Anybody familiar with Bench Blob from Sactown Royalty? Wise words from him here. Had to copy and paste. The GM did not expect a crisis. He expected Dubs 2.0. He expected the team would take off with the shackles removed. The ghost of Dick Motta has been removed from the building. His focus was not on how well the team played with DeMarcus (9-6), but how poorly they were without him (2-18). But he miscalculated. He knows it, we know it, but he cannot admit so publicly or he comes across as weak. You cannot be perceived as weak to regain trust. You cannot fault him for holding to his convictions, while privately fretting over the fallout. He underestimated the intangible qualities of his former coach, and overestimated the leadership skills of his three best players. A void was created with the firing of Malone, and no one was left to fill it. Darren said yesterday that team morale doesn’t matter. This is maybe not a guy with the best sense of the collective pulse, or the foggiest clue what to do about it. Darren has played well this season, but he’s not a prototypical leader. Rudy does not qualify either. He is too laid back. He does not have a forceful enough of a personality to take charge. He is too smooth to crack skulls. Boogie can be the guy, but he’s not there yet. For a guy from a single home family, raised by his Mom, without a father in his life, he just lost a pseudo father figure. He misses his coach and it shows through increase in emotional outburst. A leader does not lead by lacking of emotional restraint. He controls his passion. Boogie does not win trust of his teammates by getting repeatedly bent out of shape over perceived injustice by the refs. Teammates want a leader who rises above adversity, not someone who wallows and whines in it. So the Kings are 0 for 3 among top players on the leadership front. The other guys don’t produce enough to qualify as candidates. Omri has the personality of a leader, but he suffered knee contusion around time the front office suffered a brain contusion. His loss of energy and selflessness has been underestimated. This leads us to Corbin as potential leader, the guy Pete met through the guy he fired. A head coach makes his mark by being an Xs and Os strategist, or as a master motivator, inspiring his players to run through walls and double screens. Corbin is neither of these. For a coach to do more than keep his seat warm until his replacement is found, he needs to offer strategic or inspirational advantage. Corbin has not shown to be adept at managing games or personalities. He is a non-entity as tactician and communicator. That doesn’t make him a bad guy. It does mean he’s not a legitimate head coach. Pete wants you to believe otherwise. Its bullshit. If he thinks Corbin is the man long term, he is fooling no one but himself. There’s something tragic about Corbin. He has the look of jaded resignation, someone who has been through the mill one too many times. The boot cast doesn’t help. Players don’t respond to a coach who is beat down. They need someone to lift them up. Of course, they had that guy, but he was too philosophically different and buddy-buddy. The players view Corbin as head coach in name only. He’s an assistant playing a role. He’s a guy in a suit and tie who may as well be wearing a dress. He’s a placeholder. He’s no one to be taken seriously. The loss of a capable head coach was compounded by the fact is that his replacement does not do excel when it comes calling plays, inspiring players, or gaining respect. If we are to believe in the plan, which is a non-plan, it is to give chance to interim head coach on a non-interim basis. The support of Corbin comes with two hands on a rug underneath his feet. I suggest they yank now. JT was a DNP-CD against the Celts. Two games ago he played off the bench. Last night he starts. In sitting him, it was fair to say the team needed to try a new rotational dynamic. JT earned a spot on the bench to sit, stew and contemplate the meaning of a box out. But this glorious decision was willfully reversed. The lack of conviction was comical. The Pistons frontline of Dre and Moose can be countered with size. But Dre is not a low post threat. He’s a lob finisher. His post moves are awkward. Neither of those guys wants to defend away from the hoop. D-Will scored 17 against the Wolves in his first start of the season. The spacing with him on the floor with Rudy and Cousins was refreshing. D-Will deserved a chance to follow-up his effort. The other starters deserved chance to explore new chemistry with new running mate. By giving nod to D-Will, Corbin could have implicitly stated to team and opponent, we are not going to worry about matching up with the other guy, you are going to have to worry about matching up with us! The strategy to start D-Will against the Pistons would have been one of attack. The strategy to start JT was one of retreat. When you are trying to break out of a funk, you don’t move forward by turning around. You don’t win by playing not to lose. Malone is gone. Corbin is in charge. Pete is going to get this right, or play smug trying. May the basketball gods bless this team in 2015. At this point, divine intervention seems warranted. Until next time friends, Blob out.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 22:28:49 +0000