![\"Karl_opening_night\"](\"http:\/\/cowbellkingdom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Karl_opening_night.jpg\")
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Stability in head coaching is one of the most underrated keys to success in professional sports. \u00a0Shuffling through eight coaches in nine seasons is a recipe for disaster, and if you don\u2019t believe that, then look no further than the Kings’ 234-459 record over that time.<\/p>\n
While the Pittsburgh Steelers have had just three head coaches since 1969, the Kings have pumped through three in the 2014-15 season, and there are still 29 games remaining. \u00a0Good hires, bad hires, they all run together now in a sea of ever-changing ideas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think stability is incredibly invaluable in sports and you study the franchises that have belief in stability and see their success and then you study the franchises that have tried this other system and their failure – stability works,\u201d new head coach George Karl said following his introductory press conference this week.<\/p>\n
Sacramento has had a long history of swapping out its leader. \u00a0Outside of the Rick Adelman era, only Garry St. Jean coached more than four seasons in the team\u2019s 30-year stint in the capital city. \u00a0Sixteen head head coaches in 30 years tells you almost everything you need to know about the team\u2019s tenure in Sacramento.<\/p>\n
Take away the brilliant eight-year run by Adelman and the Kings don\u2019t even have a winning season you can point to. That’s 22 seasons of sub-.500 ball.<\/p>\n
For players, it\u2019s brutal. \u00a0Jason Thompson has seen six coaches go in his seventh seasons in the league. \u00a0Newly hired George Karl is the seventh frontman with whom he has to build a relationship in as many years.<\/p>\n
The inconsistency has stymied the growth of one of the franchise\u2019s longest-tenured players. \u00a0How would you like to start over with a new boss, a new system and new competition every year on the job?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not easy,\u201d Thompson told Cowbell Kingdom<\/i>. \u00a0\u201cIt takes a lot of talking to people, veteran guys to try and get through it. \u00a0You try to be as professional as possible, because you know with a new system – offensively, defensively, the coach is going to look at the player differently than they may have with other coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the easiest, but you\u2019ve got to play through that and learn each time,\u201d Thompson added.<\/p>\n
With George Karl, the Kings are trying to give Thompson and his teammates something they have never had. \u00a0He is the first coach with a realistic opportunity to coach out a four-year contract and, if his health holds, maybe even more.<\/p>\n
In his last three stops, Karl has stayed a minimum of six seasons. \u00a0Despite being labeled as a hard man to get along with, he has found a way to capture locker room after locker room.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically, I\u2019m kind of proud that I made it seven years in Seattle, six years in Milwaukee and nine years in Denver,\u201d Karl said earlier in the week. \u00a0\u201cThere\u2019s a stability that doesn\u2019t exist very much. \u00a0I think stability comes from the coach, kind of being at least sane.\u201d<\/p>\n
If it\u2019s going to work in Sacramento, ownership and management need to take a bit of a step back and give Karl room to breathe. \u00a0General manager Pete D\u2019Alessandro and his team worked with Karl in Denver. \u00a0Not only do they know his process, but they know what types of players he needs to make it work. \u00a0Synergy between coach and management appears obtainable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think you can win a championship in this league unless you have a unified organization as much as you have a unified basketball team,\u201d Karl said. \u00a0\u201cWith Pete, Mike (Bratz), Vivek (Ranadiv\u00e9), I think we have a chance to not only be unified, but a very very trusting organization with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
In their final season together with the Nuggets, Karl, D\u2019Alessandro and Bratz helped lead Denver to a 57-25 record. \u00a0But that wasn\u2019t enough to keep the band together. \u00a0Karl was let go, while D\u2019Alessandro and Bratz took positions in Sacramento.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the organization didn\u2019t understand is that the connection that team had was very, very important, because we liked each other, we trusted each other, we worked hard together with each other and the gym was a fun place to be,\u201d Karl said. \u00a0\u201cWe weren\u2019t afraid. \u00a0They threw that out thinking another coach is going to come in and play it right in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The results have been disastrous for the Nuggets. After Karl ran up a 423-249 record over eight-plus seasons in Denver, Brian Shaw has gone just 56-80 in a season and a half as his replacement. \u00a0The Nuggets have gone from perennial playoff contender to seller at the trade deadline.<\/p>\n
Sacramento\u00a0is hoping that George Karl is the guy to finally stabilize the coaching carousel for the Kings. His four-year, $15 million deal says that he is planning to stick around, at least for a while.<\/p>\n
After Friday\u2019s win over the Celtics, Karl is just 203 wins away from Don Nelson\u2019s all-time mark of 1,335 regular-season wins. \u00a0If the veteran coach can get traction with this group of players in Sacramento, don\u2019t be shocked if he sticks around long enough to steal away the record.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
George Karl looks to solidify Kings long-term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[610259261],"tags":[706946,610259429,610259433,610259428,76563,6368103],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n