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Sacramento Kings Tenure with George Karl off to Rocky Start

By Sean Bialaszek

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The Sacramento Kings were fairly quiet at the trade deadline this season. Rather than acquiring a big name player to advance the franchise, the team opted to sign a big name coach to try and turn around the floundering franchise.

During the All-Star break, the Kings brought in George Karl, with the hopes that the veteran coach could restore order to the team. The team also traded for Andre Miller, who was serving as the backup point guard for the Washington Wizards, to reunite him with his former coach from his Denver Nuggets days.

Karl’s tenure has gotten off to a slow start in Sacramento. The team is 2-3 in five games, but they are suffering from the same affliction they dealt with while being led by Mike Malone and Ty Corbin: inconsistency.

The team’s starting point guard, Darren Collison hasn’t played under coach Karl yet, as he underwent surgery to repair an injury to his right hip. He is likely done for the season. With the loss of Collison, the team is missing a lot of offense. Collison was third on the team in scoring, at 16.1 points per game, and was the leading assist-man, at 5.6 dimes per games.

DeMarcus Cousins has also fallen victim to the injury bug. Earlier in the season, when Cousins was suffering from viral meningitis and missed a ton of time, head coach Malone was fired, despite leading the team to a 9-5 start. The team couldn’t overcome the loss of their superstar center, and Malone was made to be the scapegoat.

Now under Karl, Cousins is dealing with two injuries to his left leg: an ankle sprain and a hip contusion. He’s missed the last two games, both of which, Sacramento dropped. The All-Star is the team’s leading scorer at 23.7 points per game, leading rebounder at 12.2 per contest, and is the big presence under the rim that the team can be run around. With him out, the offense is sorely lacking.

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Cousins got off to a fine start under his new coach, as in the first game after the break against the Boston Celtics, he scored 31 points and pulled down 15 boards. The team won that game, and it came in surprising fashion.

The team came out flat, a familiar sight for the Kings, and trailed by as many as 16 in the early goings of the first quarter. But the team showed something they didn’t show a lot of with Corbin at the reigns: heart and fight.

The Kings went on a 17-0 run to end the first quarter, and led at the end of the frame, and didn’t trail the rest of the way. Under the old regime, the Kings would have rolled over and let the Celtics steamroll them, but Karl brought out the fight in his guys. There was hope.

The schedule hasn’t been easy since then for the Kings. They’ve played four consecutive games against Western Conference playoff teams, and in the first against the Los Angeles Clippers, they were beat handily, 126-99.

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But the next time out they beat the Memphis Grizzlies, the second-seed in the West, for maybe their best win of the year. Cousins fouled out after just 24 minutes with 16 points, nine rebounds, and six assists, but the slack was picked up by Rudy Gay. The small forward scored 28 points while shooting 60 percent, and dished out six assists.

In the fourth game with Karl at the helm, the team faced the playoff-bound, defending champion San Antonio Spurs. While they lost, the Kings kept it close the entire way, leading for a good portion of the game. Ben McLemore and Ray McCallum both scored over 20 points, but Collison and Cousins were both absent, and the team just couldn’t overcome those losses.

Feb 25, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Rudy Gay (8) watches his shot after shooting a three-point shot during the fourth quarter of the game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 102-90. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Against the Portland Trailblazers, the fourth seed, it was the same story, as there was just not enough offense to overcome huge games by LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard.

Karl has gotten the most from his players in his short time. Gay is averaging 22.2 points over the past five games, pushing his season average up to 20 points right on the dot. Ben McLemore, who has developed nicely in his second season in the league, is averaging 13.6 points under Karl, two points more per game than beforehand.

Karl’s old friend Miller has also thrived under familiar tutelage. In 23 minutes per game, Miller is averaging 7.6 points and 5.4 assists. In 10 more minutes than he was receiving in Washington, Miller has more than doubled his points output , and nearly doubled his assists.

Despite lacking key pieces, Karl has kept his team in most games, and the team seems to be responding positively to the new coach. They’re fighting and staying in games, rather than rolling over and being pulled apart. The results don’t stand out, but the team looks like they have new energy.

Karl has the rest of this season to learn his player’s strengths and weaknesses, and hopefully allow players like Cousins and Collison to heal up and get healthy. A full offseason, free agency and draft, plus workouts with the players he has now, and Karl could turn the corner with this team.

Management didn’t give Malone a fair shake. He was fired prematurely, and the team lost its will under his replacement, Corbin. Coach Karl, one of the best in the game, should be allotted more time to get things going with this team, and it will only benefit everyone involved.

Next: Ray McCallum has Shot with Collison out

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