Mike Brown on Kings win, players-only meeting & Keon Ellis

Mike Brown on Kings win, players-only meeting & Keon Ellis

How encouraging I guess is it to see Dar kind of warms up before every game those two games unable to go and get him in practice you see any gradually improvement from yeah you know it was good to see him out there you know but

Uh we still need to make sure he get through shooting around and we’ll see his warm up tomorrow and figure out uh what’s going to happen in the game but it’s all anytime a guy is out like that it’s it’s always good to see I’m back on

The full did last game did it feel like one of those seasons landar wins for you guys given the circumstances obviously they had a meeting and all that and just did it kind of have carry a lot of weight with it uh the meeting was great

You know I said this before our game um and I I even addressed it my uh Team denner uh basically you know Championship level teams it comes from within and um you know as a coach you could take them so far and you keep pushing them but sooner or later it’s

Kind kind of like your parents you know hey shut the hell up yeah but you know peer pressure especially on this level uh but but true you know real peer pressure not to be a you know be a bad person or start stuff but really for the

Betterment of the group that that’s hard for guys to run away from and if guys can embrace it not only talking about it but also receiving it uh that’s what Champion Championship level teams do in the six finals and and uh with uh I think three three or four different

Teams and and every every team that I was a part of that that did it once once his a coach but every team I did our team that did that uh was was a championship level team because it came from the group it wasn’t necessarily me

As a head coach in Cleveland or Steve as a head coach uh um in Golden State or to as a head coach in San Antonio players took over the team and the real stuff started to evolve and happen the right way when they truly believed it and

Embraced it at the highest level and uh so I I man I I welcome that meeting uh is it is it the turning point of the season I don’t I don’t know you know but I know that this has to be their team uh

At the end of the day for us to really attain true Heights Mike how do you get them to carry it over and to continue it and not have to be like a once every two week thing or at least something that Fades quickly what so so

The the team meetings don’t have to happen every two weeks or every week I you know it was we have a quiet team naturally and um and you know that’s why a guy like uh Deli was great for us last year you know and a lot of teams have

Guys like that look at Haslam Haslam was in Miami forever because he brought more to the table towards the end of his career than just his play now he’s always a guy that was in great shape and draw out there at any time but him being as vocal as he is and him

Holding his teammates accountable and making sure that the standards are always met no matter game practice shoot around off the all that type of stuff it is great and again so it’s just about them communicating and talking and me just kind of being out of the way and

That’s why the team meeting was great cuz I was there they didn’t give me an invite you know which is probably one of the first times I was happy about not getting an invite someplace my feelings weren’t hurt but uh now it now it gives

Them a chance to look each other in eye and talk and and respond to what this person’s saying or that person’s saying and and hash it all out and I don’t even really care what they talked about it’s just the fact that they were in the room

And they opened up and talked to one another and and that that has carryover you want that to continue not again not necessarily the meeting but during the game and you know it happened during the game somebody didn’t do something when they were guarding the ball and and you

Know we had two guys on the Ben sh know that that that stuff can’t happen that’s you know BS we were talking about Bo that person bucked up a little bit said you’re right and then play better you know so it’s it’s it’s always good things when you can uh have conversation

And sometimes the conversation’s heated I I mean I use Malika as a great example I mean you guys seen her sometimes you go back and forth and in our business because of the emotions from the game and all that you can’t take nothing personal and you got to understand that

My teammate and and CU I said I’m not excluded is trying to help me be better and so I need to take a second to think about it embrace it and respond the right way and so as I want that type of stuff to continue but the team meetings

If they want to have more great if they don’t great I don’t care just keep talking to one another in any and every typee of situations and hold each other and yourself accountable and not just the players but all of us with delig gon who is that

Voice uh you know javel uh has been uh probably the the biggest voice you know um obviously Trey has stepped up um Malik has stepped up you know um and then you know other guys are more quiet leaders but you do need sorry about that

You do need guys to step up vocally um as well as you know with with your with your play too coach what do you think it says about the resiliency of your group you know seeing guys like Keon Davon step up in the ABS of box and even in that

Overtime when domas fouled out you know going with try that in that final stretch what do you think it says about the resilience of the group to figure out how to get that get wins and points of adversity during game me it says a lot and and and Keon

Is Keon is probably uh one of the biggest examples of it man because Keon fought his way into rotation played well started two games for us and big game can we won against Portland Oklahoma City there might have been one more where he started for us and then not his

Play didn’t do it but I kind of put him back on the bench you know because we had other guys stepping up and playing well decision I made and as a young guy it can kind of Crush you you know it can crush your spirit and psyche and all

That other stuff and you know I threw him out there a couple of couple of games and he didn’t play as well as he did when I threw him out there before uh but we went back to him in Minnesota and he was locked in and he stepped up the

Same way he did when he got in rotation and then when he started the two games so uh for a young guy to have that type of mental toughness uh it says a lot about him but in in my opinion with our team um it says a lot about our team as

Well because we as a team have been putting different situations that have shown I.E the Denver game right before the break that have shown that hey we are a resilient group and uh you need that in this business because there are too many games and they’re not not

Negative way but there too many games to to take one or two games off and and and then at at the end of the day team are too good you know Kings uh coach seeing a lot of you know uh steals turning into Breakaway dunks or alley oops you know

Usually you know dear is on that other you know doing that but in the last game seeing that people like Malik and Keon that what do you what your thoughts you know the seeing that I know how you are about you know the blocks and and the

Steals and stuff but it seemed like it’s becoming the team’s identity that’s to say so I I’m I I’m okay with Steals and blocks but I want to be a position steel team or a block Ste team what I mean by that is there are guys that leave their

Man on the weak side to come to the strong side and swatted the ball just to try to add a block to their Stat or make a highlight play well if you go at the wrong time you’re giving up offensive rebounds you’re giving up a dump off

You’re giving up a lot on the weak side of the floor just cuz you’re chasing a block not only that when you’re chasing a block there’s a chance I’m going fou you too so which is if I went vertical and let you run to me and especially I’m

7 ft I’ll take that opportunity to miss more than you swinging down at the ball cuz I know that you’re not going to get the free thr line you’re going to have to take a difficult shot same with steals I’ve been with guys that go for a

Lot of steals and the reality of it is if you attempt to get six steals you might if you’re lucky you might get two of the six the other four and if I go for a steel and I jump the passing Lane and now I’m out of position now they’re

Five on four in an advantage on the backside behind me and so you’re putting your teammate at an advantage so if I keep going for Steals and I’m out of position because I’m being in my opinion selfish then our team defense is going to be in trouble so if you remember

Keegan one of them we went to double team the post on Keegan still we went to double team the post and so we rotated we kept the bigger guy with the guy that we went to double the smaller guy went opposite and we rotated to the next guy

And so you were the next guy on the kick out Keegan rotated to you but when he rotated he just rotated big he rotated like this and you just made this pass to James right where my hand is in the pass Lane it wasn’t like I did this CU if I

Did this you’re driveing to the hole and now we’re out of position again but hand in the pass Lane gets a position steel deflection and it turns into a dunk on the back side so if they position steals if they’re position blocks meaning you’re in the right position I’m all for

But don’t go for a block or for a steal that’s going to take you out of position and give the offense a five on four advantage to put your team in a disadvantage so I if we keep doing that man that’d be awesome Keegan has been in

A much better Rhythm it seems like since coming back out of the break I’m curious what you’ve seen out of his game recently it’s it’s just him growing as a young guy I mean you’re right he’s every time he steps on the floor he’s probably feeling a little bit more comfortable

You know and there’s a lot of adjustments that all of our guys have to make especially Keegan with the amount of pressure that we’re putting on him in in in his second year and and it’s in my opinion it’s just him getting more comfortable every time he steps out

There thanks everyone appreciate it

Kings head coach Mike Brown discussed the Kings win in Minnesota, why he loved that his team had a players-only meeting, Keon Ellis stepping up and he had a brief defensive clinic.

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