Sacramento Kings: Efense! Efense!

Isaish Thomas attacking the teeth of the Pelicans defense with one of his patented floaters.

With the Kings 113-100 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans last night, the Kings are continuing their season long quest to take the D out of defense. With the game tied at 77 after three quarters, it seemed as though the Kings were in for another down to the wire finish, however, they proceeded to give up 36 points in the fourth quarter as the Pellies ran away with the game. It was an all around effort by the team’s defense, with everyone chipping in on not getting back on defense, bad rotations, and bad communication on pick and rolls. I could have focused on the teams ability to put the ball in the bucket, but the Pellies are one of the worst defensive teams so the Kings should have been scoring. I could say more but I would never say it as good as coach Malone did after the game so I’ll just put his words here and let them sink in.

“How many times do you have to hit rock bottom? Look at our record, we’ve hit rock bottom four or five times now,” Malone told reporters…Maybe some of these guys are so used to losing that they’re accustomed to it. I’m not. I’m not used to losing. I’m used to being in the playoffs, being a competitive team that takes pride in its defense. Right now we don’t have a lot of guys to do that. I’m not sure what their rock bottom is, but I hit my rock bottom about one week into the season…I don’t know if anyone in that locker room is embarrassed, but I’m embarrassed…It’s the same problem every night,I guess we’ve got to get some better players who can contain the basketball, and right now we can’t.”

This is exactly why I like coach Malone. He isn’t going to cut corners, he is going to call people out, and he understands that defense is the way you win in the NBA. I have been saying all year, I have renewed hope in the Kings this year because there is an opportunity to change the losing culture and lack of defense that has plagued the team for these past five losing seasons. I hope the team takes these words to heart to come out an change the attitude on defense. As I have said in the past, defense is so profoundly about effort and this team, as a whole, fails to exhibit the effort needed to be successful on the defensive end. Even if they don’t have the necessary ability to be above average defenders, the team can see much improvement if they just clean up rotations, communication and effort.

Notes

Turnovers are starting to creep up and kill the team. 22 last night offset any of the gains made by the team getting to the line a whopping 42 times. Almost everyone contributed to the butterfingers epidemic, including four players having four turnovers or more.
IT looked comfortable to be shooting at home again, as he shot over 50% for the fourth straight home game. His three ball was especially true, shooting 3-6 from deep, with several key threes in the third quarter.
He also had a sweet find of Quincy Acy in the key, as he drew Brian Roberts andLouis Amudson to him in the lane, jumped up for a layup before delivering a semi no look pass to Acy for a wide open dunk. Safe to say I rewinded a couple times to see the play again.
The Boogieman fought foul trouble all game, but was able to still notch 24 points and 14 boards. He continues to be a load on offensive end, a virtually unstoppable force who seems to make a basket or get fouled. He has shot in double digit free throws 6 out of 12 games in December and last night was no different as he got Pelicans big Ryan Anderson in foul trouble early and shot 17 free throws. He only made 10 but that’s a rare occurrence of poor shooting, as he has shot 73% from the stripe this month.
Rudy Gay did not have a good game yesterday, shooting 2-12 and turning the ball over six times. I am trying very hard to see the good in his game, but man I just don’t agree with his game. Namely midrange post up jumpers if your name isn’t Carmelo Anthony. Yesterday had an oh so Rudy play, as he crossed a Pellies defender bad, only to dribble into another defender so he could launch a contested midrange shot. Did he miss? Of course he did.
I liked what I saw from Jimmer yesterday because he was aggressive. Stay aggressive and Jimmer has a chance to prove he should be an NBA rotation player. Go back to not always being in attack mode and we will just see bad Jimmer.
JT and Derrick Williams offered the team nothing last night. 7 points and 5 rebounds combined basically tells the story, I didn’t even notice them on the court most of the night.
Marcus Thornton seems to have dusted off the moth balls and reentered the rotation in place of Travis Outlaw. He didn’t play bad in this game, marking back to back good outings for him. Especially with Ben struggling yesterday, and really for the whole month, Marcus is definitely needed on the court. His shooting and overall scoring ability are a must for this team.
He also has good chemistry with IT, and it really shows when he gets extended run alongside Thomas. Isaiah might just know how and where to get the ball to Marcus and that could be what he needs to boost his confidence.

Next game is at home, Friday against the Heat.