The Sacramento Kings dropped to 5-16 Sunday in a loss to the Utah Jazz. After the game, there were a few noteworthy comments made by Doug Christie and Malik Monk.
Let’s start with what Christie had to say about Maxime Raynaud. The rookie had his hands full against Zach Edey, as did the rest of the team, but he played with heart (as he always does) and you can see his development happening as the season goes on. Christie was asked following the game if with Domantas Sabonis continuing to be out with an injury if the rookie might get more minutes. Here is what he had to say:
“Yeah, absolutely, I think Max has done a great job. He comes in, he’s highly attentive to the game plan, trying to execute the game plan at a high level. Understanding, he communicates really well. But he’s a young player so when it comes to leverage and physicality and some different things that he is learning right before our very eyes that can be tough, especially with a big guy like Zach Edey and Jaren Jackson Jr. These guys are huge, but he’s beginning to hold his own and you can see that the game is slowing down for him so as it slows down and he continues to improve his minutes are going to go up for sure.”
Raynaud is averaging 6.2 points (47% from the field), 3.5 rebounds, .7 assists, and .4 blocks in 14.5 minutes per game.
After the Kings failed to hold off the Grizzlies down the stretch, Monk was asked about what went wrong. He mentioned a lack of ball movement.
“We were playing too much one on one instead of trying to find the matchup, swing, and then drive-kick. I feel like the ball just stayed, and I played a little part in that too, but yeah it just stuck too much,” he said.
And when asked how to fix that he paused a bit and then said: “Pass the ball. Simple as that. Easier said than done though. A lot of guys have been in the league for a long time, been making shots, making plays for a long time so we’ve just got to figure out when to take the shots or when to play off each other.”
Careful wording there, but interesting comment.
From 4:51 on in the fourth quarter (in a one-point game), this was the Kings offense:
- Zach LaVine misses running pullup jump shot
- Zach Edey blocks Keegan Murray ‘s 7-foot layup
- Maxime Raynaud misses 24-foot three point jumper
- Malik Monk misses 14-foot two point shot
- Malik Monk misses 27-foot three point step back jumpshot
- Zach LaVine misses 19-foot pullup jump shot
- Keegan Murray makes free throw 1 of 2
- Keegan Murray misses free throw 2 of 2
- Maxime Raynaud misses free throw 1 of 2
- Maxime Raynaud makes free throw 2 of 2
- Maxime Raynaud makes 3-foot driving floating jump shot
- Zach Edey blocks Maxime Raynaud ‘s 5-foot two point shot
- DeMar DeRozan misses 27-foot three point pullup jump shot
So, an offensive collapse there. Monk was right to call himself out as part of it, but LaVine and DeRozan are part of it also. Murray got one attempt and a set of free throws, and Raynaud has never been in that crunch time situation before on an NBA court (and was the only one who made a shot).
Anyway, on to the next.
Sure, more and quicker passing would be nice…but it’s the lack of capable defenders on the roster (Murray & Ellis excluded – throw in Nique and Precious if you want) that will prevent this team from winning on a consistent basis.
well, that’s the bigger part of it, I agree.
Gotta get stops. They don’t.
Gotta rebound the basketball. They don’t. (Memphis 52 Sac 34)
Other issues: Make your damn free throws (an ongoing problem). Shot 29.4% from the 3.
On the plus: 4th least in Turnovers
Reading Monk’s comments makes me wonder why there hasn’t been a “players only” meeting. Maybe the locker room is just too far gone?
Vivek won’t allow it.
Hasn’t this kind of been the whole issue since DDR arrived, and gotten much worse with Lavine?
Kings employees say lots of things.
Nice dig at Kayte.
The offensive lapse is because there is no off ball movement. Kings offense is very predictable in the half court. High pick, dribble handoff, drive downhill or stepback 3. Poor 3 point shooting leads to defensive rebounds and fast break points by opponents.
Whoever the offense assistant coach is should be fired.
Read and react = stand around and go one on one.
This team needs plays. When you put a bunch of shoot first their whole life guys in a “read and react” offense they will shoot first.
It’s on Doug. He’s the one allowing the vets to play to their tendencies. He’s the one giving them 35+ minutes a night. He’s the one that would be no where near the head coaching seat for the other 29 NBA teams.
I struggle with your take when I consider the laughable idea that any coach would get much better results with this shit sandwich of a roster and FO environment.
I would take DC over LeBron’s Podcast co-host or JKidd, or that guy in Memphis, the Hornets coach, Darvin Hamm, and so many other questionable coaching hires. Give the Podcaster LaVine and DeRozan and see how good his record is.
Point is, a good chef is only as good as his ingredients. LaVine is spoiled and DeRozan is like Saffron, it only has so many applications where its required these days, much less is acceptable. But sure, this is all coach’s fault cuz you’re tired of “legacy” hires. Seems like a lazy take. But then, so does “this is Vivek’s fault” at this point so really what are we even doing here? The deck chairs are fkn floating at this point.
Common denominators of this losing franchise:
Vivek Ranadive
Matina Kolokotronis
Bad decision makers making bad decisions, time and again. Is Doug Christie a “bad” coach? Too difficult to tell. I know that Rick Carlisle and Ty Lue are considered upper tier Head Coaches and their squads have same or worse records than Sacramento. To Adamsite’s point, and he can speak for himself, I can’t imagine any other franchise in The Association that would have hired DC as their Top Coach. Not a single one.
Does that make him “bad”. No, it does not. But it does make the decision to hire him, with the current record, a reasonable claim. Coaches are judged by wins and losses. Being in the bottom of the League in wins, makes DC “bad” most likely, but you can stretch that to unproven, if you want to be generous. I would also say that Jordan Ott, JB Bickerstaff and (Donny) Darko Rajakovic as doing a great deal of winning with “less talent”.
In summary: Is Doug Christie a bad coach? He’s not good enough, that’s for sure, and until he wins – Yes, he gets that label. And unless that changes, this will be his last Head Coaching job in the NBA.
And 1:
This is the same organization that fired Michael Malone, Dave Joerger, Alvin Gentry, George Karl and Mike Brown. They weren’t good enough.
But Doug Christie is?
A coach like Spols, Kerr, Carlisle, Pops, etc. wouldn’t put up with the total lack of team play and defense of some of these Kings vets. They’d sit their asses down. All of those named coaches wouldn’t be sitting Keon.
Ohhhh, its a Keon thing. Got it.
Well, every one of those named coaches has the undisputed trust of their GMs and owners to implement their system and hold their players accountable as they see fit. Must be nice!
In the list of things wrong with the Kings this season Doug doesn’t even break the top 10.
Doug is definitely in the top 10. He’s simply not an NBA coach, in the same notion that Vlade is not an NBA GM. They took the job, are shitty at it, and so they share in the blame.
OT: Amick over at the Athletic says the Kings are still “monitoring” the Ja Morant situation. Memphis is 5-4 without Ja and 4-8 with him. DO NOT WANT.
Bulls better without Zach and DDR, Memphis better without Ja, ATL better without Trae. Let’s collect the whole set!
All the score first, one-way players are on the out in today’s NBA. Two-way unselfish wings with length is where it is at.
PHX better without Durant and Beal as well.
Unfortunately the AAU system breads score first one-way players.
Yup, and I think that is evidenced by the number of international players that are winning MVP and All-NBA awards these days. They grew up playing different than the American youth system.
Yup.
Deni Avdija early favorite for MIP.
I look and Deni and Jalen Johnson in ATL and think…Keegan could be next. All are of similar build and style of play. Their career arcs are quite similar as well. Kings just need to clear a path for Keegan.
Josh Giddey
Jalen Duren
Ryan Rollins
Keyonte George
Ajay Mitchell
and after Sunday’s game… throw in Zach Edey as well.
Some wonderful talent in this NBA season. Less than two weeks now until Monday, December 15th, when trade season opens. It is then 55 days until February 8th, 2026 and the trade deadline.
As a long time
KingsKangz fan, I both look forward to trade season and some new talent and some glimmer of hope or at least a new face to look at, and the fear as to how badly the franchise will be roasted by another club’s GM. The only exception was the tenure of Monte McNair, which was more of a, will he do anything, anything at all trade (and off) season worry. I don’t have good feelings about the Perry/Armstrong GM abilities at this time.How awesome would it be if the Kings were able to land some long term piece that was a throw or after thought in to a larger deal. Someone like Jaylon Tyson or Craig Porter Jr. from Cleveland, orTerrance Shannon or Rob Dillingham from Minny. All those dudes look like they could be something but are stuck on the bench on contenders. I mean, OKC is sitting on Thomas Sorber and Nikola Topic (both injured) but were lottery picks!
Play the young guys all.the.time. Lavine can stay in OC and collect Vivek’s money from his couch for all I care.
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We still don’t like him.
Obligatory Zion injury for the season.
The Big Teasey.
Giannis also deleted all Bucks related posts/stories on X and Instagram, after they lost to the freaking Wizards. Giannis to Kangz confirmed!
Adam Silver will make sure he ends up a Laker somehow.
If Giannis wants out, the Spurs have all kinds of assets to land him and be scary good for a number of years.
It must be from losing weight and taking better care of himself.
First, I want to commend the writers on this page. Gosh, what a horrible season to be a writer for this team, and, yet, here you all are, producing content in a pretty tough environment. I admire what you do and how you do it. I get to log in and write only when I feel like. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to have the obligation. My hat is off to all of you.
Speaking of writing, it’s been a while, and I’m never prolific. Mostly took the summer off, in large part because I was more optimistic about the upcoming season then most here. Boy was I wrong. In my defense, most of my optimism started with “if Domas and Keegan stay healthy and they can move DDR”. Fast forward, and Domas and Keegan haven’t played a game together, and, dear god, DDR is still with us. What a shit storm.
Yet….yet…I still see the potential of some decent basketball in this team. To be clear, they are literally unwatchable right now (even in the worst years of Kings basketball I stuck with it at least until Christmas-I gave up this year after the first three games, mostly following here). Horrible. But…but…
It all hinges, though, on moving or benching DDR. Or deciding on giving the old man lots of “rest”.
Now, this team is not winning a championship, and it dug a hole so deep the play in may be out of reach, but at the same time, there’s a lot of suckitude in the league right now, and tanking the year many not get you that high draft pick many covet. (that suckitude, BTW, means when Domas comes back, the kings will win more games than many here would like in spite of themselves).
For me, I enjoy watchable relevant basketball from a team that enjoys playing the game, win or lose. This team hasn’t enjoyed a minute of basketball since they stepped out on the court with DeRozen, and the demarcation point is very clear to me. A championship would be awesome, but I’m just looking to enjoy the distraction of Kings basketball.
But this team can no longer be watched.
Change something. Now.
PS. This is going to be an unpopular take….I LOVE Keon Ellis. But his key stat is 190. He weighs 190 pounds, and stands six four. Unless he’s a starting caliber point guard, his future tops out at about a seventh man on a decent team. 190 is the reason he doesn’t play more, combined with the fact that he’s not a point guard. There are just too many players in the NBA that he can’t really guard at that weight. He is a specific type of role player, and always will be. Again, one of my favorite players on the team, but if he’s the key to getting a starting caliber player at 6’7″ or taller and, say 210 pounds or heavier, I’m doing that in a heartbeat. I’m not a Kuminga fan, but I would have done that if that’s what it took.
To your point on Keon’s size. Patrick Beverly was 6’2″ and weighted 180. He also made 3 All-NBA defensive teams and couldn’t shoot as well as Keon. Pat Bev started for 518 out of his 666 career games.
If Pat Bev can notch out that kind of career and role, then so can Keon.
Fair point on Pat Bev. And there are other examples of small players who could guard well, but they are all (that I can think of), like Beverly, point guards. I think we’ve all watched Keon long enough that we know he’s never going to able to play even meaningful minutes as a back up point guard. This limits his value. On the right team, with the exact right role to fill, he’s going to be awesome. But the Kings as constructed currently have just too many holes to fill, and he just doesn’t fill enough of them. On top of that, we have Devin Carter behind him, who plays the disrupter on defense pretty well. Yeah, he’s got work to do on the 3, but he has time to still grow into that. Mostly I’m just trying to make the point that moving our highly valued Keon for some front court help, considering that we have, like, 93 shooting guards already on the team, would be a reasonable, though sad, thing to do. I’d add Keon to any deal before I’d a draft pick.
Does need to improve his handle and passing to even become a backup PG, but at this point I’d be ecstatic if he got 7th man minutes on this shitty Kangz team. (currently Monk at 24.3 mpg)
Yup, if his future is jut 7th man on a decent team, then why is he currently 9th man on a shitty team? It doesn’t compute.
Totally. Frustrates me too. That said, I have to point out that it’s now two coaches that have treated Keon the same way. Which makes me wonder if there is something I’m missing. Does he get all those steals and deflections because he’s operating outside the defensive scheme? I’m not smart enough about that kind of stuff to tell, but my sense is that he does things on the court that coaches hate, and he looses minutes for it. That’s just a WAG though.
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