Happy December 15th, y’all! Let the trade rumors, deals, and fumbles begin. Here’s to hoping Monte McNair can make headlines for positive roster reconstruction moves rather than create more fodder for jokes about failed deals. Speaking of jokes, here’s a sick one: despite losing their last three games in embarrassing fashion, resulting in the massacre of their fans’ remaining resolve everywhere, the Sacramento Kings entered tonight’s game as the 10th seed (and therefore play-in eligible) in the Western Conference. The NBA is weird, man.
Standing in their way tonight of keeping this 10th spot was the Washington Wizards. Due to Covid protocols, the Kings were without their head coach, Alvin Gentry, along with Marvin Bagley III and Terence Davis. The only thing that convinced me to tune in to this one was the fact that Doug Christie was handed the keys to this broken down 2006 Toyota Corolla. I’ll always support that guy. Let’s see if the Kings did the same:
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings win, 119-105
Sacramento Kings: 119 pts, 54.9% fg, 30.8% 3 pt, 72.4% ft, 25 ast, 39 reb, 11 to
Washington Wizards: 105 pts, 47.2% fg, 20.8% 3 pt, 76.2% ft, 20 ast, 39 reb, 10 to
These knuckleheads showed up for Doug! Another big effort from De’Aaron Fox (28 points), a late one from Harrison Barnes (19 points), and a big spark off the bench from Tristan Thompson (15 points) pieced together a nice win for the Kings. It was a game mostly controlled by the Wizards up until late into the third and early in the fourth, when De’Aaron Fox took over and led the Kings on a 13-0 run. Where he left off, Harrison Barnes picked up, as he scored 10 straight points to put the nail in the coffin.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good
- Early & Late Defense: Although the Kings still gave up 32 points in the first quarter, their defensive energy and grit were more visible. It was an interesting new strategy they employed to not go down by double digits within the first five minutes of play, and it seemed to be a good one. With Davion Mitchell getting his first career NBA start, there was more on ball pressure and I swear I could even hear guys talking to each other on the defensive end. Davion’s on ball defense allowed more time for help side rotations to occur. One specific defensive play stuck out to me with the three-guard lineup: Davion was on ball along the baseline, Tyrese Haliburton rotated over to provide help, and De’Aaron Fox sprinted to the corner to deflect a baseline pass. It was a glimpse at what things could be and I loved every second of it. The Kings rounded out the win tonight by only allowing the Wizards to score 16 points in the fourth quarter. Sometimes, two quarters of good defense is all it really takes for this team to muster out a win. Imagine if they could do it for THREE quarters or even THREE AND A HALF… Wishful thinking?
- Doug Christie’s Rotations: It warms my heart to see Doug Christie succeed. In an unexpected opportunity, he found himself at the head of the coaching staff tonight and did what he was supposed to do – lead the Kings to a win. He had a limited bench to go to tonight, but his most notable change was in his usage of De’Aaron Fox. Typically, Fox will get a quick rest to start the fourth quarter and then come in around the 8:00-minute mark to close out the game. Tonight, Fox started the quarter and brought the Kings back from a five-point deficit to give them a one-point lead before heading to get his rest around the 8:00-minute mark. This allowed Fox to get his rest while the Kings were still within striking range, rather than bringing him back in once they were dug into a hole. As Fox got his rest, Harrison Barnes finally found a rhythm and picked up where Fox left off. By the time Fox returned to the game with just under four minutes left, the Kings had a nine-point lead, alleviating some pressure off of Fox and asking him to just take care of the ball and close out the game.
The BAd
- Oh, Buddy: Buddy Hield hit some big shots during the middle stretch of the game to keep the Wizards from really running away with it. He finished with 15 points on 4-7 from the 3-pt line. So why do I feel so disappointed? Maybe it’s just me, but I did not enjoy watching Buddy Hield play basketball tonight. Every time he had the ball in his hands for more than the time it takes for him to shoot it, I felt my stomach turn to knots. When he didn’t have an open look, too often he put the ball on the ground to go nowhere, taking a handful of seconds off the shot clock, before handing it off to someone more capable. With a heavy guard rotation, Buddy was paired with at least one other and better ball handler and playmaker at all times. I wish he had relied on his teammates’ abilities more to find him open looks rather than try to create them himself.
The Ugly
- PnR Defense: The Wizards held control of the game through the middle stretch where they made a living in the paint and terrorized the Kings’ defense. Bradley Beal got to cooking, ultimately finishing with 30 points, and when he wasn’t scoring, Daniel Gafford was flushing in alley oops and put backs. Most egregious was watching the Kings fall apart on pick & roll coverage about 50 times in a row. Alex Len kept getting caught in no man’s land, covering neither the ball or the roller, and Gafford made a living at the rim.
The King of Kings
He ain’t always there when you call, but he’s always on time. The Black Falcon had a rough start tonight, but stuck with it and came up big to put a lid on this game. Harrison Barnes had 15 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and reminded us all to never doubt the Black Falcon.
Up Next
Friday, December 17th vs. Memphis Grizzlies – 7:00 P.M. (PT)
Beat the wizards!
Sink the Wizards!
Awesome sauce
Someday
https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/1471371060700499970?s=20
My Dad always called him the Steve Martin ref.
Tyrese in the early 2000’s
Doug going small, keeping Fox off ball as much as possible
D.C! Defense coming?
Fun game! The Wiz couldn’t buy a bucket, and that was partly because a little thing called defense!?
Also: congrats to Doug Christie. But please, please, I don’t want to hear Vivek point to this game as a reason to hire him in the off-season as a head coach. And yet, that will probably happen.
Since this is Vivek we’re talking about….Doug will sign his 4 year contract prior to Friday’s tip-off, and Gentry will be given his COBRA notice along with his last check.
Will Jackie chase Matina away then?
If she does that I’ll like Jackie forever.
LOL, I actually LOLd
Congratulations Doug!
I’m actually happy for once. Weird.
Congrats to the team and Doug Christie.
I enjoyed this game. I enjoyed Doug’s passion on the bench. I wish he would wear a mask. Monte, Let’s make a few trades to improve defense and get this team to the playoffs this year. It’s not too late.
Christie has two weeks (or whatever it takes for Gentry to recover) to prove he should be the next coach. Covid giving the Kings and Chrisitie a rare chance for a coach to audition for the job.
Fun ending to a game it seemed like the Kings could lose by 20. Was nice to be there in person to see Doug get his first win as a HC. Barnes was non existent until about 10 minutes to go, but he made the most of it. Fox’s fake on Holiday was ESPN worthy. Too bad he missed the shot. Refs were garbage in the beginning, then we seemed to get a few calls.
That was fun to watch, and at the end of the day, that is really what I am looking for. I really enjoyed Davion’s performance tonight, Fox had some terrific plays, Metu and TT had some key contributions, and I really thought DC made some smart choices in the rotations. I know this isnt a good team, but if they could be a .500 team if they were as mindful every game as they were tonight.
I lik e DC’s postgame interview.
It took three coaches to get it right. It took the interim of the interim to do what should have done from Day 1.
Where is the hole in this logic? You have the worst defense in the NBA. You draft the best defender in the class. He dominates the summer league with his defense. Your best player who happens to play PG struggles with point of attack defense. But thats okay because he look likes the Incredible Hulk in training camp and may be better suited to checks SGs anyway. And in doing so he will reserve energy to dominate on offense.
Say you’re Fox under Fluke or Old Man Gentry. You have to score like MJ to give your team a chance. As soon as you shoot and there is a change of possession you have pick up the primary ball handler near half court. Then you have to navigate the screens and deny your man catching the ball again, and if he does, deny ball penetration for a second time.
Contrast this assignment to checking SGs, Booker instead of CP3, Poole instead of Curry, Hardaway instead of Brunson, etc etc. Not that it is easy but you don’t have to pick up as high and you are not checking the man with the ball from the start of the defensive possession. Ah yes, sweet respite. Compared to PG defense in the same interval, it is a moment at a day spa.
You still have to navigate picks and switch onto the PG at times, but you are spending less time on the ball and less time defending high. Fox looked so fresh and ungassed in this role as he logged another dominant scoring game in points and effeciency. This is what we have been waiting for.
I am not going to overreact to one game but it looks like the team can go from two average to below average defensive guards, and truth be told below average more than average, to two above average defensive guards. This changes the complexion of the game and your whole team.
Everyone knows what Davion can do to blow up possessions, but Fox can flat out defend when he wants to, but I don’t think his issue is lack of effort. I think (1) he sometimes disrespects the opponent and he can get burned when he does not take his man seriously. This is perceived as a lack of effort, and (2) and more importantly, he’s better equipped to guard SGs.
Those harping on Fox not trying hard is misguided. Even if he is giving 90% verus 100% and he gives that extra 10% you have not resolved the issue if Fox is best suited to guard up.
And do you think a player not trying hard enough is going to get emotional like he did when his heart is questioned and he gets choked up? You think when Fox broke down and was balling his eyes out with Monk that he does not care or cannot be bothered to try hard?
As extremely talented as he is, Fox does not have all the tools to be a great defender on the ball because he has a higher center of balance than the more diminutive players.
He has to stand up more to move laterally with these guys. This is also perceived as not trying hard enough. Getting low in a stance when you are “on an island” is not the best idea because when you bend your knees too much you cannot move as quick laterally.
There are also schemes where Fox hedges, guiding his man left or right, and help is sparse behing him. Fans misinterpret this as bad defense when all he is doing is executing the team defense strategy.
Fox did not get bullied by Paul George. He is not going to get bulied by SGs. This is the physical evolution from his rookie season where he could be bullied by PGs. With the time he has spent in the weight room, I think he relishes to have his strength challenged on defense, more so than having to chase hyperactive waterbugs.
And isn’t this what our GM, the elusive McGenius, envisioned when he made Davion the #9 pick? Davion is going to replace Fox one day or they are going to find a way to harmoniously coexist. But Fox is never going to guard like Davion, and Davion is never going to score like Fox, meaning their games are more likely to be complementary than dupicative.
When Luka was drafted he was initially off the ball with Dennis Smith Jr running point. It was unknown early if Luka was best as a point forward, sharing creation abilities or could run a team full time. When it became clear DSJ was inferior and Luka had the repertoire and poise to run the show, the Mavs did not waste time remolding their team, aligned to the skills of their best player(s).
Over a decade the Kings have wasted time. If you have a Top 5 on-ball defnder and you do not assign him to the best point of attack player on the opponent, you are wasting time. If you ask Fox to guard up (PGs) instead of guard down (SGs), if you are not optimizing his role conducive to his skills, you are wasting time.
The Mavs did not waste time making Luka their PG not because they knew for certain he would turn into a superstar, but it was clear that was best option they had relative to the alternatives.
It looks like Ty may be better suited to play SF than TD with the new backcourt,. I was not sure about this, leaning towards Ty as 6th man. But after seeing the look for the first time, because we are smallish in the backcourt, it may be preferrable to have more length at the SF with Ty being longer than TD. As far as Ty defending down, it may help him to play passing lanes there, get more deflections than he already gets as a team leader in this category.
I give credit where credit is due. Buddy Yield played a good game, his first good game in about a month, even defensively. It will bear watching whether the improved defense on the guard line has a trickle down effect, expccting that it will. And it will be especially exciting when Holmes comes back if we see an awesome starting lineup of:
Holmes
HB
Ty
Fox
Davion
Ah yes, it is all coming together.
All it took was the owners choice for coach to make it happen.
I think this analysis of defensive strengths and weaknesses of the guards is totally on point! Thanks! If other disagree, I would like to see their response.
I think the nicknames are trite and petty. I literally groaned out loud at “Buddy Yield.”
FFS.
Curious because I can’t remember if you’ve said, but what types of players would you be interested in adding to the Kings roster if you could?
This is excellent.
I have no clue why our starting 1-2-3 is not Mitchell, Fox and Haliburton. They could be interchangeable on offense but play defense exactly as you laid it out.
Awesome post.
Congrats to Doug, happy for him. Good to see the Kings play some better D.
They did a good job of staggering Fox and Haliburton last night, but they need to make sure one is out there for all 48. The eye test tells me it doesn’t work with both out, and the plus/minus backs it up for last night. Neither Fox nor Haliburton played for 2 minutes in the first. In that span the Kings were a -8 and did not score a point. Stagger, stagger, stagger.
That is so true. Plus nice to see the Kings with a concerted effort NOT to let the opposing team just drive to the basket unopposed. They were actually getting in some people’s way last night. Difference was noticeable.
The 4th quarter was dynamite!
Davion may still be finding his offense, but it always seems like the team is better when he’s on the floor. There have been a few games this season that we lost in the closing minutes that I genuinely believe we would’ve won had we had Davion’s defense in the game. He makes a visible difference in the defensive energy this team has when he’s out there.
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