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Now that the Sacramento Kings have officially hired George Karl as their new head coach, the team will be expected to turn their season around and set themselves up for future success. While most of the initial reaction is that Karl is a good hire for the Kings (which he is), whether or not he is ultimately successful in Sacramento will come down to how well he and DeMarcus Cousins can work together.
Karl prefers his teams to play at a faster pace and places heavy emphasis on ball movement. That should come as welcome news to the Kings, who have athletes like Rudy Gay, Darren Collison, and Ben McLemore who can get out in transition and get to the rim. Karl relies on floor spacing and smart, quick passing, which the Kings have struggled with. Sacramento currently ranks dead last in the NBA in assists, 29th in three pointers made per game, and 26th in three point shooting percentage. The team also ranks 19th in offensive efficiency, something Karl should help improve.
However, the Kings have the absurdly talented Cousins at center, who is averaging 23.8 PPG and 12.5 RPG with a 24.27 PER. Karl has never had a big man like Cousins, and is going to have to adapt his offense to revolve around the Kings’ young star. Cousins’ 31.3 usage rate is the fifth highest in the league, and that’s not something that should change much if the Kings want to win.
The best coaches adapt their systems to fit the talent they have, and Karl is not as married to his ideas as some coaches. However, there will still be an adjustment period as he learns what it’s like to have the center be by far the best player on the team. Karl should be able to figure things out, but it will take some time and probably some growing pains.
For his part, Cousins is going to have to make some adjustments as well. His shot count may slip at little bit if the Kings play at a faster pace and get out on the break more, something that can’t impact his attitude or effort. More importantly, Cousins is going to have to step up his game at the defensive end of the court.
Like most coaches who want to play fast, Karl believes in pressure defense with high effort, an area where Cousins is improving but still has work to do. Cousins is averaging a career high 1.7 BPG this year and according to SportVU is only allowing opponents to shoot 48.3% at the rim, a number that is slightly higher than the likes of Anthony Davis, Marc Gasol, and DeAndre Jordan. Although he’s playing closer to his abilities defensively, Cousins is still prone to some of the mental lapses that plagued him early in his career. That won’t fly with Karl, who has reputation of being hard on his players.
Both Karl and Cousins are capable of adapting to succeed with the other, but that doesn’t count for anything until they actually do it. If these two can build a successful working relationship, the Kings could be set up for quite a bit of success. If they can’t, Karl will be the latest in a long line of failed Kings’ head coaches.
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