Since Alvin Gentry took over as interim head coach, he’s tirelessly reiterated two strategic focuses: consistently playing with pace and closing possessions with rebounds.
Gentry has also been transparent in his belief that the Kings need more than one or two guys to win basketball games, often repeating that “it takes a village”. His willingness to dive further into a bench (or village) that was praised for its depth this offseason is apparent.
The most recent benefactors of this philosophy have been Damian Jones, Terence Davis, and Marvin Bagley — all of whom hardly saw the floor under Luke Walton. Jones played closing minutes against the Portland Trail Blazers and Davis was only removed during overtime against the Los Angeles Lakers when he fouled out. Alongside both of them was Bagley, who played nearly the entire fourth quarter and overtimes in each of the last two games.
Injuries have had a significant impact with Richaun Holmes, Harrison Barnes, and Maurice Harkless all spending time unavailable. However, Gentry himself pointed out that there are always factors, such as injuries, throughout any NBA season that will allow players opportunities to prove they can be viable contributors to the village.
“You will always get an opportunity at some stage during the season,” Gentry said after the recent victory against Portland, “and what you do with that will determine what goes from there.”
That opportunity for Bagley presented itself recently due to the aforementioned frontcourt injuries and Gentry’s “it takes a village” mentality.
Also, it’s worth noting that with pace and rebounding being the two recurring points of emphasis, Bagley’s skill seat should fits those needs. It just so happens his speed at 6’11” and rebounding have proven to be his two standout contributions.
After just over seven minutes in the first half against the Trail Blazers, Bagley was unseen in the third quarter as Barnes played all 12 minutes before heading to the locker room. The veteran was declared unable to return with a right foot injury, leaving a hole at the closing forward position.
Bagley started the fourth quarter and had some shaky moments including an inexcusable double-dribble and a poor attempt at a defensive rebound save that quickly led to an opposing triple. Not long after those blunders, Alvin Gentry called a timeout where many would have assumed he’d pull the young big. Yet, Bagley remained on the floor when play resumed.
Gentry displayed confidence in Bagley’s ability to contribute by keeping him on the floor after a couple of costly mistakes. Bagley didn’t take long to prove Gentry’s decision was justified by tallying 10 points and six rebounds (two offensive) during that fourth quarter.
Those 10 points included a huge corner three with 30 seconds remaining that practically secured the win as the Kings’ lead increased to seven. That clutch jumper to ice the game may very well have been the biggest shot of Marvin Bagley’s NBA career.
Sacramento’s following game was on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers, with Barnes and Holmes both unavailable. Despite his recent big showing, Alvin Gentry elected to place Harkless and Chimezie Metu into the starting lineup rather than Bagley. After a mere eight minutes of playing time, Harkless was deemed unable to return due to left knee soreness, adding yet another name to the injury report.
With the village thinning, Gentry attempted to play extreme small-ball with four guards before quickly realizing that was not going to work. This left a heavy responsibility on Metu and Bagley as the only available forward options aside from Louis King, who has yet to play for Sacramento this season.
Between the two, it became apparent that Bagley was the preferred option as the Duke product played the entire fourth quarter and all but 25 seconds of the three subsequent overtimes. Bagley recorded 11 points, six rebounds, and three assists on a perfect 4/4 from the field during those crucial minutes.
Throughout one stretch in the third overtime, he and De’Aaron Fox ran three successful pick-and-rolls in succession to target Carmelo Anthony. However, typically Marvin Bagley’s offensive role has been fairly simple. More often than not, he is asked to stand in the corner and then sneaks in to attempt an offensive rebound as a shot goes up.
Bagley fills that role well as someone who converted 36 percent on corner threes last season and clearly has the athletic ability and length to be a force on the offensive glass.
As for his defense, it certainly says something that he was the primary defensive assignment on LeBron James after Davis fouled out in the first overtime. It probably says more about Sacramento’s lack of defensive options with Barnes and Harkless unavailable, but James did only manage nine points on 3/7 from the field after Bagley was assigned to him.
If Marvin Bagley can continue to prove that he is able to simply fill a role on offense while not being a liability on defense, he can make a strong case for a more consistent role moving forward. Run the floor every single possession, fight hard to secure rebounds on both ends of the floor, and don’t try to do too much.
As mentioned before, Alvin Gentry was clear in his belief that most players will be given an opportunity at some point during any NBA season, and it seems Bagley’s opportunity has arrived. His “it takes a village” philosophy for this Sacramento Kings’ team has been on display early on, with Marvin Bagley as the main benefactor.
We’d be 3-0 in the AG Era if we had more than one day to prepare for the 76ers. We needed more than 24 hours to shake off the toxic stench associated with the ousted pretender. No way we win vs LAL in thrilling fashion or POR if the previous coach were still masquerading on the sideline. The players had given up on him. He may as well spoken to his team in Swahili, the effectiveness of the communication would be the same.
More than their words, the difference between AG and Fluke is AG coaches the actual game. Fluke coached his plan of what to expect before the unexpected. If you stop there and fail to make keen rational in-game adjustments, juggling and mixing, discerning, implementing, intuiting, using right and left brain, analytics and gut, holistic mental processes activated, you are not truly coaching the game, you are coaching from a distorted perspective. You are not in the flow, you are lost in a mental fog.
It is matter of having intuition or not. AG has a coaches intuition. It is not uncanny, or his career record would be better, but it is real. AG has feel for time and situation. It is refreshing to bear witness to this after a prolonged tenure of dumb. Fluke had no feel, no inherent or learned quality fundamental to the nature of his job. He sat there like a bump on a log, arms folded, brooding, overconcerned with the calls, delegating to assistants, pretending to be the Zen Master when he was master only at fooling his bosses into gainful employment.
Fluke abdicated responsibility to players in need of a guiding force. Even with a leader on the floor, if Fox ever becomes that guy, you still need leadership on the sideline, a Nick Nurse or Pop or reasonable fascimile. We didn’t have it and it was never more apparent than over last three games, to see the contrast between clueless and competent. I even liked the way the game was coached vs the 76ers despite the outcome.
AG is not even top notch but he’s Red Auerbach compared to the loser we had: more engaged, more lucid and prudent with his messaging. The target of 100 shots per game is solid. You have to play with pace and stops to get there, more likely to shake off scoring funks, like we had in the first half vs LAL, if you emphasize this metric.
This target probably resonates with players too more than quantity of 3s jacked and “better rebound or else”, the mantra preached before a loss in which we dominated the boards. HB was playing great as his 3 point attempts declined. Was the former coach upset? Did 64% TS% needed to be improved upon?
You may relieve pressure too to make shots if you go into game with the intent to get up a lot, hot runs more attainable at some course of the game. I41 points is testament to this. I don’t know if AG is the answer long term but for now he’s wonderful, no time for nonsense or pretense, too old to care as to offend the fragile ego of a young millionaire.
Would the man he replaced have stated the following pure facts after the loss to the 76ers:
> Our confidence is shook
> I don’t give a damn what the back of your jersey says
> We got our asses kicked
If Alvin is this direct publicly, imagine what he is saying to his players behind closed doors? Its not that you want to berate or disparage, to verbally beat down, but you do want to call a spade a spade as contrast and natural segue to what it takes to win, then focus obsessively on that. Any respectable player with hope to be successful will respond to this approach as opposed to mincing words. Fluke minced words. You are dealing with pro athletes not cloves of garlic.
Why was the exiled one so intent upon tip toeing around the Truth? That was a myopic self defeating approach. Thats not treating men like men, either, perceiving your guys as winners in training who should be called out when necessary with expectation they will respond.
McGenius gave this imposter every chance and he failed. He bent over backwards to drag him to relevancy, benefiting the doubt to him at every turn.
I contend our GM begrudgingly kept him around last summer to help assure the resigning of Holmes and with an intent to build a roster so strong, even a below average coach could succeed. When the LAL deal fell through and Fox lost his explosiveness due to misguided training, we needed more from the coach than a warm body and a pulse. Neutral to worse coaching was more conspicuous without wing depth and a dominant Fox. Enough was enough, the 1-3 road trip was the final straw, and what had to be done was done before it was too late.
We are a modest streak from .500. We have at least three bad losses (SAS OKC PHI) to make up for. LAL was one of three. We need two more we are suppose to lose according to the odds makers while taking care of business in games favored. This feels more plausible because our coach is terrible no more. We have a straight shooter and lucid thinker at the helm. He’s not the greatest but he’s hungry and feisty and fearless and that can be catalyst to new heights. If Marvin can be instrumental two games running, the dead risen from the grave, anything seems possible and playoff dreams can come true.
I still cringe at the idea and sight of Marvin to the scorers table, as with Harkless, but it is not as cringeworthy as before. Our new coach has a keener eye and quicker hook when said player or lineup is troublesome. It is not as bad when sketchy players take to the floor when the sketch factor is not allowed to fester. At the same time it does not seem like players are feeling undue pressure to perform. If anything it appears the opposite, namely, Buddy, Fox and Marvin appear to have smoother strokes. Maybe I am seeing what I want to see and we need more of a sample size, but if we can find the right blend of urgency and comfort, AG to the rescue, the win streak can grow.
“using right and left brain”…..
i’ll add – Fluke Walton’s brain has two sides, The left which has nothing right and the right which has nothing left!
By the way, this is the best treatise on the difference between a competent coaching and awfully bad, real bad coaching. I still blame Monte for not letting go of Fluke Walton at the start of the season.
What a difference a coaching change makes!
From “it takes a hotel room” to “it takes a village”.
Good article on Bagley. Quote: “If Marvin Bagley can continue to prove that he is able to simply fill a role on offense while not being a liability on defense, he can make a strong case for a more consistent role moving forward.” When you’re picked # 2 overall the idea is that you’ll be one of the stars of the team if not the league. There’s a reason Bagley was picked so high: his height plus athleticism combo plus a dominating performance in one year at Duke. A lot of people want the Kings to tank so they can get high draft picks. What if the team already had a high draft pick about to come into his own after a slow start, and at a position of need? Marvin Bagley, King’s star, let alone Marvin Bagley, NBA star, would be a tremendous lift for this team. Not saying it will happen, but I’m rooting for Marvin.
I find it funny, after his D against on old man in Lebron James, playing several OT`s, that he did something special. He is still bad at defense, and he still cannot set a screen to save his life. Lets not pretend Marvin is still not a liability long term. Congrats on the win though.
The season is over in four months, and with it, Bagley’s contract. Is that the long-term that concerns you?
And the lowest common denominator of your last sentence translates to “Let’s pretend that Marvin is still a liability long term.”
Whatever floats your boat, King.
Badge Legend