Surprise team of last season with a record of 48 wins for 34 losses, the Kings have finally put an end to their endless series of sixteen seasons without playoffs.
Record attack last year with an “Offensive Rating” at 118.6 points per 100 possessions, the Kings were, conversely, not the thunderbolts of war in defense, allowing 116 points per 100 possessions (24th in the league).
The watchword to his players is therefore simple for Mike Brown at the start of the season: either you defend harder and we will be able to progress, or we continue like this and we will not go far!
“He erased everything we accomplished from his memory, and from our memory”blows Domantas Sabonis in The Athletic. “He’s just telling us about our loss to the Warriors. He wants to push us even more, and I love that. It’s fair game. This is what happens when you become satisfied with the past. »
In this case, Mike Brown still has the defeat of Game 4 of the first round in his throat. According to him, his players tried too hard to play the whistle instead of simply playing their game. Namely, playing simple.
“Our guys were throwing themselves into two, sometimes three defenders and crying to get a whistle. We lost a lot of possessions in transition and penetration, trying crazy shots,” analyzes Mike Brown. “We can’t take anything for granted. Nothing is going to be easy for us. We have to fend for ourselves. We can’t count on anyone’s help. »
De’Aaron Fox as First Blade
As outsiders, the Kings cannot indeed expect preferential treatment, quite the contrary. To dislodge the Nuggets from their throne, we will have to stick out our elbows and show more defensive aggressiveness.
“It starts from me”, underlines De’Aaron Fox. “On and off the field. We want to play fast and physical, and put pressure on defense. It’s going to come from me. We have to be able to pick up the guys because we have to be as strong as possible on that side of the field. »
Former assistant of the Spurs, with whom he won the title in 2003, but also former coach of the Cavs with whom he reached the Finals in 2007, then of the Warriors for four rings in six years, Mike Brown does not expect anything from less so in Sacramento. He believes that his troops have the potential to aim for the title.
“There are a lot of people who aren’t going to like it, but the reality is that sometimes you have to try things to reach the top. It might not work. We may not have the success we would have had if we had stayed in what we do best, but at least we will have tried to progress. In this case, I think we have a lot of room for improvement in defense. If we manage to stay in the Top 3 or Top 5 in attack, that suits me. But above all I want us to reach the Top 15 or Top 10 in defense to have a real chance in the playoffs. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| De’aaron Fox | 73 | 33.4 | 51.2 | 32.4 | 78.0 | 0.5 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 6.1 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 25.0 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 79 | 34.6 | 61.5 | 37.3 | 74.2 | 3.2 | 9.1 | 12.3 | 7.3 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 3.5 | 19.1 |
| Kevin Huerter | 75 | 29.4 | 48.5 | 40.2 | 72.5 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 15.2 |
| Harrison Barnes | 82 | 32.5 | 47.3 | 37.4 | 84.7 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 4.5 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 15.0 |
| Malik Monk | 77 | 22.3 | 44.8 | 35.9 | 88.9 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 13.5 |
| Keegan Murray | 80 | 29.8 | 45.3 | 41.1 | 76.5 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 4.6 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 12.2 |
| Trey Lyles | 74 | 16.9 | 45.8 | 36.3 | 81.5 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 4.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 7.6 |
| Terence Davis | 64 | 13.1 | 42.3 | 36.6 | 79.1 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 6.7 |
| Davion Mitchell | 80 | 18.1 | 45.4 | 32.0 | 80.6 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 5.6 |
| Chimezie Metu | 66 | 10.4 | 58.9 | 23.7 | 74.0 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 4.9 |
| Kessler Edwards | 22 | 13.9 | 43.5 | 34.9 | 76.9 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 3.9 |
| Richaun Holmes | 42 | 8.3 | 61.8 | 62.5 | 78.9 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 3.1 |
| Neemias Queta | 5 | 5.7 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 2.4 |
| Alex Len | 26 | 6.2 | 53.3 | 0.0 | 68.8 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 1.7 |
| Keon Ellis | 16 | 4.4 | 43.8 | 50.0 | 57.1 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.5 |
| Matt Dellavedova | 32 | 6.6 | 34.0 | 33.3 | 57.1 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 1.5 |
| Pj Dozier | 16 | 5.0 | 30.3 | 12.5 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.4 |
| Kz Okpala | 35 | 7.1 | 42.1 | 33.3 | 87.5 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 |
| Chima Moneke | 2 | 4.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Deonte Burton | 2 | 3.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
