Sep 28, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings head coach George Karl with assistant coach Nancy Lieberman during media day at the Sacramento Kings practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
5) Buy Into A System
In sports, having a plan, implementing it and sticking to it, equals wins. Popovich has had the same system for years. Phil Jackson believed in the triangle offense and worked hard to make it extremely effective. George Karl has a system, and players and the front office have to buy into it for any of this to work.
This takes time, trust and a lot of work, but there is a reason the same coaches get hired over and over again. It is also why certain teams hold on to those coaches for multiple seasons. It’s only after a system is in place and working, that teams can then go searching free agency for “that one missing piece.”
Teams like the Kings seem to be in a perpetual state of rebuilding. What they want to ultimately do is to expunge the term “rebuilding year” from their vocabulary. An overall rule of thumb for all small market teams like Sacramento is, don’t copy what the big cities are doing.
They have the money and influence to always do it bigger, faster, better. The Kings need to play their own brand of basketball and force all those large market teams adjust to them.
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