Assessing George Karl's 1st Week as Sacramento Kings Head Coach
George Karl has been coaching the Sacramento Kings for a little over a week now. He's posted a 2-1 record, winning home contests against the Boston Celtics and the Memphis Grizzlies and dropping a game at the Los Angeles Clippers.
While we're still only dealing with a small sample, we've already learned plenty about Karl as a coach. We've seen some of his philosophical leanings put into practice, such as a faster-paced offense. We're also starting to understand how Karl will tinker with the lineup compared to the team's previous two coaches.
But it's not just about Karl and what he wants to do. How the players react to his style is also worth noting, and we're starting to get an idea of how that's going.
So while we may not know how the Kings will finish, we're aware of what to look out for over the season's final months. And by the end of the campaign, we should have a better idea of how Karl's Kings will fare in 2015-16.
The Offense Is Changing
The front office wants to have a team that pushes the pace on offense. We know this because general manager Pete D'Alessandro mentioned as much when explaining to reporters the team's decision to fire former head coach Michael Malone:
"It wasn’t about wins and losses. I didn’t really care about what our record was. It’s about who we want to be, what we want our identity to be as a team.
What we’re trying to do is put a style in that reflects the Sacramento fan base, which to us is a free-flowing, up-and-down style of play.
"
Not surprisingly, Karl is a coach who likes to push the pace. In his final season with the Denver Nuggets (2012-13), the team was second in pace. It finished no worse than sixth during any of Karl's eight seasons in the Mile High City.
He's keeping up that trend in Sacramento.
| Year | Pace (NBA Ranking) |
| 2005-06 | 93.9 (2nd) |
| 2006-07 | 97.4 (2nd) |
| 2007-08 | 99.7 (1st) |
| 2008-09 | 94.6 (6th) |
| 2009-10 | 94.8 (5th) |
| 2010-11 | 95.6 (2nd) |
| 2011-12 | 94.2 (2nd) |
| 2012-13 | 95.1 (2nd) |
Through three games coaching the Kings, the team is averaging 103.26 possessions per 48 minutes. Extrapolated over a full season, that would be the most in the NBA.
To provide a bit of context: Sacramento averaged 95.7 possessions per 48 minutes under Malone. That number increased to 98.5 with Tyrone Corbin as head coach.
Of course, increasing the pace can be done in a number of ways. The most obvious one is through looking to run whenever the opportunity arises. If the opposition misses a shot, you're looking to find an outlet running the other way.
But it's also possible to be quick within the structure of the offense. That's something Karl has been looking to address in the team's practices. It's one of the things Bill Herenda, Kings Insider for Comcast California, mentioned when speaking about Karl.
"From my perspective, being around the team on a daily basis, George Karl is going to tinker with this group and try to understand what their talents are and also what pieces to add," said Herenda. "With Karl practicing with a 15-second shot clock, with an 18-second shot clock, I think that’s yet to be determined. Again, however, [pushing the pace] is certainly more in alignment with what they’re going to do. We’re not going to see much in way of isolation. I don’t think we’re going to see too much two-man game, depending on situation."
The way the Kings execute the offense figures to change as well.
Karl recently brought in assistant coach Vance Walberg. The coach was working with the Philadelphia 76ers during the first part of the season and has an offensive-oriented approach. One of the areas both Walberg and Karl want to improve is the way the Kings space the court.
Karl also spoke about how the team will utilize a dribble-drive approach, similar to what the Phoenix Suns did with Steve Nash running the show.
The Team Is Still Adjusting
It's hard enough to adjust to a new coach when you have a full offseason and training camp to do it. It's an increasingly daunting task to do it midseason—especially when this is the third coach in the past six months.
Therefore, it stands to reason that adjusting to Karl won't happen overnight.
Part of that adjustment is how Karl will handle the rotation. We saw him tinker with the starting lineup in his first game, on Feb. 20 vs. the Celtics, moving Carl Landry in at the 4 and having Jason Thompson come off the bench. Thompson has since been restored to the starting lineup in the past two games.
Point guard is another area to watch. Although Karl has had Ray McCallum starting while Darren Collison is out with an injury, veteran Andre Miller, who was acquired from the Washington Wizards at the trade deadline, has been getting most of the late-game repetitions.
What's going to happen when Collison returns? It's unimaginable that a 38-year-old Miller becomes the starter, but will he take all of the minutes that were allocated to McCallum?
He and Karl have a history together, working together with Denver, and the coach mentioned to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee how Miller is a perfect fit for his system.
“Andre is not a fast player, but he runs my system really well,” Karl said. “It’s not necessarily fast-break basketball, but it’s more pace-and-energy basketball, smart-decision basketball, and Andre’s an expert at all that.”
As for Miller, he's having to adjust to increased playing time more than he's having to adjust to Karl. After averaging 12.4 minutes with the Washington Wizards prior to being traded to Sacramento, he's averaging 23.7 minutes with the Kings. As he told Jones:
"I’d say I haven’t played this many minutes since (playing for) George in Denver (in 2012-13). I think it’s him having a little bit of confidence in me and knowing I can still get up and down the court.
If Tim Duncan can do it, 25, 30 minutes a game, I can do it also.
"
George Karl's a Popular Man in Sacramento
The difference between where the Kings are now and where they were a couple of weeks ago is night and day—at least as far as the fans are concerned.
It had become a toxic situation in Sacramento.
Fans were still understandably angry over the front office's decision to fire Malone only 24 games into the season because it made no sense on so many levels.
The team's 11-13 record, especially in light of DeMarcus Cousins' absence over Malone's final nine contests, was better than anyone could've realistically expected. Fans would've moved past the coaching change had the franchise moved forward with a viable backup plan.
But that wasn't the case.
Instead of replacing the popular coach with a long-term solution, management put Corbin in an impossible situation when it named him head coach for the remainder of the season. The players were still upset over Malone's ouster and failed to get back on track, going 7-21 under Corbin.
The fans, upset with the lack of foresight and the lackluster play from the team, were ready for a change and openly welcomed Karl.
Sleep Train Arena was rocking when Karl walked onto the court for his first game against the Boston Celtics.
The ovation he received in pregame introductions was louder than any player and more impassioned than anything since opening night 2013-14, when owner Vivek Ranadive was celebrated for saving the Kings from Seattle.
In a town like Sacramento, where there's only one major sports franchise, fan support is everything. The Kings are known for their loyal fanbase, and having it back behind the team once again can't be overstated.
An Extended Training Camp
In the ridiculously competitive Western Conference, the ship has already sailed on making the playoffs. But that doesn't mean there's nothing to play for. It's quite the opposite, actually.
The last stretch of games can serve as an extended training camp for both Karl and the Kings. The coach needs to assess his personnel and figure out how to best utilize everybody—specifically guys like DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay and Ben McLemore who figure to be a part of the team's nucleus for a while.
As for the players, they can learn the coach's preferences. How does he want to align his rotation? What type of shots does he want to avoid? Does he want his defenders to take chances on forcing turnovers, or does he want them to stay home? Does he want Cousins extending his game to the three-point line?
Those are all little things the Kings can iron out between now and the end of the season. They'll have plenty of time to cover this stuff more thoroughly during training camp, but utilizing the stretch run will make that transition even easier.
Unless noted otherwise, all quotes obtained firsthand. All stats via Basketball-Reference.com or NBA.com and are current through games played on Feb. 25.
What do you think of Karl? Let me know on Twitter @SimRisso.
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