Sacramento Kings Players Not Happy With Coach Keith Smart’s Rotations


As if Sacramento fans need any more problems—what with their favorite franchise possibly moving to Seattle and all that—now they have one more: it sounds like multiple players on the team are unhappy with the job Coach Keith Smart has been doing. Via Cowbell Kingdom: “Smart came into this season with the high hopes of putting the pieces together and not only has he failed to accomplish that, but he has been exposed for his obsessive tinkering and irrational rotation patterns. Smart’s decision-making has been called into question, and we aren’t just talking about his choice to play DeMarcus Cousins nine minutes on Friday night. ‘It’s just tough as a player,’ starting point guard Isaiah Thomas said following Friday night’s loss to the Mavericks.  “I always say that when you have inconsistent minutes, you’re going to have inconsistent production.’ ‘It’s nothing we can control,’ Thomas continued. ‘It’s how coach Smart likes to coach and you just got to go with it and always be ready at all times, because you never really know when you’re going to go in the game or come out.’ … Players come in and out of the rotation, never knowing exactly when they will play substantial minutes or who they may be paired with on the floor. For most, it is unnerving. ‘A little bit, it’s a little frustrating,’ Tyreke Evans said when asked if Smart’s rotations were wearing on him. ‘Everybody’s frustrated.  This is the NBA and when the rotation don’t go right for us, we’ve got to be professional. We’ve got to learn to hear our coach. If he don’t make the right subs with somebody, you can’t be mad.  Whoever’s out there just got to work.'”