Waiting for the Turnaround in Sacramento
By Rafael Uehara
There are some expectations around the Kings this season. No, no one is expecting the squad that won just a third of their games last season and is returning 12 players that participated in that campaign will emerge as a postseason contender. But with Keith Smart essentially entering his second full season at the helm (Paul Westphal was the head-coach for just seven games last season), DeMarcus Cousins coming off a season in which he played really hard and Tyreke Evans in a contract year, hope is we can see this team go from decent to average, potentially setting up more optimistic expectations for next season.
Sacramento has lost its first three games, all on the road, to Chicago, Minnesota and Indiana. But all three defeats featured encouraging signs things might be headed in the right direction. Against the Bulls, it was the effort on defense; with Evans showing all his potential as a lockdown defender in the head-to-head against Luol Deng and even Marcus Thornton fighting through screens. Against the Timberwolves, it was how things didn’t spiral out of control when they were down 18 midway through the second-quarter. The Kings went back to running their offense, got a couple of scores at the rim with Evans and Thornton and set up Isiah Thomas for three three-pointers, leading at one point midway through the third-quarter. Against the Pacers, it was how they forced double-overtime against a postseason team in their home opener, playing their third game in four nights on the road.
There are 79 games left and all these first three outings could be is season’s start enthusiasm, when it’s easy to buy into the program. It’s premature to be excited about their first-place ranking in steals, first-place ranking in opponents’ three-point shooting, fourth-place ranking in turnovers forced, fourth-place ranking in opponents’ effective field-goal percentage or 10th-place ranking in defensive rating, according to basketball-reference. But you can see that as a sign of potential, that this team has the ceiling of playing some great pressuring perimeter defense. Cousins’ foul-rate continues to be a mammoth issue and the offense hasn’t performed like a high leverage attack, but it’s premature to read too much into that yet too. The Kings look like a bunch that gives a crap and has tried to execute what Smart has coached them to. They are nowhere close from what we saw the Wizards be last season. The talent, although not a perfect match, is there, so with the apparent development in attitude, it is possible there is a turnaround coming in Sacramento.
Editor's Note: Rafael Uehara is the managing editor of 'The Basketball Post'. More of his work can be found here and he can be followed on twitter @rafael_uehara or reached via e-mail at rafael_uehara@live.com
There are some expectations around the Kings this season. No, no one is expecting the squad that won just a third of their games last season and is returning 12 players that participated in that campaign will emerge as a postseason contender. But with Keith Smart essentially entering his second full season at the helm (Paul Westphal was the head-coach for just seven games last season), DeMarcus Cousins coming off a season in which he played really hard and Tyreke Evans in a contract year, hope is we can see this team go from decent to average, potentially setting up more optimistic expectations for next season.
Sacramento has lost its first three games, all on the road, to Chicago, Minnesota and Indiana. But all three defeats featured encouraging signs things might be headed in the right direction. Against the Bulls, it was the effort on defense; with Evans showing all his potential as a lockdown defender in the head-to-head against Luol Deng and even Marcus Thornton fighting through screens. Against the Timberwolves, it was how things didn’t spiral out of control when they were down 18 midway through the second-quarter. The Kings went back to running their offense, got a couple of scores at the rim with Evans and Thornton and set up Isiah Thomas for three three-pointers, leading at one point midway through the third-quarter. Against the Pacers, it was how they forced double-overtime against a postseason team in their home opener, playing their third game in four nights on the road.
There are 79 games left and all these first three outings could be is season’s start enthusiasm, when it’s easy to buy into the program. It’s premature to be excited about their first-place ranking in steals, first-place ranking in opponents’ three-point shooting, fourth-place ranking in turnovers forced, fourth-place ranking in opponents’ effective field-goal percentage or 10th-place ranking in defensive rating, according to basketball-reference. But you can see that as a sign of potential, that this team has the ceiling of playing some great pressuring perimeter defense. Cousins’ foul-rate continues to be a mammoth issue and the offense hasn’t performed like a high leverage attack, but it’s premature to read too much into that yet too. The Kings look like a bunch that gives a crap and has tried to execute what Smart has coached them to. They are nowhere close from what we saw the Wizards be last season. The talent, although not a perfect match, is there, so with the apparent development in attitude, it is possible there is a turnaround coming in Sacramento.
Editor's Note: Rafael Uehara is the managing editor of 'The Basketball Post'. More of his work can be found here and he can be followed on twitter @rafael_uehara or reached via e-mail at rafael_uehara@live.com
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