The Sacramento Kings are champions. Yes, of NBA Summer League, but they are champions. And that is because of one main reason: defense. Throughout the Las Vegas tournament, the Kings were aggressive on the ball, getting into passing lanes, racking up steals and supporting each other with team defense. This, of course, led to offense – the way you want your team to operate.
Davion Mitchell summed it up perfectly following the Kings 100-67 victory over the Boston Celtics: “We didn’t really look to outscore people. We tried to stop people from scoring.”
What a refreshing thing to hear from someone who will be a rotation player this upcoming season.
As has been stated previously, head coach Bobby Jackson set this tone in training camp when he urged his team to focus on defense and made them work hard to set the tempo and make them fight through a little adversity. That is because his goal was to make other teams uncomfortable. “The offensive side of the ball will come,” he stated. And the Celtics were certainly uncomfortable Tuesday night – shooting 19% from three and forced into 28 turnovers. Payton Pritchard, who had been a scoring machine throughout Summer League went 3-9 from the field for 6 points – an off night indeed. The Celtics other standout, Aaron Nesmith, only managed 12 points and 6 rebounds in 31 minutes. The Celtics put 67 points on the board after scoring 100 or more in three of its other games.
Jackson and his squad were ready and completely dismantled the Celtics by defending and having each other’s backs.
“I knew it was going to be a really good game because looking at them on film, they play fast, they shot a lot threes, but in my meetings, I always told the guys, ‘they haven’t run across a defense like ours,’” Jackson said.
How long have we wanted a team like this in Sacramento? A team that doesn’t just try to out-score people. A team that plays hard, takes pride in defense and lets the offense come to them based on that tenacity? (And doesn’t just talk about doing this.) You can only hope Luke Walton and the main Kings roster took notice of what transpired in Summer League and implements it in the regular season.
Jackson now goes on to coach the Stockton Kings in the G League. Mitchell now goes on to become a key piece of the Kings rotation, and he knows he has the opportunity to help change the culture, and welcomes it. Going into training camp Mitchell said he’s going to try “to change the narrative around of Sacramento being a really good defensive team and offensive team, not just an offensive team.”
Here is how he said he plans to begin that process:
“Leading by example. Just showing in training camp that I’m doing the little things, being that guy up there pressuring the ball, making it hard for the guards, and I think if my teammates see that they’re going to want to play hard because I’m the head of the snake so I’m going to be up there playing pressure defense, so my teammates are going to follow behind me. I think if I just lead by example and be myself in training camp, I can change the identity here.”
And Jackson thinks Mitchell can do it.
“Of course. Just by his leadership, just by how hard he works and how he competes he’s definitely going to change how people look at him and look at our team. Just because you are rookie doesn’t mean you can’t be successful,” Jackson said. “The one thing that he has of anyone I’ve seen in this rookie class is he is tough as nails, and you can’t teach toughness on top of his work ethic. And his drive and his commitment and his focus. I think he has to figure out how to scale back working out so much before game days, but I would never tell a guy to stop working. He has that type of ability and talent. I think the sky is the limit for a guy like that because he already has all the intangibles that a lot of guys don’t have in this league.”
Congrats to Bobby Jackson and the entire Summer League Champion Sacramento Kings. Here’s to trying to carry over some of that defensive mentality to the main squad.
That sounds great.
I just hope Walton watches the SL tape.
If our defensive scheme will continue to be “switch everything” my head may explode.
Mitchell should give Fox a clinic on how to fight over screens.
Meanwhile, at Manhattan Beach…
Hot!
Hand!
Rising!
I’ve seen lots of fans get excited about Davion Mitchell here and on Twitter, but I have yet to see someone post a pic showing they bought a Mitchell jersey.
Everyone waiting until after his first regular season game?
I guess the Off-Night TKH shirt works.
I just finally bought a Fox jersey lol. I just don’t buy jerseys that often.
Same here, actually. I have two Chris Webber jerseys, but they make me look like a child. I prefer T-shirts and hoodies for Kings gear, so TKH merch is perfect for me. 🙂
Yeah, sorry, can’t get behind grown ass men and jerseys. Especially tank tops with the armpit hair and extra back fat. Yum.
“A man’s got to know his limits.”
So how do you watch basketball?
If you play and have the same body as Mitchell, then wear away. I’ll pass and hope the guy with the nachos in front of me has some dignity, too.
So it is nothing against men in tank tops or armpit hair, it’s just dudes whose definition of exercise are 12oz. curls.
Arrested development isn’t an attractive quality in a man either.
Grown men wearing jerseys is cringe.
Grown men wearing the jersey and team hat combo is super cringe.
I feel attacked…
I so agree with this. Once you hit 30 you look ridiculous in a tank top jersey.
What if I wear a long sleeve muscle shirt under it
“Listen America, only three people can wear jerseys. Little kids, hot women, and somebody you’re watching play.” – Charles Barkley
Same. All I have is a Fox and Hali (city edition) jerseys. The last one I bought before that was Tyreke after his rookie year.
After years of King’s draft picks, I am not in a position where I expect any rookies to be “a key piece of the rotation”. Have my expectations been whack-a-moled out of reality by our draft history or are we expecting too much from a 1st year player?
Tyrese Haliburton wants to know what the hell you’re talking about.
Probably a bit of both.
Davion Mitchell admittedly looks promising — even with his scoring struggles, he hit his outside shot at a great clip and played legitimately good defense against legitimate NBA talent. His size did little to hinder his impact. Coming in with a good resume that’s not just empty calories certainly doesn’t hurt.
The immediate impact and likeability of Haliburton also no doubt plays a role in the narrative, as people are hoping for a second consecutive late lottery home run.
However, no rookie is guaranteed, as we know. Thus far I tentatively trust Monte’s eye for talent, and I do believe that one player can make a real difference in team culture. I like that the pick and player are getting respected by those who actually know things. I’m not ready to bet that he’s single handedly going to transform our defense, or contribute enough on offense to make a positive impact yet.
On the other hand, if we see buy-in from the entire roster from the start, if Halliburton and Fox both show some growth in key areas, if Holmes and Barnes have a minimal falloff, if Buddy and Bagley can provide value either on the court or in a trade… this could be a decent squad that deserves 82 games worth of attention.
Playoffs would be great, but honestly I’d be happy with having a reason to mark the games on my calendar and plan to watch every game from the opening tip until the final buzzer. In the last 16 years, the closest we ever came to that level of engagement was 2019.
Give me something to believe in. For now, it’s Davion.
Man that 2018-19 season seems so long ago…I hope to be that engaged again.
Take a ????????
I am so down for Davion pulling a “Jimmy Butler in last Wolves practice” on these guys.
I don’t think he’ll make friends out of Buddy and Bagley if they’re still around.
I laughed thinking about this: after practice Buddy is working on “his shot”. Davion grabs the ball, throws it away and yells- “work on your defensive footwork!” He then goes to the locker room and pulls Marvin away from his recording equipment and says “I can guard you !” He will not be friends with those 2.
He is a rookie and will have restricted influence but there will be a few Kings nervous about crossing him.
I’m happy that you are comfortable with your own fantasies. A lot of people aren’t.
I was laughing thinking about the hazing type stuff Whiteside was doing with Haliburton. If Whiteside was still around, I just couldn’t see Mitchell taking it the same way.
Mitchell seems like the guy who, every time he gets hazed, he’s gonna literally push that person into defensive position on the court.
This is good. We desperately needed a guy like this on our team.
Yea… it’s why there were a number of fans pushing for Marcus Smart back when he was available.
Yeah, Buddy will not be happy about this…
Or just pull a Rasheed Wallace and throw the ball at a teammates head.
SMFPDX would appreciate that, the good ole Jailblazer years.
That was a pretty shitty thing Wallace did.
He threw it across the court and hit a teammate.
He and Bonzi just laughed.
Jailblazers indeed.
Oof. I lived in Portland during the latter part of the Jail Blazers era & I hope that no other NBA team has an era like that.
Congrats to Coach Jackson and the Summer League Squad…!!!
Is that you Jim Crandell?
This is why I wish we did good but not win the “championship”
I’m happy to see Davion step up and make that statement. Even though there isn’t anywhere to go but up, it’s still great to hear he wants to lead by example. It’ll be interesting to see if it rubs off on the vets.
It’s good to hear and more importantly see the defensive hustle from Mitchell. It’ll take more than just him to change to team culture, but injecting someone like that is a factor for sure. Just thinking of how big a leap the 2000s Kings made on D after acquiring Doug Christie and Bobby Jackson.
I’m hoping between Mitchell’s influence as a player and Christie as a coach that the whole team will buy in and take that leap. If the defense is ingrained in the team during practice that shouldn’t change during games even with Walton at the helm. Time will tell.
Between Davion guarding like a mad man and Chimezie dropping the Kangz’s elbow on fools, count me in!
The roster has athletes, and if summer league guys can give the effort, there’s no reason why the big boys shouldn’t be able to manage it. And I agree with the idea that DC is going to make a difference in attitudes toward defense. He’s a great communicator, and still fit enough to bother the players when he’s demonstrating technique.
I like the direction in which things seem to be heading. We’ll see if DC & DM can pave the road for the rest of the team.
Yeah, just from hearing DC call the games, he’s a stickler for defense. It seems like a few times during a game he is calling for the full court press, if only to change things up a bit. Let’s hope Walton listens.
At 51 years old, Christie would be the best defender on the Kings any day they strapped a uniform on him. Davion will likely pass him quickly, but the rest of them not so much.
Has he met the coaches he is actually going to be playing for?
Counting down the days till Monte yells..
I’m interested to see what type of a pace setter Davion can be for the team. Fox and several players on this team are capable of playing with pace on both sides of the ball, but they lack the ability to lead teammates into a sustained intensity. Or to use a sort of Jerryism- Davion’s a dog that should be let loose because a loose dog will always set the pace.
Do you all think there’s anything notable about Fox being mostly absent from SL, save for the first day of the cal classic? Obviously, Haliburton is just showing amazing teamsmanship by staying for the whole time in Vegas, but is it concerning to see/hear so little from Fox?
Long answer? No.
just made myself smile when I realized that last season our backup PG was Cojo and now it’s Mitchell. ????????????
Love the mindset. Now Davion needs to take 1000 free throws a day until camp opens.
I mean considering he only gets to the line about once a game right now, I hope he works on the other 97% of his game…but yes free throws need improving.
Pesky, intense defense, from an explosive, strong athlete fits on any team. When someone is able to put pressure on the ball like he does…and enjoys it. It pumps up the team and it’s contagious. And then he’s got an intense work ethic? Can’t help but change the team culture playing like that.
Hope Walton, Fox et all get the message !
Can you imagine the hype before Mitchell’s matchups? I for one can’t wait to see him guard players like Curry, Lillard, Beal, etc. That’s going to be must-see TV. Not saying that he’ll be able to put the clamps on the greats right away as a rookie, bit I am excited to see how he fairs.
Well, it’s safe to assume that he’ll fair better than anyone else we have on the roster. So that’s a good start.
Lonzo moved to the Eastern Conference to limit his potential exposure to Fox & Mitchell to only two games.
Not counting the Finals.
Yes, but don’t expect much. The refs will unfortunately call fouls for a rookie breathing too hard on a superstar.
Badge Legend