The Sacramento Kings have now lost six of the last seven games and according to reports, Vlade Divac and Vivek Ranadive were so pissed about the blowout loss to the Brooklyn Nets that they were strongly considering firing coach George Karl. "An overreaction to the loss" was how one league source involved in the conversations on Karl's job status described the organization's response late Friday night. He will probably last through Sunday when the Kings play in Boston, but this season has still been a disaster for Karl and the Kings.
Karl is losing support in the organization, especially with management expecting the team to go to the playoffs this season. Kings star DeMarcus Cousins seemed to indicate that the team's porous defense —- they allow the most points per game at 108.5 —- was a result of far more than the players' effort and execution, implying that coaching played a significant role in the struggles.
"I'm not going to keep blaming these guys in the locker room," Cousins told reporters in the locker room. "Energy and effort is a huge part of the game, but I'm not going to keep blaming it on that. We got a bigger issue, and we need to figure it out as a team."
The Kings are currently 21-29 and sitting in the tenth spot in the Western Conference. The Kings actually have the highest pace in the league —- that basically means they get the most possessions per game —- but don't play any sort of defense to help supplement that.
