fbpx
Mar. 29, 7:00 PM
DAL @ SAC
Mar. 31, 6:00 PM
UTH @ SAC
Apr. 02, 7:00 PM
LAC @ SAC
Apr. 04, 4:30 PM
SAC @ NYK
Apr. 05, 4:30 PM
SAC @ BOS
Apr. 07, 4:30 PM
SAC @ BKN
Apr. 09, 5:00 PM
SAC @ OKC
Apr. 11, 7:00 PM
NOH @ SAC
Apr. 12, 7:30 PM
PHO @ SAC
Apr. 14, 12:30 PM
POR @ SAC

Stockton Kings season review with Head Coach Ty Ellis

Stockton head coach Ty Ellis talks about developing players like Kyle Guy, managing the losses of players mid-season and having Mike Bibby around. 
By | 6 Comments | May 29, 2020

Despite the 2019-20 NBA G-League season being cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Stockton Kings showcased a solid season leaving plenty to build on moving forward.  Like other G-League teams, there is constant player shuffling going on. NBA teams are signing players to two-way deals and mid-season. A team like Miami could like a player from Stockton so much that they’d give them a two-way contract. Though the G-League prioritizes player development, games become increasingly competitive as the season goes down to the wire and coaches have to manage a roster that continuously changes.

Last season, Stockton finished 30-20, second in the Pacific Division, and qualified for a playoff spot in their inaugural season since transitioning away from Reno. Unfortunately, they suffered a 122-119 defeat to the Memphis Hustle in the first round. 

This year, the Kings were sitting atop the Pacific holding a 24-19 record and were looking like a playoff lock for the second straight season, until the season came to an abrupt halt. Stockton performed well in their second season and many young players continued to develop under the coaching staff.

Kyle Guy, the 55th overall pick in 2019, signed a two-way contract with Sacramento and became a player that Stockton Kings head coach Ty Ellis enjoyed coaching.

“If you’ve ever seen me coach, you’d know that I coach everybody the same,” Ellis said. “I coach him hard but I coach him with love. Those difficult moments where I had to get onto certain guys, Kyle specifically always responded ‘Got you, coach’ and that says a lot about Kyle as a person.”

Ellis said that many young players nowadays are not very open to hard, direct coaching but that’s not the case with the Virginia product.

Guy ranked seventh in the G-League in scoring with 21.5 points while hitting on 40% of his shots from deep on 9.6 attempts a game. When Ellis is asked by other NBA scouts about Guy, he offers a comparison to a former King.

“If you like Seth Curry, you will love Kyle Guy,” Ellis said. “Seth Curry is the exact player Kyle is now when he was in the G-League. He was trying to figure it out…find his bearings, understand the pace of the game and now he’s a rotational player for the Mavericks.” 

Ellis said that if you give Guy another year or two, he can become that style of player with more athleticism and better finishing in the paint.

Gabe Vincent, who started with Stockton in the 2018-19 season, saw an incredible jump this year going from 8.8 points per game to 23.4 before Miami signed him to a two-way deal. Replacing Vincent’s production as an elite scorer and three point shooter (42.1% on 10.5 attempts per game) was not about another player on the roster making a huge leap, but rather a team effort to chip in in different areas.

“Our mantra from day one is ‘All we got, all we need’…so when Gabe left, no problem,€ Ellis said. €œWe don’t need one player to average his points, we just need everybody collectively to average two to four points more, to average one extra rebound and collectively, we did that and we continued to win.€ 

Similarly to Vincent, Stockton lost Eric Mika for a while because he signed a contract to play in China. Mika finished the season averaging 18.8 points and 12 rebounds, but his most important quality is arguably his 6’10” size. 

That size is extremely difficult to come by in the G-League and when Mika went to China, it became another team effort to replace his length. Stockton had 6’10” Jalen Reynolds for five games as well as the addition of 6’8″ Kevin Young who played numerous minutes as a big.

“Kevin Young got cut by Golden State…last year he played sparing minutes and he comes to our team and he’s a major contributor,” Ellis said. “We did it collectively with guys who were great in their roles.”

Cody Demps is another young prospect who has been in Stockton the last two seasons and near the end of last season, Demps received a call-up with Sacramento. This year in Stockton, Demps improved on aspects of his game and averaged 14.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting 44% from the field and 37% from three on 3.8 attempts.

“Cody Demps is the foundation of this organization the last two years,” Ellis said. “It’s guys like Cody who just work. Whatever we ask him to do, he does it with 100% commitment.” 

Ellis offered nothing but praise for Demps and believes he’s NBA talent, but also a player who will thrive for a long time if he plays in Europe. 

The talent development is also evident in Stockton as they’re tied for first in the G-League in unique player call-ups with eight. That includes players from this season like Vincent who signed with Miami and Mika with Sacramento, but also last season with players like Kalin Lucas who signed a two-way contract with Detroit and Demps with Sacramento.

The future is bright for Stockton as a team that can produce talent moving forward. 

“As long as we as an organization focus on developing the player, the basketball will come,” Ellis said. “There is no secret sauce. We just spend time with the guys.”

Sacramento Kings legend Mike Bibby has also been involved with Stockton on a few occasions and Ellis has enjoyed his presence with the team. 

When Ellis was asked by the league to be a guest speaker in Las Vegas at the NBA Assistant Coaches Program (ACP), a rigorous six-to-eight month program where former players can take a path to become coaches, he left his contact information for anyone to reach out. 

Bibby called. 

Ellis invited Bibby to come out and be taught first hand to get valuable experience so Bibby came out three different times, including a game against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in January where he sat with the bench and kept a clipboard with coaching materials in hand.

Through the ACP, former players learn how to scout and how to write reports among other tools. 

“Mike has committed to the [ACP] and if he can commit to that, I can commit to my time,” Ellis said. “Not to mention, it’s Mike freaking Bibby.”

Regarding the future of young talent coming out of Stockton, Ellis said, “If everybody in the organization or staff thinks about the players, we can’t go wrong.” 

 

Patreon Membership
* indicates required


To prevent spam, our system flags comments that include too many hyperlinks. If you would like to share a comment with multiple links, make sure you email [email protected] for it to be approved.
Subscribe
Notify of
6 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Aykis16
Admin
Comments
Vote Up
Author
Original Member
Nostradumbass 13
Comments
Vote Up
Author
Original Member
Nostradumbass 13
May 29, 2020 12:23 pm

Great interview Sanjesh!

TonyXypteras
Admin
Original Member
Author
Comments
Vote Up
Original Member
Author
Comments
Vote Up
May 29, 2020 12:34 pm

Great stuff Sanjesh.

The big difference between Curry and Guy is Curry could hold his own defensively. I think Guy could come in and hit some deep shots right away, but can he play without getting crushed on defense?

RobHessing
Patreon Supporter
Comments
Vote Up
Original Member
Author
Patreon Supporter
Comments
Vote Up
Original Member
Author
May 29, 2020 12:55 pm

Great read.

RikSmits
Patreon Supporter
Comments
Vote Up
Original Member
Patreon Supporter
Comments
Vote Up
Original Member
May 29, 2020 1:05 pm

Thanks. Interesting. I was hoping that the Kings would do more to find diamonds in the rough via the G League.

and I have become rather sceptic about players from the glory days joining the organization in some shape or form.

Q: is there an ex-King who could add value to this organization? Newbies, Not guys with a job, like Ainge.

Badge Legend

Patreon Supporter Patreon Supporter   Registered On Day 1 Registered On Day 1   Published Post Published Post  Published Post Nostradumbass
Comment Up Votes 200 Up Votes   Comment Up Votes 500 Up Votes    1,000 Up Votes    3,000+ Up Votes

Comments 50 Comments   Comments 100 Comments    250 Comments    500 Comments    1000+ Comments