If the firing of Kings head coach Michael Malone surprised you, like it did most of us, then you had to wonder what the Kings were thinking, right? Well, as of right now, nobody really knows what the Kings' plans are. Interim head coach Tyrone Corbin started his adventure leading the Kings in a 104-92 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The firing comes at a surprise, not because the Kings went on stretch losing 6 of 8, but because DeMarcus Cousins was out for all of the games recovering from viral meningitis. In an interview during the day, Cousins didn't seem happy about the firing. Which he shouldn't be. The Kings really need a plan if they want to keep their core in Sacramento. If management gets on Cousins' bad side, it would be detrimental.
"These guys showed a lot of fight when they've faced a lot stuff in the last couple of days," Corbin said. "They came out against a great team and had a chance to win the ballgame."
"It's tough on both sides," Gay said. "It's tough for the coaches and for the players. ... It's a new system, and it's gonna take time. We've had one practice and a shootaround."
The Kings fall to 11-14 on the year now, and really don't look like they can improve dramatically for an 8th seed. The hype was fun while it lasted, but the Thunder are showing that injuries were the only thing holding them back. Oklahoma City started 3-12 but now sit at 12-13 and a fierce team to compete against.
"Defensively, I think we've been locking in," said Durant. "We have little spurts where we're bad, but overall I think we did a good job in playing defense."
This Kings squad really shouldn't be judged based on their games without their best player, but at the moment all you see is that below .500 curse starting to appear.