The Sacramento Kings were dismantled in San Antonio Wednesday in a 136-117 loss. The defense was bad, and the offense was out of sync aside from a breakout game from De’Aaron Fox.
It is clear that with Tyrese Haliburton out due to back tightness, the offense isn’t flowing as well. It also has prompted Luke Walton to go deeper into his bench, which has resulted in various lineups with guys who haven’t seen a lot of minutes together. Whether it is that, or the fact that teams are keying in on him more to stop him in the pick and roll, Richaun Holmes has had some troubles scoring as of late.
On Wednesday, Holmes only played 18 minutes finishing with 6 points and 12 rebounds. Since his 23-point and 20-rebound game against the Charlotte Hornets on Nov. 5, he has only had a total of 16 field goal attempts in three games and is averaging 8 points. Haliburton, who plays the pick and roll really well with Holmes, did not play in the last two of those games. Following the loss to the Spurs, Walton was asked about this.
“We’ve got to get that going. … He’s so important to our success and I’ll figure that out,” Walton said. “For him, he’s got to keep playing. He’s got to keep doing all those things that make him a winning player, all those things that we all love about him. And then it’s on me to find a way to get him some more touches.”
The 136 points the Kings allowed was the most the team has given up this season. They have held opponents to 110 points or less 8 times so far. The Spurs shot 56% from three and 53% from the floor and had 34 assists and only 8 turnovers. The Kings had 20 assists, 14 turnovers and shot 27% from three.
Walton said the lack of defense has got to stop.
“We’ve talked about it all offseason, we’ve worked on it, it’s our top priority. And all four quarters they scored over 30 points tonight, and that’s where it’s got to stop. It has to stop. We’ve committed to each other to make that a priority,” he said. “There’s going to be nights where you can’t make shots in this league and what we’ve done a good job of up to this game and half of the Phoenix game was we gave ourselves a chance to win every night because whether we were making shots or not, our defense was better and at a point where we were hanging around long enough to give ourselves a chance to win. So, it’s going to be a long defensive edit tomorrow.”
So, it would seem Walton has a busy day ahead reviewing what went wrong on defense and how to get more looks for Holmes (and maybe more minutes) heading into Friday’s matchup with the 4-6 Oklahoma City Thunder.
Don’t forget another Luke favorite post-game quote, “it would be tough for any team to stop the _____, the way they were shooting tonight.”
To be fair, that does happen once in a while.
In the Kings case, about 40 times a year…
Im so lost with this dude
Walton on bad defense: “Bad defense is bad.” Future Hall of Fame coach right here.
Puke, the bad defense will stop when you leave. It follows you dude.
And it’s all on you Coachless Walton. The shitty half court non offense. The bouts of low defensive effort. Etc etc.
He HAS to go. He won’t. Did McNair think he could put a bunch of coaches around Walton to cover up the stench? A way to appease Vivek?
I think that the dynamic that you describe is the opposite of what is happening. McNair didn’t hire the Handsy Legacy™ and if anyone is insistent on this guy remaining in town, it’s the one who signs his paychecks.
Yeah, but on the other hand Monty has repeatedly and very publicly married himself to Luke Walton ever since taking over.
I don’t really see what choice he’s got in the matter. He could’ve declined to comment when asked about Coach Goofus, but that would’ve created another set of problems.
Let me help you, genius, start Hali at the 1 instead of Fox.
Have you observed some clear delineation between the way that Fox and Haliburton play when they’re both starting? One that suggests that Fox is to always be the initiator of the offense, and Haliburton is simply along for the ride?
He really has no idea how to maximize/grow talent. He doesn’t attempt to. Just make players run his nothing crap.
You don’t think any good coach would have Fox cutting off ball w his speed? A million things.
I was surprised to see that Fox “had a good game.” I turned in on when the Kings were down something like 21-9 and had it on the remainder of the game while we made and ate dinner. While I was actually paying attention, Fox looked like shit. Bricked a 3 that barely hit the rim and just didn’t look good. I’m glad he ended up turning it around, but I’m also hesitant to get excited as it happened all the while the Kings were down 20 points. Hopefully he’ll start to turn things around. We’ll see. But that game was frustrating to say the least……same as it ever was!
I thought that Murray outplayed him. His counting stats were OK by the end of the game, but he was the 2nd best PG on the floor for the night, and the one that was on the wrong side of a 19 pt. loss.
The problem is, Fox isn’t really a PG, at least when I watch him play. Driving the lane, shooting or passing to an open man, doesn’t make a player a PG, plenty of players around the league do that. Running a team’s offense in transition and the half court does, and Fox does some of the former, but very little of the latter.
And we sure don’t have a coach who is teaching Fox to play more/better off ball.
I think it’s clear by now he doesn’t elevate his teammates. I was hoping this was the year.
But look at all his high-pick point guard peers like Ja and Trae. Their teams have now turned the corner.
Great players make their teams win. They just don’t pile up stats.
I love watching the Spurs play. Beautiful ball movement.
The Kings guards are dribbling, heads down, unaware of their teammates.
They never backdoor. They never go inside-out.
There is zero accountability. The only time the Kings shine is when they are draining three-pointers at a high rate.
And they never run a play for Richaun. He only gets his points on dives to the basket, put-backs or when one of the guards gets in trouble and needs to flip it to him at the last minute and bail them out.
Luke is awful. And this team is gonna bottom out fast if he’s allowed to continue.
Hammon or even Hardy would certainly be worth a look if/when Walton goes.
Agree. Either of those two would do a better job than Walton.
(+d)
why would either take this job?
Hammon might because there seems to be a glass ceiling at SAS but mid-year?
fluke seems brain dead.
Same shit, different day.
I have to go back and look at the film. I have never heard a coach in the league make this ridiculous comment so often. Bong Hit Walton
I know that interviews are a part of the league, and that TKH will publish “noteworthy” quotes, but I’d wish the whole Kings organization would STFU and start showing things on the court.
OT: One of these things is not like the others!
Serious question(s):
(1) Is the style of play that is potentially more conducive to team success (Rese primary ball handler/lots of ball movement/etc) detrimental to Fox’s individual success (as we define it by his 25 ppg highwater mark/fringe-All-Star individual stats last season/etc)?
Stated another way:
(2) Is putting the ball back in Fox’s hands so he can the volume needed to be fringe-All-Star-Fox creating a negative impact on potential team success?
Injuries to Hali and TD have hurt but all teams have injuries, Kings don’t have enough quality depth to overcome their injuries. Despite TD’s miserable year this year.
Opponents are jumping the Kings first set- destroying the easily predicted first option and then the Kings get all befuddled. ( that by the way, is how fluke looks normally-befuddled)
I love Mitchell but he dribbles too much- clock killer
I know this might be unpopular but why not MB3?
138 or whatever to the SAS ?????????????????????? wtf was that?
and Murray did look better than Fox. Fox is slipping down the ladder of the young PG’s. Way down. All Star? no way.
The 3 guard approach would be better if it did not speak to no other options and desperation.
a few of the SAS had carrear games- not one but a few. Jones should have reciprocated with a 25/25 and Ramsey hit 28.
If that sounds cynical and depressed, you caught it.
Badge Legend