After a regular season with 46 victories, but a defeat in the second play-in, the Kings of Mike Brown failed to string together a second consecutive exercise in the playoffs. Nevertheless, with its long-awaited summer extension and the arrival of DeMar DeRozan in California, Sacramento has put the ingredients in place to bounce back and continue its progress.
Already demanding in normal times, the coach is aware that he will be under relative pressure for this 2024/25 financial year. He already shows it very well in training. The proof recently, with a shouting at the end of a “scrimmage”, when the players were gathered in the center of the floor.
The requirement until the end of training
“I’m going to go after Mason Jones.”, begin the coach. “He did a very good training, really excellent. His energy was very high, he talked a lot, did good things in attack and defense. Then, the last two actions of the match, he lost the ball and stopped playing. »
At the end of training and before the season has started, they could be written off, but these two lost balls are important for the former coach of the Lakers or the Cavaliers.
“I basically said it could cost a playoff series.”specifies Mike Brown. “With two lost balls, we can restart an opponent. We were 10 points ahead and now we only have 4 points and they say they can beat us. A series or a dynamic can change like this. We want to constantly pay attention to all the details. »
We could say that it is easy for the coach to “pay” for a 26-year-old rotation player, who only has 41 NBA matches under his belt. Except that he is not going to forget the stars, even if DeMar DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis and Malik Monk were not on the field at that time.
Stars must point out and correct mistakes
“I also attacked De’Aaron Fox and DeRozan a little bit because they can’t let this go,” he says. “I shouldn't have been the only one to say it, to place the players in front of their responsibilities. Everyone must be responsible. If our veterans see things coming from a young guy like Mason Jones, we have to let him know, tell him that he had a good practice but can't finish like that. »
“There were some lost balls, with a player wasting a possession and not coming back on defense”confirms De’Aaron Fox. “These little things can have a snowball effect. If it happens in a close match, with a few points difference, then the match can be lost because a player does not come back on defense. »
So why, if the playmaker agrees with his coach's reproaches, did he not intervene with Mason Jones to emphasize this failed sequence?
“This player wasn't part of my team, so I didn't go talk to him, but yes, we have to be responsible for each other, especially at the end of the match”concedes the All-Star. “However, even if I am not on the pitch, we must be able to talk to the players and make this type of criticism. »
