De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis & Coach Brown | Postgame Pressers 3.10.24

De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis & Coach Brown | Postgame Pressers 3.10.24

Darren you guys started the game uh I thought you know with great Pace did did that kind of get away from you guys as as the game went on and and was that a factor for you I mean I I think our uh our defense was allowing our offense um

To to get out and run and kind of create easier opportunities for us and um in that second half we weren’t we weren’t getting the stops that we needed to uh make it a little bit easy for ourselves offensively yeah dear the physicality seemed to crank up there in the third

Quarter on from their side is there anything different that you guys were seeing oh they’re definitely a physical team obviously trying to blow up all dhos but um me I think we got some good shots that we just didn’t make and then um there was a stretch where our

Turnovers hurt us Fox I know you didn’t play in those two games in Houston but any commonality from those two games to this one and just particularly the way they defend you guys I mean I think no I mean I think it was pretty much the same I think they were extremely physical

Like I said blowing everything up but I mean we shot you know 6 for 32 from three we didn’t um we had a couple turnover we had 12 turnovers which isn’t terrible um but I think at the end of the day if if we make shots it probably

Looks like a different game and um I got a lot of I got a lot of opportunities that you know I usually make and just didn’t they just didn’t go in that’s kind of the direction I was going to go you’re not the most efficient night for

Yourself did you feel like they were they were good looks for the most part though yeah I mean I think once I checked in I come off um senon and Jabari Smith kind of mess up the coverage and I just missed like there was opportunities where where I had open

Shots that just didn’t go in so I mean I think they did what they did um obviously they were extremely physical but whenever we got the open shots that we got we have to be able to knock those down and um if we do that you know I

Feel like it’s it’s a it’s a bit of a different game um and then they scored off of a majority of our turnovers but we didn’t have a lot of them um but they definitely they definitely capitalized off of all of our mistakes kind of building off that a little bit Fox what

Is what is the balance in Game of you know you’re getting good looks and they’re just not falling continue to to shoot them and and trust that they’ll go in versus change something up do something different cuz it’s just not that night I as basketball you have I

Mean you know 323s it’s not like we shot a boatload of Threes um I don’t even know how many we average but I’m pretty sure it’s more than 32 attempts um I mean we were able to get downhill um like I said I just think the opportunities that we were given uh we

We just didn’t take advantage of them I we shoot we shot 6 for 32 um we had a we had a couple great looks from three that just didn’t go down Deen um obviously it’s you know people are it’s it looks like games you guys should win

Even though this it’s not a bad team but games you should win you guys are losing it um is there any personal concern with dropping these types of games for yourself yeah I mean we we know we have to be better you you can talk about playing down to the competition playing

Up the competition whatever you want to call it um we have to be a more consistent team regardless of what that is um but I guess if if you’re in the playoffs you’re going to play a good team right so I guess you play up to your competition

So we could be a gift and a curse I guess look on the bright side of it right dearn any thoughts on Alper and shenon look like that pretty bad I um I just saw it on my phone yeah I mean that’s a lot of weight coming down on on

On on a Big’s legs uh obviously we hope he’s all right you never you never want to see any injuries in any type of game but I mean as great as as as well as he’s been playing this year you know you definitely don’t want to see that and um

I mean obviously Jabari Smith makes a hard foul and he’s jumping he he was jumping straight up and unfortunate things can happen D MOS what happened there in the third quarter it seemed like they came out and were just a lot more physical and and you guys didn’t

Respond very well yeah I feel like uh we couldn’t we couldn’t score a quarter but what did we have we have 14 points in the third you know and when you’re missing shots you’re usually missing them not they’re they’re not great and you know it kind of LED them to some

Easy transition points and then um we didn’t play our best defense either so that kind of got them going and we kind of fell in the hole is is there something to the way that they were defending you you um especially given the lack of success you guys had in

Houston was there is there something to the way this team defends you guys um they definitely are a more physical team you know and that’s what we’re going to see in the playoffs and um it’s obviously a good thing to play against a team like that you know but uh we got to

Learn how to play against those kind of teams you know and not just give into it what do you think kind of led to your nine turnovers on the night and what could you have cleaned up there uh just being Smarter with the ball you know they were um being physical with

Everyone you know and uh I was try to get my teammates open and you know threat threading threading the needle or you know trying to do the handoffs you know and they’re blowing them up you know so uh just like that domas you mentioned the the physicality how do you

Think just assessing the season as a whole how do you think this team handles and and and fares with physicality and do you guys enjoy playing that style of of basketball um I think I think great to be honest um we did you know they

Kind of punch Us in the mouth in the third quarter but we we definitely rallied back and fought back but we were already 20 points down you know so that’s that’s definitely tough you know um every time we play a top team you know um those games are super physical

You know and uh we’ve done really well this season you know against top teams so we just got to figure a way how how to be consistent throughout the season doas did you guys try to counter the physicality by getting out and running early you had like a 9-2 advantage and

And fast break points in the first quarter uh of course you know that’s that’s kind of our game you know we we try and get stops and then we just run we run we have a lot of Talent on the offensive end you know and um we just we

Just try we just try to get to it more in the game delas thoughts about uh Alper and shenon and and the injury there um I don’t know what happened I don’t know what the reports are but anytime you see someone come out with a wheelchair you know it’s a definitely

Scary very young talented player you know and just you know I feel bad you know no one wants to get hurt you know uh so I just wish wish him the the best uh the best and speedy recovery uh domas when you were getting up after that play

A little bit too looks like maybe you’re a little hobbled how are you feeling how’s that maybe that ankle after that play it’s it’s fine I’ll be fine don’t worry I got it hey you got to give uh Houston Credit uh I thought their physicality um their effort level all

That stuff defensively was right on par with what they what they do how they’ve been playing how they’ve won games they’ve won now four of their last five and they should have been five and0 beating the Clippers this should be the Clippers being up 20 but uh their

Defensive ability is a game Cher especially in an era where everybody uh focuses on scoring uh they’re going to be really really really really good as they’re already good but they’re just going to keep ascending in my opinion upwards because of their ability to to defend I me since the All-Star break

We’re third and the prior to tonight we’re third in the NBA in offense so we offensively were have been doing a really good job being you know and I’ve always felt we can score and I’ve always felt that it it’ll come but uh since the allstar break we’re third in the NBA and

They came in here and they imposed their will on us and um they made it hard on us and um you know it was evident um we had uh we had nine turnovers in the second half and one of the things we talked to our guys about um they do a

Great job when that ball hits the paint they do great whether it’s uh from the pick and roll or drive they just go just like that and you know we we either got too deep and turned it over or we just didn’t spray the ball and we told him

Before the game that this is going to happen then and uh you know prior to tonight you know overall in the NBA we we do a really good job of spraying the ball we’re third in the NBA with that uh but our last five games we’ve we’ve

Really really struggled I I don’t know why we won’t spray the ball uh especially when there’s a crowd uh but our tonight we were four for 10 we had 10 sprays um the last five games we’ve averaged 11.6 sprays a game that puts us

At 22 uh a 22nd in NBA so our last five games even though we’re third in NBA prior to tonight uh with our offensive rating uh we’re not doing a great job spraying the ball we’re holding on to it too long in the paint or we’re trying to

Score through traffic in the paint we got to get back to moving that ball and getting easy shots cuz easy shots Andor sprays for for us lead to Great threes and we had some great threes tonight but you know again you know this is why defense is important if you turn the

Ball over the nine times we did in the second half for 11 points and and and you’re not making your threes we were 6 for 32 at 18% which is not good obviously but when you do those two things it’s going to be hard to win a b

Ball game unless you’re defending at at extremely high level and uh and I thought our guys did a pretty good job the pick and roll hurt us in the third quarter uh their pick and roll hurt us in the third quarter and that’s why we

Went to to to Zone uh to get him out of the pick and roll and I thought uh our guys did a pretty good job in the zone because what it did is made him do something else besides take shots in the pick and roll game so uh I thought our

Zone was effective and it helped us get back in the game but um you know at the end of the day uh for us if if we’re not spraying that ball uh you know we can’t have 10 sprays in a game against a team like the Rockets because you’re playing right into their

Hands and in terms of not getting quality shots from the three-point line and possibly turning it over so in that third quarter their pick and roll game and their ability to convert points off our turn over uh uh uh really really really hurt us Mike a number of times

This season the Kings your team has been on the wrong end of a of of a pretty significant run and I know there’s been an emphasis on the defensive side of the ball and wanting to improve defensively of course and that can improve but it seems like the offense also goes through

Pretty significant lows during those runs as well is there a balance of concern or I guess what is the level of concern with the offensive step backs versus the the defensive ongoing work that you’ve been putting in this season yeah well you know like I said I I we’re

We could score if we play like we’re capable of since Allstar break we’re third in the NBA in offense or prior to tonight you know tonight we probably dropped a bunch because of the Rockets uh but offensively I take being third since All-Star break to me then that’s

That’s a span of eight games you’re trending in the right direction going into the playoffs you’re doing the right things even though the last five games we’ve averaged 11.6 sprays a game which is not good you know if our spray numbers were up maybe our three is our

Three-o percentage is higher and our offensive rating now goes from three to one since the All-Star break so I I I disagree a little bit with with the offense tonight they had something to do with it the Rockets did um and I thought like I said I thought it was us not

Spraying the ball when we caught in the paint or dribble drove into the paint we didn’t get off of it like we came off pick and roll sometimes and the easy push ahead pass was there because they were pulled in you know we gathered and

Had to go over the top hey just Advance it let them shoot it or let them make the hockey assist uh so I thought our our turnovers and our uh inability to spray get to a point to where we could spray the basketball and get even easier

Shots than we did uh is what hurt us offensively and you know that that’s an easy fix pass the ball when you see two or three guys around you to the open guy you mention their defense obviously you you know you’re done with them this season they take all three is this among

The toughest defense you’ve had to encounter this season yeah I mean I give them credit because they’re they’re they’re very physical they’re athletic they’re long in every position uh they’re a prototypical NBA defensive team that has the ability to score you know and um you know they’re just young

And they haven’t uh played long together and so I think they’re only going to get better having said all that I still think we played into their hands we did exact uh what they want you to do on the offens and the floor and if we play that

Way it’s going to be hard to beat them unless uh unless we defend at a high level uh but if we play the way that we’re capable of I have confidence in our guys uh that we we could uh beat this team you know but it’s it’s up to

Us how we want to uh play on the offensive end of the floor uh especially with the way that they uh protect that paint Mike you guys had uh 9-2 advantage in Fast Break points in the first quarter and then you know didn’t have I don’t think he had any more fast break

Points till the fourth what was that um kind of by Design to counter like the physicality that that you knew was coming from them and and why did that kind of um get get more difficult as the game went on no I mean they’re they’re a good defensive team I they’re I can’t

Remember what they were ranked uh in terms of defensive transition but they’re they’re not a poor defensive transition team they got young young bodies that get out they can get back they do a good job of loading uh you know foxy in you know a few other game

In games prior to tonight his speed you know he’s when he pushes the ball you know our opponent’s defense not set it’s it’s basically him and one guy that he has to attack but tonight you know he’s pushing that basketball they got two three guys back they’re loaded it makes

It a little tough so again you give them credit it wasn’t by Design we want to play Fast um but we have to continue continue trying to throw the ball ahead we have to continue trying to Sprint the floor uh and and if and if our fras

Breaks not there we got to flow right now against this team into our secondary uh offense uh or early offense and uh we did not do a great job of it tonight but again like I said you you you got to give them credit part of it too was you

Know if they score at a high level or if they make shots uh at a high level uh it’s going to be a little harder to run that first if you in the first quarter I think they shot 39% from the field so there plenty of opportunities for us to

Get out and run we had 11 deflections uh in the first half and our activity defensively went down in the second we had six part of it was just cuz they went straight to the pick and roll and a little part of it is because we went to

A Zone to get them out of the pick and roll but our activity wasn’t quite there like it was in the first half which gave us opportunities to get out and transition coach sounds similar to that Miami game with your offensive game plan a team that packs the pain and maybe

Getting too deep and not hitting those spray threes like what are you seeing out there that’s not allowing these guys to execute those game plans I just hold on to the ball a little too long um you know and and as soon as you feel a

Second body or as soon as you see a second body you just got to get off it and you know we have guys that are capable scorers and Playmakers and so sometimes it gets a little tough to get off of it but you have to have the

Discipline to say hey screw it as soon as I feel something cuz I know they’re coming I’m going to make the pass I’m not going to probably get the assist the assist and obviously I’m not going to score it but it it starts the domino effect you know when you get off that

Thing early now they got to have a hard close out and one of the things that we felt we could do is because they shrink that floor they’re athletic they’re very quick now when they close hard to you that’s where the snap Drive comes into

Play that guy can get to the rim or that guy can drive get a little deeper and make the assist and we we talked about it we drilled it uh and it’s something that we’ve done before but in the last five games our spray game has not been

Good and it’s evident you know we’ve Aver like I said prior tonight last five games we’re 11.6 which put us at 22 in the NBA tonight we had 10 and so that probably you know if you average 10 sprays a game you’re probably in the

High 20s if not dead last in the NBA so we have to do a better job especially versus the better defensive teams that that protect that paint getting off that thing early or once you catching the paint and you feel a second body just getting it out

De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis & Coach Brown speak to the media following a loss to the Houston Rockets at Golden 1 Center on Sunday, March 10, 2024.

0:00 – 3:31 De’Aaron Fox
3:31 – 6:09 Domantas Sabonis
6:09 – 16:33 Coach Brown

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