[SealioParticipant]

 http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/01/05/breaking-kings-fire-coach-paul-westphal/

It’s about time. Westphal was totally the wrong coach for this kind of team.

Easy decision I guess… Cousins or Westphal?
You don’t give up on a future franchise Center to have a crappy coach that will be gone in a couple years anyway.

I liked the pick up of Keith Smart in the offseason and hopefully he can bring a new perspective and a new energy to the Kings.

[M-DYMESParticipant]

I agree Westphal had to go…but how much is this going to feed into Cousins’ mind that he has power over heads in the organization?  Will it build upon his ego? 

[HaleParticipant]

100% agree.

[JoeWolf1]

 We’ll see if it helps.  That seems like a roster that just doesn’t mesh, not as bad as Washington, but certainly not good.  Maybe Phil could get those guys to play together, but that team just isn’t built very well, IMO.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

This might be a bad PR move, becuz it seems like the Kings are taking the side of a disgruntled immature player..But something had to be done….Westphal had worn out his welcome….

1.Under Westphal their young players werent developing like alot of people had thought..Evans,Jason Thompson & Donte Green hadnt improved at all since their promising rookie years..

2.They were a poor outside shooting team,a poor passing team,almost last in the nba in assists..

3.When you run to the press to tell them whats going on behind the scenes,you lose the respect of the players and community….

 

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

This is just a sloppy situation.

I think this was a good move, but I’m still not a big fan of Cousins.

[Jlv2011]

inevitable.  Westphal went out with class though, his final statement was very professional.  Good person and best of luck to him.  Let’s get this straight though, the team was playing bad regardless of DMC.  Blowouts every night?  That’s a coaching problem.

[M-DYMESParticipant]

Tyreke Evans needs to put his foot down right now and start being the player he is capable of being.  If he shows that this is HIS team, this all goes away IMO.  But if he continues to struggle and the team lacks a true face of the franchise, Cousins could be very disruptive. 

Evans needs to be a leader here and get this team on track.  He needs to be more consistent and vocal ASAP.

[sammybuckeye13Participant]

They need someone who can distribute the ball, right now everyone is just trying to score it.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

But, like M-DYMES says, I am not so sure about the outcome. One might think a change would be nice for Cousins, who obviously did not get along with him. Not to mention, the Kings have indeed sucked under Westphal, albeit he did not have that much to work with. Still, it seems like Westphal was not a long term solution and you have to side with the disgruntled possible future star in this case.

Definitely a pretty lame situation, kind of feel bad for Westphal. I’ve never really thought he was a fantastic coach, but he had a pretty tough situation in Sacramento. As far as DeMarcus Cousins goes, it will be interesting to see if a new coach really does anything. From all I have heard, it is very difficult to work with him and he has a major attitude. He is a talented big man, but he is still a foul machine with a damn poor shot selection. They had better hope whoever they hire can turn things around, but it seems like a long shot. Don’t expect to stop hearing major questions regarding Cousins attitude, which more than likely will lead to more issues with coaches.

[surveParticipant]

 Remember when I said this may go down like the DWill/Sloan deal?  The firing of Westphal had little to nothing to do with how bad the team was IMO.  Once this Cousins situation came about, his days were numbered.  Its not like they still wont try and move DMC, but he and Westphal could not co-exist.  So now…you let Smart take over and showcase DMC’s talent to the league and hope his value skyrockets back up…preferably before the deadline.

Westphal wasnt winning any games regardless, like MikeyV says it wasnt all his fault, the Kings knew this, and while he may have not won any games and eventually wouldve been fired anyway…the DMC incident hastened it.  I truly believe had Westphal been winning, he still wouldve had to go like Sloan did.  He just wouldve been asked to step down rather than be fired.

Other teams probably wont hold this against Westphal…but the fact still remains that his coaching style/philosphy leaves a lot to be desired…and the Sac roster needs to be revised.

So adding on to RUDEBOY…this is probably a bad P.R. move from the firing of Westphal perspective, but they are looking to make a positive P.R. impact by showcasing DMC now…I wouldnt be surprised if Smart was told to run the whole offense through DMC.  I believe the clock is ticking on DMC as well, he just had more time than Westphal.

[Johnny Chill]

Smart did a damn good job with the Warriors last year. New ownership let him go because they wanted their own guy. I gotta say Smart is a upgrade over Westphal.

[hubhubParticipant]

The easiest way to describe why they did is that they probably made a simple equation and the result was : 

Cousins > Westphal

I’m not quite sure that it will help Demarcus mature faster ;p He’s ego was the problem and now you fire a coach after an argue with him. It’s going to be interesting in Sac-town;D

[surveParticipant]

not so fast on Smart.  While he did do a good job and I thought he shouldve been retained, he had more to work with in terms of FIT and STYLE than Westphal.  On the other hand, the players that Westphal had are the types of players he favors.  He had some input on those draft picks and getting Thornton.  Smart still has a roster that doesnt make sense, so its not a given that he will do well just because he did so in GSW.

Thornton is the leading scorer….that wouldnt be so bad if he averaged more assists for the minutes he plays.  He shoots ok percentage but for a guard that plays that much and has ball so often, he should avg more than 1.4apg.

They rarely look to pass and I dont think that is going to change.  There isnt much focus on getting the ball inside, the bigs score off of offensive boards and garbage buckets.  They have no playmakers and average about 13 apg, top PG’s in the league avg at least 10apg by themselves.

What Smart has to do is showcase DMC and hope Sac can get busy in the trade market and get him something he can work with. 

[What The DevilParticipant]

 There is a god

[KayjayParticipant]

Hey hey heyyyyyy…

GOOD BYEEEEEEEE!

Juvenile? I know, but I’m happy that we can start getting these guys on the right path. And I understand none of you are big Cousin’s fans, but my biggest fear is he becomes a star elsewhere. I want it to happen on the Kings regardless of the red flags.

[RafterParticipant]

I had a feeling the Kings would respond to the Cousins situation, and it’s very clear who they value higher. This team really hasn’t improved that much under Westphal despite a promising group of players. A change of coaching scenery seemed right but the reason why is a bit disappointing.

I wonder who they’ll bring in, whoever they decide to bring in will have to put Cousins at the center of the Kings alongside Evans or else.

[SupParticipant]

Lolz, that’s silly.

[SupParticipant]

News flash he’s gonna leave when he can anyway

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

 Poor timing for the fact it makes Cousins look bigger than the team.  Westphal is out of gas though.  Is Flip next??

[QuickPostCParticipant]

O boy the Kings just placated an egocentric, immature man-child. This will end well lol.

 

 

[QuickPostCParticipant]

.

 

 

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

 Cousins and his attitude would fit perfectly on the Wizards

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

Westphaul had to go but not like this. Jimmer would be my pg he can handle the ball and distribute off pick and role. Reke should play 2guard or be traded. Cousins would be history. Thorton is good but should play a microwave off the bench role so he could just jack.

[radartrade]

 Cousins wanted a brotha’ to coach him.he dont take no sh#$ from a white man coach.watch him rip up some sh#@ now,

20 and 12 the rest of the season.

[natedogggParticipant]

its funny, in the DMC thread the other day i said this would happen and i got negatives…

[sheltwon3Participant]

How long will John Wall be happy in Washington.  I wonder if Sacramento has enough for a trade because Wall may like Sacramento better.  It appears he will be gone as soon as he contract is up.

[SwatLakeCityParticipant]

DMC needs to be traded. He will become a star on a different team. Mark my words. This is what happened with Lamar Odom (how he ended up with the Heat) and with Michael Beasley. (how he ended up with the Wolves) It will happen again with DMC. Sorry to break your heart, Kings fans, but I have to side with history. Unless Sac-town brings in a father figure to coach DMC, which will not happen.

I hope that Portland gets him why because I think they need to find someone to replace Oden. He (Oden) is repeatedly injured. He has never played a full season for the Blazers since he was drafted in 2007. Often times he is out for the entire season. They need to find someone who can play for the entire season and not get hurt. They also have Camby and Kurt Thomas who I think are perfect big men to start the process of maturing DMC. They are both veterans. One was a star back in the 90’s (Camby), the other is a veteran who has been on 9 different NBA teams. He is the most traveled big man and therefore knows what life is like in the NBA as does Camby. However a simple swap of Cousins for Oden is not likely because Oden has too big of a contract and Cousins is still on his rookie contract. Therefore will need to be involved in order for the Salaries to match. That third team I think will be Phoenix. Oden would go to the Suns. The Suns have the experience of handling players that were previously injury prone. Grant Hill is a prime example. They have the proper staff to do so. As for which players the Suns will send to Sac-town, I don’t know. I would like to check the trade machine and figure out some trade that would work but unfortunately it is unavailable for at least a week as ESPN is currently updating the system to include the new CBA rules. Check back in a week and I might make a thread proposing a 3 team trade involving DMC.

What Smart needs to do though in order to make sure that DMC is traded is absolutely nothing. Run business as normal. Coach the Kings as he did the Warriors. Run the offense through Tyreke. The NBA already knows enough about Cousins. They know he is a Center with a bright future that can be reached if he matures. Therefore teams that think they can mature him will get on the phones and start proposing possible trades for DMC. It very well could be a three team trade. But there are teams in the NBA that want his services. No matter if he has an attitude problem or not. There are teams who think they can change this for the better, and they will make the proper adjustments to get him and hopefully change his attitude and start the process of maturing DMC. Hopefully this trades happens before March (trade deadline) but it is also possible that DMC is on the market for the entire season and a trade doesn’t end up happening until the offseason.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

I Wonder did Cousins do the Dougie after he heard he had GOTTEN WESTPHAL FIRED?

[HitsterParticipant]

Westphal had run out of gas and Keith Smart might be able to bring some improvement to the team but will he get the top job full time? I suppose he has to be given a chance unless the owners have someone else in mind. Coach Smart was assistant to Don Nelson for a number of years so a Nellieball fast break style could suit the Kings especially with a scorer like Jimmer in the ranks.

Hopefully Coach Smart takes not bull from DMC but the team desperately needs some on court veteran presence to help guide the younger guys. John Salmons is a good player with a better basketball IQ than a lot of NBA players but he is not really a natural leader.

On a plus point Jimmer has helped the finances, the team are way under cap and at worse a high pick in the 2012 draft will add further talent.

[marcusfizer21Participant]

 Just looking at the team, they needed a coach who will be able to gain the level of respect from the players… Westphal never had that… Keith Smart should be able to help the team in anyway they can because they’re losing games by 20… He is a very solid upgrade and is a very good coach.. I hope the team buys into his system…

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