Category: Sacramento Kings

By the way it’s finally official … Karl in, Corbin out

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
NBA.com
NBA.com

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings have publicly announced an agreement in principle with George Karl to become the head coach of the team. The announcement was made by Kings General Manager Pete D’Alessandro who worked with Karl in Denver.

The contract is reported to be for $14.5 million over four years. A press conference to formally introduce Karl will be held after the contract is signed.

At the same time Karl was named head coach, the Kings announced that Tyrone Corbin has been relieved of his duties as head coach. Corbin, who was given a contract that runs through the end of the season, will move to the front office as an advisor to team management.

“I have the utmost respect for Tyrone as a coach and person,” said D’Alessandro. “He’s a man of great integrity, a consummate professional that managed a difficult situation with class and professionalism. I look forward to continuing to work with Tyrone moving forward.”

UPDATE: Multiple sources reporting Kings have hired George Karl as Head Coach

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
wagesofwins.com
wagesofwins.com

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Multiple sources are reporting that the Sacramento Kings have hired George Karl to be their next head coach. The Sacramento Bee was the first to report the signing. No official announcement is not expected for several days. The NBA All-Star break begins on Thursday.

Yahoo Sports is reporting the contract is for four years and $14.5 million.

If the reports are accurate, Karl’s first game as the Kings coach would most likely be on Friday, February 20 versus the Boston Celtics.

Karl is currently working as an analyst for ESPN. He last coached in “the Association” in the 2012-13 season with the Denver Nuggets. Karl was fired after leading the Nuggets to a record of 57-25 and being named NBA Coach of the Year.

Karl has been a head coach in the NBA since 1984. His coaching stops include Cleveland, Golden State, Seattle, Milwaukee and Denver. Karl’s best finish was when he took the Seattle SuperSonics to the NBA Finals in 1996. Seattle ultimately lost in the finals to the Chicago Bulls led by Michael Jordan in six games.

Karl’s career record as head coach is 1131 wins and 756 losses good for a 59.9-winning percentage. The knock against Karl has been his record in the playoffs. He is 80 – 105 (43.2-win percentage) as a coach in the playoffs.

There had been reports that DeMarcus Cousins camp was showing resistance to the hiring of Karl because of his history of having less than cordial relationships with some players. Cousins vehemently denied the reports.

Kings End First Half On A Sour Note, Drop To The Bucks.

Published on by swhelchLeave a comment

By Shawn Whelchel

The All-Star break couldn’t have come sooner for the struggling Sacramento Kings, who ended the first half of the season by dropping 13 of their last 15 games after suffering a 111-103 loss against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.

The 13-game skid sends coach Tyrone Corbin out on a poor note, as the team reportedly agreed to terms with George Karl to become the new head coach of the team when the second half of the season resumes on February 20th against the Boston Celtics.

Milwaukee was led by guard Brandon Knight, who is arguably having an All-Star caliber season despite being left off of the East’s roster. Knight led the Bucks with 20 points, 6 rebounds and five assists on the night. O.J Mayo provided some pop off the bench for Milwaukee by dumping in 21 points in 25 minutes as well.

The Kings received a strong effort from DeMarcus Cousins, who will be making an appearance in New York’s All-Star game, as the big man posted an impressive stat line 28 points and 19 rebounds in the losing effort. Cousins was followed by Rudy Gay, who had 17 points and 8 rebounds on the night.

The Kings will hope that Karl’s veteran coaching presence will be able to revive the struggling team, who currently sit 13th in the Western division, ahead of only the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves with an 18-34 record.

Karl is currently the sixth most winning coach in NBA history. CSN Bay Area reported that the deal is rumored to be anywhere between $4 million and $5 million dollars per year.

Sacramento Kings commentary & podcast: Karl hiring announcement expected during NBA All-Star break; Corbin and team spent over coaching controversy

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Jeff Hall

SACRAMENTO–When this whole thing about bringing George Karl on has head coach which started on Tuesday night it brought a whole whirlwind of confusion going on this road trip to Chicago and now onto Milwaukee. The word that the Sacramento Kings DeMarcus Cousins said after last week’s Utah game Cousins said “were confused” and the players were all confused and that added to it in their loss to Chicago on Tuesday night 104-86.

The Kings new owners who already have the new arena being built in downtown Sacramento couldn’t wait to have things start happening to this team. Things didn’t get off the ground as the owners expected. From the beginning of the season things were going better than anyone expected in terms of the way the Kings were performing for former head coach Michael Malone.

When Cousins came down with meningitis and while he was out the team stopped performing and when that performance started to drop out the door went Malone who was fired by the Kings. Then the Kings replaced Malone with Tyrone Corbin who will work his last game on Wednesday night before new head coach George Karl will take over the reigns after the NBA All Star game on Sunday.

Malone was to be the interim coach who didn’t last and then Corbin was hired as the permanent full time coach and that’s not the case anymore as Corbin’s case is not as successful as they would hope. Now their going to go with a legendary NBA coach George Karl which on the surface is not a bad thing. When you look at it you say “hey George Karl is a winning coach, he’s had some experience with some great basketball players and some great basketball teams.”

Karl is coming off his last job coaching for the Denver Nuggets, the thing about this is that Karl is getting older 62 he’s beaten cancer twice and that’s a concern that the Kings have. The original deal was that the Kings wanted to sign Karl onto a four year deal worth $4 million per year. The Kings are expected to make an official announcement on the signing within the next few days and are expected to make that announcement during All-Star weekend.

Karl reportedly was holding out as of Tuesday for another year to make it a five year contract. Terms of the deal have not been updated but it was reported on Wednesday night that Karl had signed on with the Kings. The team is concerned about Karl’s cancer history, the plan sources have been saying throughout the negotiations that the Kings would like to get Karl started after the All-Star break as that looks like it will come to fruition from all indications.

Jeff Hall covers Sacramento Kings basketball for http://www.sportrsradioservice.com listen to his podcast below

Trio Of Bulls Down The Struggling Kings

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By Shawn Whelchel

A trio of Bulls led the charge against Sacramento on Tuesday night, as Chicago steadily dispatched the stumbling Kings with a 104-86 trouncing at the United Center.

The Kings seemingly had no answer for Chicago’s Pau Gasol, Derrick Rose and Tony Snell, who combined for 73 of the Bulls’ 104 points on the night. Snell turned in a career night against the Kings, scoring 24 points on 9 of 11 shooting.

Sacramento’s efforts were derailed in the third quarter of Tuesday night’s contest after a 19-4 run in the beginning of the frame sunk any chance for the Kings to mount a comeback. The Kings did themselves no favor on the defensive side of the ball as well, as a lackluster effort allowed Chicago to shoot 52.5 percent from the field on the night, including 7-of-20 from beyond the arc.

The loss was yet another frustrating effort from Sacramento, who have now lost 12 of their last 14 games while earning an 18-33 record in the Pacific division.

But help might soon be on the way for the struggling Kings, as there are reports that George Karl may soon be at the helm of the team. The 63-year old veteran coach, who currently sits sixth in NBA history with 1,131 wins, can give the Kings some much needed guidance in order to turn the troubled club around.

In what may prove to be his final game as head coach, Tyrone Corbin and the Kings will limp into Milwaukee on Wednesday night to take on the Bucks before receiving a much needed break over All-Star weekend.

 

The Jazz beat the Kings 102-90

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
NBA.com
NBA.com

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The misery continued on Saturday night as the Kings lost for the 11th time in their last 12 games. This time the loss came at the hands of the Utah Jazz (18-33) 102-90.

The troubles for the Kings started early as they scored just 15 points in the first quarter. Sacramento shot a miserable 26.1-percent (6 for 23) from the field and were zero for five from 3-point range. The Kings trailed by 10 after the first quarter.

The Kings did not lack energy. They just could get shots to fall.

The Kings shooting percentage improved slightly in the second quarter and they matched the Jazz scoring with 24 points. It was 49-39 at the half.

The Jazz came out strong in the third quarter going on a 15-2 run and building a 23 point lead. The Kings kept battling but the deficit was just too great for them to overcome. Sacramento (17-32) had lost their third consecutive game.

Forward Gordon Hayward led the Jazz with 30 points going 13 for 23 shooting from the floor. Derrick Favors put up 20 points to go with five assists and three blocked shots.

Utah’s Enes Kanter posted a double-double scoring 17 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

The Jazz shot 50.0-percent (43 for 86) from the floor.They had 21 assists and turned the ball over just nine times. The Jazz outrebounded the Kings 43-40.

DeMarcus Cousins was the Kings leading scorer recording another double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Rudy Gay, who tweaked his ankle early in the game, scored just four points.

Ben McLemore scored 15 points including three 3-pointers. Ramon Sessions, who started for the injured Darren Collison, put up 11 points to go with five assists.

As a team, the Kings shot just 39.0-percent (32 for 82) from the field. They were just three for 13 (23.1-percent) from beyond the 3-point arc. Sacramento, usually a good free throw shooting team, shot just 69.7-percent (23 for 33) from the stripe.

The off-court drama continues

Rumors have persisted over the past week that the Kings would replace Tyrone Corbin as head coach over the All-Star break. The rumor mill has also had the Kings in negotiations with George Karl over the weekend. Now those talks may have hit a snag.

Per Adrian Wojnarowski: Yahoo Sources: The resistance to George Karl hiring by Cousins’ camp has stalled talks and given sides pause about pushing through on deal.

Nothing is going to come easy for the Kings this season. They cannot win games and now, they cannot even hire a permanent coach without controversy.

Up Next

The Kings have no time to rest as they host the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night at Sleep Train Arena.

Sacramento Kings commentary & podcast: Kings lack of defense and weak offense hands Warriors and Mavs gift wins

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by Charlie O Mallonee

SACRAMENTO–The easy answer about the Sacramento Kings is this is a team that is in total disarray against the Golden State Warriors Tuesday night at Sleep Train Arena the Kings actually had a fairly good size lead in the first quarter and then just watched it get chipped away and chipped away in a whopping 121-96 loss. It was a lack of defense and a lack of cohesive offense on the part of the Kings that just killed them.

The Kings allowed Golden State to complete 46 of 91 shots from the field letting the W’s to shoot 50.5 percent from the field, any team that allows 50.5 percent from the field deserves not to win and in the NBA your not going to win that’s just the fact of the matter. They let them shoot 10-23 from three pointland. 43.5 percent average right there on three pointers that would make the W’s get the higher average in that game in all of the NBA.

The Kings have shot 44.3 percent from the field, they shot 43.8 percent from three pointland which was way too late and once things got going for them they weren’t able to stay consistent for those three point shots. So it was a real difficult situation throughout the whole game and it looked like Ben McLemore was going to get the Kings off to a real good start he came down and had four three point shots.

After the four shots by McLemore in the first quarter he just disappeared and it wasn’t because he wanted to disappear it’s just they feel that they don’t have him working the offense properly. The Kings DeMarcus Cousins said afterwards “I’ve got to do more to get Ben into the offense” because you have a guy who scores 13 points in the first quarter and winds up scoring only 18 for the ball game.

The Kings forgot that McLemore was out there and they can’t afford to do that and if they get McLemore involved that takes some of the pressure off the Big Three because now it’s the Big Four with McLemore. It also makes other defenses have to respect them more because they’ve got more people to watch. Tuesday’s loss to Golden State was not a pretty game, we didn’t expect that it was going to be but it even got a little uglier than we thought it might.

Then they turned around on Thursday night and played the Dallas Mavericks, now here’s the deal the Mavs Rajon Rondo was not available because he’s got that fractured eye socket. The Mavs decide to give Rondo the game off, so now the Kings are going “Game On!” it should be a good chance for the Kings right? Wrong. The Kings just folded up in this game quickly their biggest point total in any quarter was in first quarter with 23, they scored 20 points in the second, 17 points in the third, and didn’t show up in the fourth with 18 points.

Charlie O does Kings commentary and podcast each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com Click below for the rest of Charlie O’s podcast

Warriors cruise to win over Kings

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AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

By Robert Steward

SACRAMENTO–

The Golden State Warriors ran their winning streak to four against the Sacramento Kings Tuesday night with a 121-96 victory. While Klay Thompson did not come close to a repeat performance the last time the teams met on January 23rd, when he scored an NBA-record 37 points in the third quarter, hitting 9 three-pointers en route to scoring 52, the result was the same: another Golden State victory. Sacramento, fresh off snapping an eight-game losing streak at Indiana this past Saturday, jumped out of the gate quickly and lead 7-0 with only 2 minutes gone in the game. They eventually stretched it to their biggest lead of the game at 20-10 with 6:05 left in the quarter. The Kings’ Ben McLemore had the hot hand in the early going, hitting 4 of his first 5 shots, including 3 of 4 from 3-point land. After that, however, Golden State completely took over the game, going on a 19-2 run, including 15 consecutive points to finish the quarter leading 29-22. Sacramento missed its last 8 shots in the quarter, while the Warriors heated up from the floor and shot 58% for the quarter compared to the Kings 36%.

Sacramento’s woes continued into the second quarter as they missed their first two shots and turned it over 3 straight times. Meanwhile, Golden State ran off the first 8 points of the quarter before the Kings’ Jason Thompson ended the 23-0 Golden State run with a jumper at the 9:37 mark to make it 37-24, Warriors. But the high-scoring Warriors came right back with a 3-pointer by Leandro Barbosa and then got a lift off the bench from Marreese Speights, who hit 5 of 8 from the floor in the quarter, including scoring 8 straight points. Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins was repeatedly chirping at the referees, no doubt frustrated by the lack of fouls he believed should have been called on the Warriors, who were certainly physical with the Kings’ big man in the middle. Golden State continued to light it up from the floor throughout the quarter, grabbing their biggest lead of the half, 63-40, right before the quarter ended with Sacramento trailing, 63-42. Golden State maintained their hot shooting, finishing at 58% for the half, while the Kings were only shooting 37% from the floor. The Warriors also dominated the Kings in the paint and on fastbreak points, outscoring the Kings, 32-14 and 24-8, respectively.

Golden State opened up the third quarter much like the second quarter, going up 69-44 following a 3-point shot by Harrison Barnes. But Sacramento made a brief run at that point, with McLemore and Rudy Gay hitting back-to-back 3-pointers, followed by a jumper by Darren Collison to cut the deficit to 17, at 69-52. But, as was the case throughout the game, anytime the Kings even threatened to get remotely close, the Warriors had an answer every time. Golden State’s Klay Thompson hit a 3-pointer to end Sacramento’s run and shortly thereafter the Warriors had pushed their lead back up to 78-56. Sacramento then did their best to make it a game, going repeatedly to DeMarcus Cousins in the low post and Rudy Gay began to heat up. A 17-7 run by Sacramento, fueled by Cousins and Gay scoring 15 of the 17 points, cut the lead to 12 at 85-73 with 2:36 left in the quarter. The Warriors’ Andre Iguodala ended the run with a trey and the Warriors closed out the third quarter leading 94-80. Gay scored 14 in the quarter, while Cousins scored 11.

The Warriors hammered away at the Kings on the boards in the 4th quarter, outrebounding the Kings, 16-6 in the quarter. The Kings were still in striking distance, trailing 101-86 with 8:44 left before Golden State ran off 12 points in a row to open up their biggest lead of the game at 113-86 with 5:31 left, essentially ending any hopes of a Kings comeback. For the game, Golden State outrebounded Sacramento, 49-34, while also dishing out 33 assists to the Kings’ 17. A balanced scoring attack and a deep bench played dividends for the Warriors tonight, as they had 5 players in double figures, lead by Stephen Curry with 23. Iguodala and Speights both chipped in 17 off the bench, with Thompson scoring 14 and Barbosa contributing 12 points, also off the bench. The Kings were led by Cousins, who had his usual strong game, finishing with 26 points and 11 rebounds, to go with 4 blocked shots. Gay had 20 points, while McLemore and Darren Collison both scored 18 apiece. Strangely enough, McLemore, who started strong and made 4 of his first 5 shots in the opening 6 minutes of the game, took only 4 more shots for the duration of the game, making 2. Golden State improved to 38-8 overall, while the Kings fell to 17-30.

Up next for the Kings will be the Dallas Mavericks, as they come visit Sleep Train Arena on Thursday night at 7pm.

 

 

Sacramento Kings commentary & podcast: Game changer pressure is off Cousins he’s scoring with a vengeance as Kings on win streak

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by Charlie O

SACRAMENTO–The Kings DeMarcus Cousins is everything to the Kings and in the last two wins for the Kings he’s been everything for Sacramento. Cousins is truly one of those one of a kind players to build your entire team around he is the foundation. The guy is averaging a little more than 23 points a ball game with 12 rebounds with three assists and he’s doing that within 33 minutes a game.

Cousins latest performance is that of a phenomenal player that is an all star player, for the all star game coming up on the 15th he had to kind of back end it for the Lakers Kobe Bryant because of the type of season that Cousins has had and the numbers that he’s put up really would have justified him for being reserved for the all star team out right.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is not going to back end anyone to be a replacement but the team around him had to look at Cousins and say “that guy is an all star.” The Kings in one of their two wins beat the Indiana Pacers and that was because they took some pressure off Cousins and Cousins had been handling the pressure during the Kings entire eight game losing streak.

Cousins during the streak was trying to carry the team on his back personally and trying to carry the situation which is really tough for a player to do game in and game out. What the Kings did is early on the opponents would be double teaming and triple teaming Cousins Darren Collison and Rudy Gay started working the press on Cousins and taking the pressure off of Cousins.

When Collison and Gay took the scoring pressure off Cousins Cousins became like this rebounding machine and he pulled down 19 rebounds. This is going to sound odd for people who don’t know much about Cousins but he scored only 20 points in that game he had 19 rebounds to go with it. Collison had 23 points and Gay was lighting it up with 31 points and they were all working as the big three again.

The three players Collison, Gay and Cousins averaging just around 60 points together in every contest that’s been a key for the Kings to win when they do that. In the game against the Pacers they scored 74 of the 99 points that the Kings scored, there were only 11 bench points in that game. The three of them bound together and made that happen. They did that on Cousins back in the middle underneath and were able to kick the ball out. The reason for the recent success the Big Three bound together made that happen and they didn’t do that on Cousins back.

Charlie O does weekly commentary on Kings basketball on http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

The losing streak is over, Kings down Pacers 99-94

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
NBA.com
NBA.com

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings eight game losing streak came an end in Indiana on Saturday night as they beat the Pacers 99-94. Rudy Gay (31), DeMarcus Cousins (20) and Darren Collison (23) combined for 74 of the Kings 99 point total.

“What really helped set the tone was the main three primary guys … and guys kind of took our lead. Once we did it – everybody got into the flow,” said DeMarcus Cousins.

Cousins had a tough night shooting going six for 24 from the field, but the Kings’ big man had a perfect night from the free throw line going eight for eight. Cousins grabbed 19 rebounds to record his 28th double-double of the season. He also had three assists and three steals.

When asked how he felt about ending the losing streak Cousins said, “It’s not a good feeling being on a losing streak like that. Come out and get a win – get some relief. Now hopefully we can build off the win.”

Rudy Gay led the Kings in scoring with 31 points including going 11 for 11 from the free throw stripe.

“Especially at time like this, you have to get the ball in the hoop someway, somehow, and I figured (out) a way to do it today,” Rudy Gay said after the game.

Darren Collison put up 23 points shooting nine for 15 from the field including going three for six from 3-Point range. The Kings point guard pulled down five rebounds, dished out five assists and one steal. Collison turned the ball over just once in the game.

Collison said, “We were able to move the ball, get better shots. I thought we got off to a good start.” He scored 12 of his 23 points in the first quarter.

The Kings big three played big minutes on Saturday night. Gay played 43:57, Collison 39:43 and Cousins logged 38:46. Carl Landry was the only player to come off the bench and play double digit minutes (25:32).

The bench was not a factor for the Kings against the Pacers. The Kings bench scored just 11 points compared to the Indiana bench that scored 56 points.

Sacramento shot 42.5-percent (34 for 80) for the game. They were five for 15 (33.3-percent) from beyond the 3-Point line. The Kings shot 88.7-percent (26 for 29) from the free throw line.

The Kings took better care of the basket versus the Pacers. They turned the ball over just 12 times and had 16 assists. They needed to record more assists but the turnover total was in the acceptable range.

Sacramento out-rebounded Indiana 46 to 40.

The Kings defense also showed up on Saturday night. They held the Pacers to just 41.3-percent (33 for 80) shooting. Indiana shot just 20.0-percent (5 for 25) from beyond the 3-Point arc. The Pacers average 32.6-percent for 3-Point shooting this season.

After the game Kings Head Coach Tyrone Corbin said, “It feels good. We needed to get a win – a tough road win. We had to stick it out there at the end to get it. Through it all we hung together and persevered – was able to get a win that we needed. We stopped the slide.”

David West and CJ Miles led the Pacers in scoring with 17 points each.

The Kings flew home to Sacramento after the game.

Coming Up

The Kings come home and will have three of their next four games at Sleep Train Arena.

Tuesday the Kings host the Golden State Warriors. This will be the final meeting of the teams for the season.