever by refusing to show patience with the team and build slowly. The team, as it is constructed currently, isn’t ready to compete with the heavy-hitters of the Western Conference. They’re not splashy and deep like the Golden State Warriors. They’re not gritty like the Memphis Grizzlies. They’re not disciplined like the San Antonio Spurs. Sure, the Kings have their own All-World talent in Cousins, but he’s one guy surrounded by slightly above replacement level talent and Rudy Gay.
The front office is so enamored with trying to be like the Warriors that it’s officially hurt the Kings.
It’s unfortunate.
Cousins deserves better. The mercurial talent should be proud of what he’s accomplished in the first half of the season and should be heading to Brooklyn with a sense that the Kings are on the upswing. Rather, Cousins is mired in another frustrating season with no hope on the horizon.
His post-game comments revealed a lot about the current state of the team. The team doesn’t believe in itself. It has poor body language and lays down and quits. Cousins called for more effort, which has a tinge of irony behind it considering that he has a tendency to just quit on defense. Case in point below, this play against the Warriors.
He was aware that he needed to step up his own intensity, but talk is cheap coming from a player who has a less than stellar reputation on that end. If Cousins wants to take that next step into superstardom, he will need to hold himself accountable and lead by example like he said numerous times. He will need to put the Kings on his back and become a leader if he wants save this season and shift the culture.
How will the Kings respond to Cousins’ diatribe? Another listless performance against the Utah Jazz on Saturday will only exacerbate the issue and Cousins, who is the emotional barometer of the team, may mentally shut it down and skate to another fine season on pure talent alone.
Remember: It’s not too late for the Kings to go on a run and finish the year off strong.
Should you count on it? Probably not.
It’s not what losing cultures do when things are at rock bottom.
Next: When Will The Sacramento Kings Front Office Admit Their Mistakes?