Post by NOLa. on Dec 5, 2013 19:23:21 GMT -6
The Tale of Two Sim Months
The Sacramento Kings second season has not started the way the players, coaches, and fans had first envisioned prior to the start of the regular season. After a very successful first season in which the Kings enjoyed a division championship and a 54-28 record, the organization felt the same results or better was not out of the question and well within the teams attainable reach. Needless to say, the Kings could not overcome the challenge of a brutal road stretch to start the season and already by the begging of January is sitting on 19-14 record, already half the losses compared to last season before the All Star break. The teams struggled in almost area of the court during the first two weeks and Malone was left to try to do the impossible and beat teams single-handed. On the road for eight-of-nine games before the end of the first sim, eyeing another seven-of-nine for the next sim, and the lack of production outside of Malone, the Kings looked lost and without a purpose.
Their defense that was once the teams pride during the first season became an embarrassment as players were lackadaisical and were often out of place. No longer did teams feel facing the Kings would turn into a boxing match and a true test of who had the most grit. They were, on a good night, average sometimes. But that is putting it kindly. Besides one impressive game against the Knicks that was the Kings only home game that sim, they allowed teams to score more than 105 points in seven games and gave up more than 120 points twice. All of this within a stretch of two sim weeks and a 2-6 record, leaving Kings fans wondering two questions:
1) Where did the defense go?
2) Was last seasons defense a thing of the past already?
Brutal, yet the questions had some weight to them. Where did the defense go?
Training camp was rather unsuccessful for the Kings as starting SF Lionel Simmons regressed after his rookie season in every category of the game, but there was no other major change and Simmons wasn't the teams top defender last season anyways. The team added defensive G Randy Brown and was happy with the squad despite the training camp coming into this season. And if the game plan worked last season with the same players from last season it made sense to keep doing what previously worked. As we all witnessed, the plan was a disaster.
"I know it looked ugly on the court and in the standings but the team knew changes had to be made to rise to the challenge," said assistant coach Mr. Uter. "We were disappointed with the start but it was only eight games into the season. There's still a lot of basketball to be played."
The team slowly made progress towards playing a more complete game of basketball, with key emphasis on the word "slowly". The team was still in the middle of their road stretch of the season, with only 3 home games to be played in November left out of 9 games. It was still a tough going for the Kings and they could only emerge with a 6-11 record heading into December.
Then the team flipped the switch.
With their last away game remaining against the Wizards to officially end the streak of away games, the team kicked December off with a win and hasn't looked back since.
"It was nice to come back home to Sacramento and be able to say 'the worst is over'," star PF Karl Malone explained.
"Home". There really is no place better. The Kings finished the month of December going 12-3 with losses to the Rockets, Warriors, and Hawks. Only the loss to the Hawks was at home in December and that's nothing to be ashamed of. The Kings home record in December was 8-1 and the Kings were also able to go 4-2 on the road and pulled out two impressive victories over respected Pacific rival Warriors and then 1st place in Midwest Timberwolves.
So did the defense the SacTown fans yearn for come back?
Not exactly. Truth is, the Kings seemed to have taken advantaged with a decent defense the first season before teams were able to get comfortable with their lineups and game plans, and others have began moving big pieces and getting stronger. The Kings defense has gotten better compared to the first month of the sim but the league has shifted to more offensive power and high pace rather than building up their defense. There are five teams that average more than 110 points per game and the Lakers lead all with a 121 points per game. Slow paced teams are becoming fewer and fewer, and if the pace picks up any more as new talent rolls in these slow paced teams like the Kings may be in danger of having to play keep-up with the rest of the league.
Things are heading in the right direction for the Kings after a November to forget. Players like Pooh Richardson have stepped up their games and provided more scoring to help ease the pressure off of Malone and others like Kevin Edwards, Randy Brown, and Derrick Gervin have played significant roles in helping the team remain balanced. The progress is slow with each new tweak and adjustment to the lineups and game plan, and G Randy Brown broke his foot and is out for 21 days. This team has had their fair share of challenges in such a short existence, but one thing has remained constant. The coach never overreacts and always keeps a level head while preparing sim-by-sim.
"We have to take the rest of the season by segments. Each sim is a new blank slate for our team, what we did in the past doesn't matter and our current record and standing does not matter," said the Kings head coach. "What matters is we win each sim and win at home. If we can do this like we have done now, we can continue to progress and improve where we need to improve."
The schedule is still tough and the Kings are only 4th in the Pacific and 5th in West playoff standings. The team feels another strong playoff run is waiting at the end of the tunnel, but for now they will settle with overcoming each hurdle sim by sim.
"The team is feeling good after a strong showing in December," Karl Malone mentioned "and we have a message to the league."
The Sacramento Kings second season has not started the way the players, coaches, and fans had first envisioned prior to the start of the regular season. After a very successful first season in which the Kings enjoyed a division championship and a 54-28 record, the organization felt the same results or better was not out of the question and well within the teams attainable reach. Needless to say, the Kings could not overcome the challenge of a brutal road stretch to start the season and already by the begging of January is sitting on 19-14 record, already half the losses compared to last season before the All Star break. The teams struggled in almost area of the court during the first two weeks and Malone was left to try to do the impossible and beat teams single-handed. On the road for eight-of-nine games before the end of the first sim, eyeing another seven-of-nine for the next sim, and the lack of production outside of Malone, the Kings looked lost and without a purpose.
Their defense that was once the teams pride during the first season became an embarrassment as players were lackadaisical and were often out of place. No longer did teams feel facing the Kings would turn into a boxing match and a true test of who had the most grit. They were, on a good night, average sometimes. But that is putting it kindly. Besides one impressive game against the Knicks that was the Kings only home game that sim, they allowed teams to score more than 105 points in seven games and gave up more than 120 points twice. All of this within a stretch of two sim weeks and a 2-6 record, leaving Kings fans wondering two questions:
1) Where did the defense go?
2) Was last seasons defense a thing of the past already?
Brutal, yet the questions had some weight to them. Where did the defense go?
Training camp was rather unsuccessful for the Kings as starting SF Lionel Simmons regressed after his rookie season in every category of the game, but there was no other major change and Simmons wasn't the teams top defender last season anyways. The team added defensive G Randy Brown and was happy with the squad despite the training camp coming into this season. And if the game plan worked last season with the same players from last season it made sense to keep doing what previously worked. As we all witnessed, the plan was a disaster.
"I know it looked ugly on the court and in the standings but the team knew changes had to be made to rise to the challenge," said assistant coach Mr. Uter. "We were disappointed with the start but it was only eight games into the season. There's still a lot of basketball to be played."
The team slowly made progress towards playing a more complete game of basketball, with key emphasis on the word "slowly". The team was still in the middle of their road stretch of the season, with only 3 home games to be played in November left out of 9 games. It was still a tough going for the Kings and they could only emerge with a 6-11 record heading into December.
Then the team flipped the switch.
With their last away game remaining against the Wizards to officially end the streak of away games, the team kicked December off with a win and hasn't looked back since.
"It was nice to come back home to Sacramento and be able to say 'the worst is over'," star PF Karl Malone explained.
"Home". There really is no place better. The Kings finished the month of December going 12-3 with losses to the Rockets, Warriors, and Hawks. Only the loss to the Hawks was at home in December and that's nothing to be ashamed of. The Kings home record in December was 8-1 and the Kings were also able to go 4-2 on the road and pulled out two impressive victories over respected Pacific rival Warriors and then 1st place in Midwest Timberwolves.
So did the defense the SacTown fans yearn for come back?
Not exactly. Truth is, the Kings seemed to have taken advantaged with a decent defense the first season before teams were able to get comfortable with their lineups and game plans, and others have began moving big pieces and getting stronger. The Kings defense has gotten better compared to the first month of the sim but the league has shifted to more offensive power and high pace rather than building up their defense. There are five teams that average more than 110 points per game and the Lakers lead all with a 121 points per game. Slow paced teams are becoming fewer and fewer, and if the pace picks up any more as new talent rolls in these slow paced teams like the Kings may be in danger of having to play keep-up with the rest of the league.
Things are heading in the right direction for the Kings after a November to forget. Players like Pooh Richardson have stepped up their games and provided more scoring to help ease the pressure off of Malone and others like Kevin Edwards, Randy Brown, and Derrick Gervin have played significant roles in helping the team remain balanced. The progress is slow with each new tweak and adjustment to the lineups and game plan, and G Randy Brown broke his foot and is out for 21 days. This team has had their fair share of challenges in such a short existence, but one thing has remained constant. The coach never overreacts and always keeps a level head while preparing sim-by-sim.
"We have to take the rest of the season by segments. Each sim is a new blank slate for our team, what we did in the past doesn't matter and our current record and standing does not matter," said the Kings head coach. "What matters is we win each sim and win at home. If we can do this like we have done now, we can continue to progress and improve where we need to improve."
The schedule is still tough and the Kings are only 4th in the Pacific and 5th in West playoff standings. The team feels another strong playoff run is waiting at the end of the tunnel, but for now they will settle with overcoming each hurdle sim by sim.
"The team is feeling good after a strong showing in December," Karl Malone mentioned "and we have a message to the league."
