Dave Joerger Is The Right Coach For The Sacramento Kings

History should not repeat itself. Does anyone remember when the Sacramento Kings fired Michael Malone which began the revolving coaching carousel that haunted the organization?

It never makes sense to fire a head coach when no good replacements are waiting in the wings. It is a knee-jerk reaction most of the time. The past has shown that the Sacramento Kings do not win more games with a midseason coaching change. If the Kings wanted to fire Dave Joerger, it should have been after last year when the young players were not showing the sort of improvement that was expected.

But this year, expectations have been made. With an improved defense along with a more efficient offense, the purple and white have doubled the number of wins that I predicted they would earn during this time of the season.

Kings Have A Solid Group. Period!

So far, the Kings have exceeded all expectations during this stage of the year. This squad is learning how to win as opposed to trying not to lose. Dave Joerger has the players seeing all the hard work pay off. Not only that, but these guys play for each other.

One cannot teach chemistry nor buy it either. A team can only achieve chemistry by building it as the players bond over time.  With the pieces of the Kings all working in unison, why mess with it?  Zach Randolph, Yogi Ferrell, and even Ben McLemore are cheering or mentoring their teammates.  This says a lot about the overall culture of the locker room.

Let us compare where the Kings rank this year and last year.

With Dave Joerger making it clear that he wants his team to play fast, the Kings are doing exactly that as they are ranked second in the league in pace factor. Last year, the Kings were ranked dead last in the category when the talk was cheap. Also, with the Kings being notorious as a bad defensive squad for the last decade, they have moved up to a respectable 18th place in defensive rating this year. Last season, the team was ranked 27th in the category.

Let us look at the biggest reason why the Kings are winning games. They are getting much more efficient scoring from players like Buddy Hield, De’Aaron Fox, and more. So far, three players are averaging 15 points or more a night for the Kings this season. Last season, zero players averaged that many points. More points being contributed by different players equals more wins for the Kings.

Dave Joerger Deserves Recognition

Instead of getting a pat on the back, Joerger gets stabbed by at least one person in the organization. It really does not matter who the source is. That is for upper management to deal with. Dave Joerger should deserve a lot of credit for bringing this team together and getting them to play above and beyond what was predicted.  If you compare this season’s play to last year, it is a night and day difference.

Joerger Is Here To Stay

Dave Joerger has his team playing like an orchestra. Everyone is in tune and singing the same song.  How sweet it is to listen to music. Joerger is the best coach for this collection of Sacramento Kings players. Do not believe everything you read because Joerger will not be going anywhere anytime soon. At least I hope that is not the case.