Fire Westphal Now

Why Westphal Should Be Fired NOW.

Reason #1: The City AND the Kings are running out of precious time.

Arena Deal: Regardless of the coach, or even the Kings’ win-loss record, Sacramento needs excitement around the Kings. We had MAJOR excitement here for one day: the opening night "Blackout" win vs. the Lakers. Since then, it’s been doomsday among Sactown fans.

After Saturday’s home loss to the Knicks, fans cried “We can’t even beat an Amare-less Knicks team!”
After Sunday’s home win against the Hornets, Kings fans moaned “Big deal. The Hornets are rebuilding and their leading scorer is Kings cast-off Carl Landry.”

The excitement is gone. Time to bolster something. Give the fans something to be excited about. It’s not gonna be a new player or a big trade. The Kings won't suddenly start winning with a new player. Something must happen to change the atmosphere around the Kings: time for a new coach, now.

Shortened Season, Still Time to Come Back: Westphal’s public reason for the Kings’ woes is that his players aren’t following, or haven’t yet learned, his system. If the players haven’t learned your system yet, they might as well learn a system that works - with a coach that wins. The season just started, the Kings can still make a run for the playoffs!

Shortened Season, Utilize Our Youth: The Kings are the youngest team in the NBA. Though inexperience leads to growing pains, the compressed season has older players griping across the league. This is the Kings' year to rise. But with negative attitudes, negative vibes, and negative outcomes, this young team is getting old very fast.

Mutiny on the Horizon: Anyone who’s worked in an office, a restaurant, or on a team knows that cancer spreads. DeMarcus Cousins has opened the door for cancer. His trade demand stems from disagreements with the coach. Whether or not the other Kings admit it, they’re probably blaming Westphal, too. I doubt that Tyreke Evans enjoys being constantly criticized by the media for doing what Westphal tells him. Nor does he like Westphal publicly blaming his lack of effort.

It’s only a matter of time before Cousins’ cancer spreads and the season is lost. Cut Westphal now and hire a "players’ coach", or else fans may blame Petrie for moving the Kings to Anaheim.

Reason #2: He’s not managing players well.

You may say that there’s no way I know that Westphal isn't coaching right. After all, I am not in the locker room. But Cousins’ outburst is, as Westphal put it, “the tip of the iceberg”. Numbers can prove Westphal’s mismanagement.

Westphal is not getting the most out of his players: Rick Adelman got this most out of his players. That was proven once the Kings let go of them. Chris Webber, Peja, Scot Pollard, Vlade, Doug Christie, J-Will, Mike Bibby, and the list goes on. Each one of those Adelman players went down 10 notches after leaving Adelman. That’s because Adelman gets the most out of his players.

Westphal is getting the least out of his players. Cousins can do better. Tyreke could be more consistent. So far, even Westphal’s new players are underachieving. Rookie Jimmer Fredette is shooting near 35% (25% 3pts) this season. He shot 45% (40% 3pts) in college. Yeah, a rookie should have a learning curve. But a 10-15% difference in shooting? No, that’s abnormal. Westphal is not using Jimmer correctly.

Chuck Hayes played fewer minutes per game last year with Adelman in Houston, and he scored more and had more assists per game. Hayes is also shooting 39% from the field, the second lowest of his career. Westphal is not using Chuck Hayes correctly.

John Salmons averaged around 15 points per game over the last 6 years. This year, his first with Westphal, he is averaging 9 points per game. Salmons is averaging 1.6 assists per game, the lowest of his career (discounting his 5-minutes-per-game rookie season). Salmons is shooting 38% this season from the field, the lowest of his career. Westphal is not using Salmons correctly.

J.J. Hickson’s field goal percentage is at a career low, as are his rebounding and his points per game. Westphal is not using Hickson correctly.

Tyreke Evans is scoring fewer points and averaging half the assists of his last two seasons. Westphal is not using Evans correctly.

So, Westphal’s offense is supposed to work, huh? I haven’t seen it. Even Demarcus’s FG% and PPG are lower than last year.

So, if every King’s FG% is at a career low (nearly true), and their FT% is obviously lower, what’s the problem? Not the shortened season. The Kings have the 3^rd lowest FG% in the NBA, whoch means the shortened "training camp" did not affect 27 other NBA teams. The Kings have the lowest FT% in the league and by far the largest point difference per game in the league. Those are undeniable numbers. You cannot say EVERY King is coincidentally underperforming. There is one common denominator. It’s either the uniforms, or it’s the coach. Sack Westphal.

Westphal is not building unity: The Kings are proving it on the court. Their team defense lacks. On-court chemistry doesn’t exist. Marcus Thornton and Chuck Hayes were seen bickering on the court in Tuesday night’s loss at Memphis.

It is the coach, not the players, who needs to build unity. Whether by becoming the enemy or by building friendships, Westphal’s job is to subtly get his players to play together. He is failing. He failed to build chemistry last year. He failed the year before. He failed in his final season with the Sonics in 2000. Westphal took 8 years off from coaching prior to taking the Kings job. It’s clear he lost his touch.

Reason #3: We can’t go any lower!

I am always against coaching changes during a season. But this one MUST HAPPEN. Midseason coaching changes often result in poor performance. The Kings canned Reggie Theus after a 6-18 start. Kenny Natt finished the season at the bench with an 11-47 record, combining for the worst season in Kings history.

Honestly, that was a terrible team. Only Francisco Garcia remains from that 17-win season. These Kings are newer, better, more talented players. Westphal had a 25-win season, then a 24-win season. Both of those records are lower than Eric Musselman's and Reggie Theus's totals. This year's team is an incredibly talented Kings team, but they’ve got the same sub-par coach as the last two seasons. ANY OTHER HUMAN, EVEN A DOG, COULD GET THE KINGS TO ANOTHER 29% WIN SEASON. This team is headed that direction with Westphal. This team is talented enough to at least finish with a 40% winning percentage WITHOUT A COACH!

It does not matter who the Kings new coach is. It can be a man without a plan. Musselman did better with less. Theus did better with less.

To build excitement, to give the Kings a chance to turn the season around, to keep the Kings from complete mutiny and disaster, to save the Kings and keep them in Sacramento, we need to get rid of Westphal.

Blog #3: NBA Should Change Season Dates

Changing Seasons

Guest blogger Ryan Rowbury explains how a December-July NBA season could benefit the NBA, MLS, NFL, NHL, ESPN, and sports fans in general. I think he’s right. What say you?

NBA millionaires are putting an already shortened NBA season in jeopardy just to fight over a small percentage of money. Stupid, I know. But if they're smart, they’ll act dumb just a little longer.

Nobody blink. This multimillion dollar staring contest called the NBA lockout will benefit all parties involved, if they play their cards right. Imagine if the NBA season started in December, and you don’t sacrifice any part of the full 82-game season. Wouldn’t you do it? As an NBA fan, I would, but I wouldn’t stop there. The NBA needs to dump the current season format and permanently adopt a December through July schedule.

You may have noticed that the impact of the lockout has hardly negatively affected anyone this fall other than the hardcore basketball fanatic. You know who you are. But who cares? we are all still busy with football, right? Even NBA superstars like Kevin Durant and LeBron James have made recent headlines showcasing their football endeavors.

In fact, a recent poll showed that only 12% of Americans even miss the NBA right now.

Football season dominates television ratings in the fall, not the NBA. Look back two days to find a prime example: Nov. 5, 2011. On a day that the New Orleans Hornets were slated to take on the Sacramento Kings, LSU played Alabama in a showdown between the nation’s top two college football teams. Which sporting event do you think would dominate local TV ratings in Louisiana? It’s safe to bet the LSU-Bama game would out-rate the Kings in Sacramento. For two weeks, all the major national media outlets took their shots at predicting and debating the eventual victor of the LSU-Bama game. For that night, and the weeks preceding, a single college football game consumed casual sports fans and made the NBA a mere afterthought.

That’s just one example. Don’t get me started on college football’s big brother, the NFL. Weekends in the fall are saturated with football viewership and that trend is not losing speed.

Casual sports fans just aren’t interested in basketball during this time of year yet. This undoubtedly kills the NBA when negotiating television contracts because a quarter of the NBA season is overshadowed by football. That hurts the exposure of the NBA. Even a two-time community college dropout can figure that out.

Speaking of community college dropouts, did you know that Major League Soccer was founded by one? Okay, maybe it wasn’t. But still, it is hard for me to argue soccer as a legitimized professional sport in the U.S. without that argument being laced with sarcasm. So hear me out. Soccer is the largest sport in the world and is finally a growing sport in the U.S.

Thanks to our NBA friends at the negotiating table, the MLS is currently stealing a (slightly) larger piece of the national exposure pie.

Why not let this happen every year during the MLS playoffs in November? The NBA already loses their fans to football (even more this year because of the current lockout). If anything, it’d hurt the NFL. Oh wait, nothing hurts the NFL except head-to-head contact and fines touchdown celebrations.

Anyway, here’s what should happen. David Stern should gift wrap the month of November to the MLS with a shiny bow. It’s a crucial month that inhibits the growth and exposure for the NBA. Plus, Major League Soccer will never be as popular as other professional sports in the U.S. Thus being exactly why they could benefit from a growth spurt provided by the NBA.

Delaying the start of the NBA season until December doesn’t just benefit other leagues. Basketball would still dominate television ratings on its showcase holiday – Christmas. This is also the same time of year that college football winds down and NBA ratings begin to spike. Now the regular season begins with increased exposure AND holiday cheer.

What happens with the NBA Finals you ask? They are no longer shared with the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs! It never made sense to have the two at the same time anyway.

An NBA Championship in July has another majorly overlooked advantage. Sports fans: have you ever heard of “the dog days of summer”? Can we please shorten it? Sorry, baseball lovers. Seriously though, think back and recall the same recycled sports topics that the “experts” debate on SportCenter around every July.

Here are some examples:

“Baseball: Only 90 games left!” Awesome.

“Will this be the month that Tiger Woods finally wins another tournament?” Yawn.

“How much is Terrell Owens bench pressing in his backyard? Our helicopters can find out!”

Every 4 years, “Why are Kenyans so good at running?!” and “Why is speed walking an Olympic sport?” Valid questions.

Every morning in the summer, SportsCenter anchors skip baseball headlines entirely and debate who will play in the Super Bowl next February. No one cares. Football doesn’t matter in July, but basketball should. Our culture needs more relevant sports news at the end of July and the NBA is primed to fill that void this year.

Ultimately, we know the NBA (and the greedy millionaires at the helm) will not make this change or end the lockout for its fans, the NHL, MLS, or anyone else. They won’t even get serious about the lockout to save the millions of dollars they are losing every week by not playing basketball – the same millions they are currently fighting over.

So if it hasn’t been made clear already, let me reword my thoughts for those at the top of the NBA food chain. Not only does this simple solution save the current NBA season, but it also gives the owners, players, and league officials financial security and exposure for years to come.

So there you go. Have your cake and eat it, too. Reluctantly taste a slice of humble pie, end the lockout, and start the regular season in December. Forever. The ball is in your court.