The 2014-15 Sacramento Kings season began with so much promise. A 9-5 start had Sleep Train Arena buzzing. Everything was going right, until the bottom fell out in the blink of an eye.
That’s all it really takes for an NBA season to go south. An illness led to losses. Losses led to an opportunity to fire a coach. A coaching change lost the locker room and the season spun completely out of control.
We’ve had less than 24 hours to fully process an 82-game schedule, but the outcome of the season’s final two games gave the Kings 29 wins on the season. That’s not enough for the playoffs and it’s certainly not a dramatic improvement over past seasons, but it’s something to look at.
There is no question Sacramento could have won more games. We can point fingers and play the blame game later, but for now, we have a number.
What does 29 wins mean? It’s one more win than the Kings have had over the last six seasons. It’s one win short of a very low 30-win plateau. But it should give a glimmer of hope to fans.
Coaching changes
It’s strange that we have to pluralize a major change in a franchise’s internal structure. Rarely do you see a season broken up into thirds like this.
Michael Malone’s coaching tenure ended in mid-December with a 11-13 record. He had the team heading in the right direction, but an illness to DeMarcus Cousins began a downward spiral. Malone had his team playing hard. They had an identity of a knockdown, drag-out defensive team that led the league in free throw attempts.
From the outside, it may not have looked pretty, but Malone was the captain of the ship. He had Cousins and everyone else on the team pulling in one direction. His dismissal was shocking to everyone involved and it came during the team’s weakest stretch in the schedule. Malone had a .458 win percentage at the time he was relieved of duties. That translates to nearly 38 wins on the season and he had played without the services of Cousins for nine games (2-7).
Tyrone Corbin took over a team in shambles. Without Malone, the players took a step backwards. The result was a 7-21 record. As the losses snowballed, Corbin lost the room completely and the Kings had no choice but to make another change at the All-Star break. This isn’t an indictment on Corbin as much as it is an example of what changing the culture and chemistry of a team can do mid-season. The Kings players took a philosophical vacation on Corbin and the result was a .250 win percentage.
When George Karl stepped in, there was legitimate hope that he could reign in the team and improve the product on the floor. You could see some of Karl’s coaching traits shining through by the season’s end, but the team’s lack of depth and penchant for minor injuries proved its undoing. Karl finished the season 11-19 (.367 percent). His Midas touch couldn’t turn the fortunes of a team that even he admits was more broken than he initially thought.
Injuries
DeMarcus Cousins’ illness in December opened the door for Malone’s dismissal, but it also robbed the Kings of their best player for 10 games. Sacramento went just 2-8 in those contests and quickly fell out of playoff contention before the season could turn the new year.
Cousins missed a total of 23 games on the season due to injury and illness. The Kings were just 6-17 in the games he sat out, but he wasn’t the only Sacramento player to miss games this season.
Darren Collison played just 45 games this season. The Kings’ starting point guard missed 37 contests in total, including the final 34 with a core injury. Without their floor general, the Kings were just 12-25 on the season. Ray McCallum and Andre Miller did their best to fill the void, but Collison’s 16.1 points and 5.6 assists were nearly impossible to replace.
You can add Rudy Gay to the injured list as well. The smooth shooting wing missed a total of 14 games due to a handful of smaller injuries. Sacramento went 4-10 in those contests, but many of those were without both Cousins and Collison.
Teams have injuries, but the Kings’ three most productive players missed substantial time.
Conclusion
A cursory look at coaching changes and games missed due to injury make a 29-win season look slightly more promising. Karl is under contract for another three seasons with Sacramento, which should stabilize the franchise. It’s unlikely that we see another season with a three-headed coaching hydra.
Injuries are going to happen, but rarely do you see a team’s best three players go down for substantial time. The Kings weren’t deep enough to recover from the games missed. Sacramento was 13-19 with Cousins, Gay and Collison in the lineup overall, and 8-4 with all three under Malone.
This season wasn’t just about coaching snafus or injuries. The combination of both played a tremendous role in a 29-win season. There isn’t a formula that predicts what might have been, there is just too many variables.
What we do know is that the Kings somehow improved by a game despite chaos. It’s not something you hang your hat on, but it’s very possible that with a few different decisions and a little bit of luck, the Kings may have been substantially better.
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