by Charlie O. Mallonee

There are numerous reports that Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and vice-president of basketball operations Vlade Divac were furious after Sacramento lost to Brooklyn on Friday night 128-119. The loss dropped the Kings record to 1-6 over the last seven games.

DeMarcus Cousins made reference to a “big issue” that the team needs to deal with in order to move forward. Cousins made it clear it was not just energy and effort. One did not have to stretch the imagination too far to include the coaching staff in the “big issue”.

George Karl has been under fire in since the off-season after it was revealed that he wanted to trade DeMarcus Cousins and reconfigure the team to fit his playing style. Reports surfaced then that Ranadive wanted to fire Karl but cooler heads prevailed and Karl was retained.

Then came the infamous shouting match that followed a Kings loss early in the season when DeMarcus Cousins “unloaded” on Karl. It was reported that Karl wanted to suspend Cousins and he was overruled by Divac and Ranadive. Frankly, that move took away the power of the head coach and gave it to Cousins. To his credit, Karl has tried to work around the problem.

Things were fine when Karl and the Kings won five consecutive games and put themselves in contention for the number eight spot in the playoff race. Now that the team has hit a rough spot and fallen to 10th in the Western Conference standings the talk of a coaching change can be found all over the internet.

The Kings problem is simple. They are not playing defense. Part of the reason the Kings won five straight games was the solid defense they played. Over the last seven games the defensive component has been missing. The Kings can score enough points to win but they cannot stop enough points to keep from losing.

George Karl was not hired to coach defense. Vivek Ranadive wanted his team to play an uptempo offense that scored 100-plus points per game. He did not like the more deliberate defensive style of Michael Malone who he fired for not installing an uptempo game. George Karl has delivered th0se 100-plus games but his team has given up 100-plus points to their opponents.

Vivek Ranadive wants the Kings to make the playoffs. Check that – Ranadive wants the Kings to win the NBA Championship now. The problem is the Kings are not anywhere near a championship level yet. If the Western Conference was not having a down year, the Kings would not be in the playoff race.

It takes time to cultivate a winning organization. In order to turn a team around, it takes five to seven years of solid drafts, player development and organizational stability. Ranadive has owned the team for almost three years and it has not been a stable organization (see the resumes of the three head coaches he has hired). Building a championship team is like developing a fine wine – it takes time.

Ranadive is going to fire George Karl. It may not be on Sunday after the Boston game. It may not be during the All-Star Break. It may not happen until the end of the season but George Karl is a “dead man walking”. He has been since Ranadive wanted to fire him for suggesting the team should trade Cousins during the off-season.

Another coaching change will just add instability to an unstable organization. Changing the coach will not bring the Kings a championship. Only time, solid drafts, good free agent signings and organizational stability will lead the Kings to where they want to be.

In the meantime hang on, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.