Coach Mike Brown is always talking about his desire to have his group ‘trending upwards’. It’s safe to say the Sacramento Kings have done just that on the defensive end of the floor and their elite offensive capabilities have remained apparent in the process.
Chris Watkins and I spent some time talking about the recent defense that we’ve seen from the Kings along with numbers to back it up. Does it have to do with the caliber of opponents as of late? What is this team capable of on that end of the floor?
Some of the biggest impact players have been Domantas Sabonis and Davion Mitchell, but Coach Mike Brown talked about how De’Aaron Fox has helped set the tone for the Kings defensively. Included in this episode is audio of Coach Brown speaking on what he’s seen from Fox on that end.
Going back a bit, I got to have a conversation with assistant coach Luke Loucks about the time he spent working with Fox this offseason and the specific changes that they made to his jumper. You can read about the conversation here, or listen to a bit of it in this episode.
Coach Brown has been a big advocate for Malik Monk being considered for Sixth Man of the Year this season. So, Chris and I spent some time looking into some of the other candidates for the award and where Monk stacks up among them.
Our final main topic was the Stockton Kings and how their season started. First of all, I failed to mention DJ Steward, who has been playing phenomenally for Stockton and really looks like he could make his way to the NBA eventually.
After spending the last few days in Stockton, I shared my main takeaways from conversations had there with Head Coach Bobby Jackson as well as Chima Moneke. A portion of the audio from my conversation with Moneke is included in the podcast where he talks about the process of moving back and forth between Sacramento and Stockton so often. It’s hard not to love Chima Moneke’s mindset.
???? NEW EPISODE ????
????SAC's defense is trending upwards ????
????Coach Loucks on the specific changes to Fox's jumper
????Chima Moneke speaks on hopping between Stockton & SAC
????Checking in on Stockton (Ellis, Queta & Steward)
????Expectations for 6-game road triphttps://t.co/zrMHfWrXiN pic.twitter.com/ObtYfnnFjJ— Kings Pulse (@Kings_Pulse) December 5, 2022
Sacramento is headed into a grueling six-game road trip against some of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Who do we think will be the toughest matchups during that stretch? What record do we expect them to come away with?
Overtime: What does your Spotify Wrapped look like? Who were your top five artists?
The Kings Pulse podcast is available on all major listening platforms and also in video form on YouTube!
Ma-6man Monk
Did Monk & Fox intentionally switch college jersey numbers in the pro’s?
Yes. The brotherhood continues to flourish. Time to get Bam to bring back the band.
I never knew this. So awesome. Love these guys.
Anyone read this wsj article? I don’t have access. Was wondering if it was a good read.
It is a good read.
It talks about how the Kings were built, but doesn’t mention Monte for some reason. In particular, it focuses on Fox, Domas & Huerter. It also talks about Brown’s influence. The article notes the need for defensive improvement (though that’s been happening recently). It mentions the Detroit & Brooklyn games more than any other games. I’d highlight these 2 paragraphs:
FWIW my top 5 artists this year were:
1. Mac Demarco
2. The Black Keys
3. Kendrick Lamar
4. MF Doom
5. The Kinks
No Spotify here. I’m a YouTube music kinda guy.
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