De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk & Coach Brown | Post-game availability following Tuesday win against Bucks.

De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk & Coach Brown | Post-game availability following Tuesday win against Bucks.

Uh Darren great win for you guys as a group um I guess I’ll ask you about both domas and and mik and and you know kind of the the Milestones they reach the records They set tonight like what um what can you say about about you know

The marks they they they’ve achieved and and what those things uh mean to the team oh well bjack wasn’t trying to pass so I was like like Malik you should you should have got that but n he’s been great for us uh ever since uh he’s been

Here I think he’s expanding his game I think I don’t think people realize how good of a playmaker he was uh one coming into the league and then our first our first couple years in the league um but you know we’ve really given that freedom

And and I think he’s done a great job with it and then uh domas I mean night in night out um he’s he’s he’s come up big for us um like said we talked about before uh how I think immune people are to it like no one outside of you know

Basically us talks about it um but that’s obviously a hard thing to do and there’s a reason that not many people have done it uh but he he he comes ready to play every night he has a missed the game this year um he’s he’s on track to

Play all 82 obviously KN on wood um or whatever this is uh but he’s not just playing every game he’s contributing and he’s making an impact every single night that that he’s out there dear uh Damen Lillard two of 12 from the field one of

Six from three what did you guys do uh to slow him down just how proud are are you of Keon Ellis for stepping up yeah I mean I was going to say that’s I think a lot of that had to do with Keon just being able to pressure the ball he’s

Long at very active um he’s able to get through screens I think he was big for us and then obviously when davon’s on him uh just continuing to pressure the ball getting through screens fighting just making him have to work I think those two guys were were were big we’re

Big on him tonight and obviously uh there are times where we got lucky that that happens that you’re not going to every single shot won’t you can’t contest every single shot there are times where you just have to you have to get lucky but I think we did a great job

On them tonight heing a lot of talk recently about spray threes on one end and then close outs on the other and it felt like you guys did a good job of both tonight just how good does that feel with how much of an emphasis there

Had been on that I think we played a great game I think uh defensively we were physical um obviously you know we gave up more free throws than we wanted to but I think we physical and that kind of just Trinkle on to everything I think

We were able to defend the paint well um and we were able to get out to Shooters and uh I think defensively we we did a great job and I think that fueled our offense obviously we scored 130 points but um even if we didn’t play that well

Offensively if we have a even below average game you score 110 like we still win this game by 15 so um it was I think what we did defensively was was our there’s one other game I don’t it might have been a Denver game maybe at home I

Think uh but I think those are two of the most complete games that we’ve played this year when y’all go to the three guard lineups whether it’s you Malik and Keon you Malik and Davon whichever the combination is what advantages do you think y’all have uh I

Mean obviously the one thing that we really focus on when when three of us are out there is uh is rebounding because we know that we’re small but um I think you have any combination of me Keon and Davon out there I think the ball pressure skyrockets you you being a

To at times you know if obviously a lot of times especially when I’m out there they Cross Match like I’m a shooting guard or or a wing is guarding me so then uh the point guard is guarding somebody else so um it’s a lot easier

For like Keon or Davon to go go ahead and already pick him up or if we’re crossmatching another way and I’m able to pick him up we’re just able to give them different looks and throw different things out there and then offensively especially with the way that Davon

Shooting the ball and Keon shooting the ball I think it opens up a lot more for us offensively being able to U attack close outs get downhill you have multiple guys who can touch the paint and we just talked about spray threes it just it it allows that to open up even

More when we have three guards out there Fox first off camera caught you in the bench uh Kev kev’s reaction was crazy kev’s reaction was crazy he was I don’t know if yall saw I hit him on the head he’s like he’s like he’s from upstate

I’m like bro I don’t care like that’s the first thing that worldwide W post that’s the first thing that people are going to see is how we react and I was he got him though for sure you uh you joked after uh the most recent game just

About playing up or down at the level of competition and playing against Great teams of course Milwaukee’s a great team but what about tonight do you feel is repeatable that this team can continue to do I mean I think they’ve had the best have they had the I think they had

They’ve had the best offense since the break I think uh but I mean just what we did pH uh physically just being able to try to stop them I mean I think they had 12 points in the paint um in the second half ended with 42 I’m almost certain

That they averag a lot more than 42 points in the paint um obviously we have to be able to adjust how they’re officiating um sometimes it’s like nothing you can do about it but um even even with that said I think the way that we were able

To guard the way that we were just keeping our hands on them and trying to dictate what they did offensively was great and that’s one thing that can be repeatable obviously um you’re not going to stop you’re not going to make someone shoot 18% from three all the time but uh

If we’re able to guard the paint like the way that we did tonight you put yourself in a great position de God Sports the 13 Tor turnovers you got 11 the steals man I don’t know if you saw that or not but what do you got to say

About that and I I’ll say it again a lot of these uh steals been turning into fast break points or some type of conversion yeah like I said I mean obviously we scored 130 points but a lot of that was fueled by what we were doing

Defensively um I mean we have I had two I think Keon had three the whole starting lineup everybody had a steal um that makes it a lot easier to put the ball in the basket and um like I said whenever for for us to reach our full potential we know that defensively we

Have to be a team that’s able to be disruptive be able to get out and run and that makes our offense that much better oh uh mik Grey win for you guys um crazy appreciate it again uh setting the franchise record uh for assists by a reserve for you Mike talked before about

Putting the ball on your hands a lot giving you you know opportunities because they recognize what you could do what does that mean to you and and what does this this Milestone mean to you uh I think that’s what you want if you want to play basketball man at a high level

Um your coach trusting you um trusting you making decisions um you getting the ball so yeah man I just been making the right plays um my teammate’s been there knocking the shots down so it ain’t all me um but yeah I I just been I guess rolling Malik it looked from the opening

Tip Uh Kevin and Harrison both had a bounce in their step you came in you had that same bounce what is it about this game tonight that you guys just sort of found yourselves um we got to perform in front of the home crowd um we knew that um especially

With how we went down against Houston um we were up a little bit um they took the fight to us we we laid down a little bit we knew we could not lay down um against this great team um especially with all the the weapons they have over there and I think that’s

What it was we didn’t lay down in the third quarter and just kept our energy up yeah Malik it feels like every time I we ask you about Keon you’re like this is just what he does so what is it that you feel like you can rely on him to do

Every night be solid be solid in in whatever he does um whatever situation you put him in he’ll be solid at um for sure U he he a smart player want to learn listens um so yeah man that’s key on being professional you had no assist or five

Assists no turnovers tonight what it mean for you to be able to be as efficient as you were out there oh yeah man it’s great um it makes it makes the defense um I think off balance um because they don’t know what I’m going to do um

Especially when I’m not turning the ball over um I’m making the right play um scoring um kicking it out hockey assist um so yeah man it’s just it just makes the defense a little uncomfortable and and don’t know what I’m going be doing he back to that um record the assist

Record here for the franchise yeah I told Bobby I was going to beat him did you yeah I told him that how’d he take it I told him that before I even soon as I sign I’m like yeah I’m I’m G beat your records Bobby um I’ve been here in two

Years too I mean just to that point though like yeah not having two full seasons to be able to do that not even two full seasons just how gratifying is that yeah it’s great man um especially let me pick up um back up on Mike

Trusted me um him putting the ball in my hands um my teammates trusting me knowing I’m gonna make the right play um and like I said that’s just if you want to play basketball I think you want to be in the position like this and and

Then for you guys I mean you guys have beat good teams all year it’s kind of like what you guys do um but obviously you have the the other games that that I mean to have a a game like tonight does it even get impress you guys the way you

Were able to pull that out Trey goes down no Keegan um it definitely impressed me um how we kept the lead um because we usually get a lead up um fight and win by like eight or something like that um I was impressed on how we fought all the way through um especially

Without Trey um without Keegan um and with Kev having a little injury too man um I I was super impressed on that but we got a game tomorrow so well Le I imagine it was nice to see an opposing team have a have a rough shooting night

But what do you think specifically you guys did the Kings did tonight to make sure the perimeter shooting was tough for them um I think we just stick to our game plan man and and and closed out hard um didn’t give him easy looks um and just contested every shot they shot

Uh we’re in the NBA so they’re they’re they going to miss uh whether you like it or not or they’re going to make it whether you like it or not so luckily they was missing tonight King of the Kings you uh you clearly are a much

Better point guard than than uh a lot of people realize the more point guard you’ve played while you’ve been here do you feel like you’ve gotten better at playing point guard um more comfortable I wouldn’t say better um because I I had the ball in my hands my whole life um I

Just got way more comfortable um in the decision making and reading the NBA court thanks everyone yeah appreciate y’all uh first uh congratul congratulations to uh Malik uh for most assists and as a reserve in King’s history um that’s definitely an honor uh that that he’s earned and uh by his play

And and with his teammates too so congratulations to him on that and and then congratulations to domas for the most consecutive double doubles in Kings history as well um they both uh obviously had great games but more importantly they’ve had really really good careers and their short time here so

Far uh I tell you you know heck of a game by our guys um you know we’ve started Keon five games now uh we started him four times at the point guard position and one time at the two guard and the funny part about it everybody keeps telling me well he’s not

A point he’s not this he’s not that he started four games for us at the point he’s 4 and0 at the at the point guard spot started one game at the two guard position and um you know we got the win when he started at the two he’s just a

Basketball player and and he’s a pretty good young basketball player so uh he was our defensive player of the game and you know you’re not stopping uh Dame Lillard but um the the job he did just to try to make him work for a young guy

Uh was phenomenal to watch um you know uh I thought defensively our guys were really good you know one of our killes heels the three-point three killes Hill is a three-point line and uh our guys I mean they were flying around tonight their close outs were we had some

Beautiful beautiful high fives on our Closeouts and that’s what we’ve been preaching um day after day after day after day and and and even at times when it wasn’t perfect we just were flying around trying to protect one another communicating and seeing what we can get

Done on that end of the floor and for them to go 739 now they had to miss some but you know some of those misses are a product of us flying around and them thinking somebody may come too so for them to go s of 39 from the floor the

With the way they shoot the ball was just a phenomenal job by our guys defending that three-point line so I got to give him a lot of credit and you know you talk about uh defensively we had two stops to finish the third and six straight stops to finish to start the

Fourth so to get eight stops in a row that’s what helps you blows the lead open you know and and then again you know 12 points in the paint in the second half our guys did a good job of protecting the three-point line and also trying to protect the paint but it’s

It’s a Telltale sign when we’re active I think we had 20 21 deflections tonight that shows our activity and then a big result was there there were 6 50/50 balls and we got all six of them uh that that’s that’s huge too which in terms of showing your activity and your sense of

Urgency during the ball game uh but you know in our last game we couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean and and and that’s part of it uh tonight it was a little easier because we sprayed the basketball you know we we’ve been averaging 11 sprays a game the last three or four

Games and we’ve been talking to our guys showing them film talking to them showing them them film and uh that spray is open because we have some talented guys that can touch the paint and uh we were 10 for 20 tonight uh when it when

It came to sprays and you know you shoot 10 for 20 from the three-point line as we know that’s a good percentage but 20 of those attempts came from just like you guys when you guys are young and you’re shooting and somebody standing underneath the hooping and passing it

Out to you your feet are set it’s like you’re playing horse that’s probably those are probably the EAS shot easiest shots from the three-point line and in the game of basketball and so to have 20 sprays and go 10 for 20 was was huge for

Us uh on the offense into the floor as well as getting out in transition and playing at a pace that we’re capable of against a really good team scoring 18 fast break points uh even though we shot 53% from the floor our guys were very

Active uh on on the offens of glass uh you know at least converting the ones that we had in the points so that was good to see too Mike you might have touched on this already a little bit just in that mix but Milwaukee I think

Got as close as 14 in the third quarter making a little bit of a push trying to make a game your team responds you mentioned the two possessions at the end of the third theh four or six possessions the start of the fourth but what specifically did you see from the

Team that how they answered that push when Milwaukee had an opportunity to try and make a game of it in the second half I I tell you our defensive intensity our sense of urgency on that end of the floor it was really good we mixed in zone and man throughout most of the

Night and our guys were really really receptive in terms of getting to a Zone on the Fly and which is huge because it can be chaotic at times especially as fast we play as we play but you know again I I I really think you know if we

Continue to play the right way offensively which we’ve done the most for the most part especially since Allstar break minus Houston you know um we’re going to give ourselves a SC a chance to score a lot of points what we have to do is we have to buckle down and

Stop their runs excuse me and stop get stops defensively because when we do especially as active as we were in in that second half now we’re getting out in transition and we’re turning our defense into into easy offensive points and I thought our guys were really good

At that when we when they went on the run and we responded back with a run of our own I mean you can feel the crowd into it you can f our guys defensively and you can sure as hell feel them once we got that ball us getting out and

Running whether it was off of deflection or off of the defensive rebound Mike it’s kind of strange question but do you have a feel for who this team is because it seems like we have no idea from one game to the next who’s going to show up and like tonight

Was just spectacular but just a couple of days ago we saw something different yeah you know again I I I I felt that uh you know our our offense was a product of of our defense we got a lot of opportunities out in transition before their defense was set we getting it off

The rim and going we were throwing it ahead and knocking down threes um on top of that I I really believe that we’re a team that’s more than capable of touching that paint and spraying the basketball and we did that tonight um we’re the number one passing team in the

League uh you know and so for us to continue to find ways to get easy threes is Paramount I mean we have to be able to do that because we’re not going to sit here and dribble 15 times and try to break it down every time down the floor

With one guy and so I I I just I just think we’re we’re a team right now that that has a chance to be really good uh but is going through some ups and downs in my opinion like any any any inexperienced team in the position that

We’re in Ian we’re we’re trying to play uh this game uh with some expectations as a group that we’re not used to having overall and you know it’s going to cause for some UPS that’s going to cause for some downs and the one thing that you hope is is everybody continues to stay

Together uh but while staying together we each we each hold each other accountable and you know as long as you feel like you’re making strides especially towards the end of the season going into playoff time I’ll Le I I for me personally I can I don’t like it I

Don’t want it to happen but I can live with some inconsistencies throughout the course the course of the Year especially uh where we are as a group when you’re looking at the individuals on this roster which is not a ton of experience in the position that we’re in right

Now this obviously predates you but 15 straight losses to the and earlier in the season you you know had overtime game onepoint game and here you are playing them the way you did tonight I’m just wondering if this team felt like they had to get up for a game like this

And then when you talked about having Keegan gone and then you lose Trey did that kind of bring something out of this team at all uh maybe I mean you you know you’d have to ask each individual guy obviously I I just think you know we have a group that’s fa some

Injuries and especially early on you know we didn’t do a great job with it but as the season has gone along you know having key guys out and Reserve step in you know on on big occasions has been something that we’ve been able to do guys are just finding a way they’re

They’re not trying to come in the game and and do too much and they’re contributing however and whenever they can and so I I felt it was that more more than anything else again um you know we we talked about some of the things that we didn’t do well against

Houston one of them being uh spraying the basketball and you know we go from averaging 11 a game the last I don’t know four games getting 10 against Houston and shooting 18% to to tonight getting getting 20 and shooting 50% on those 20 so um you know

You can point to a lot of different things but I I I think uh uh when when we do play the right way which our guys are more than capable of uh we could be be a dangerous team because we can score uh obviously um and

I I truly believe we can defend you know I don’t know I know a couple of games ago we were we we were 12th on the road in defensive rating and 28th at home in defensive rating so that tells me through 60 games if you’re 12th on the

Road in defensive rating you can defend and tonight I thought we brought it on both sides of the ball the right way Keon seems like he’s always getting deflections on and off ball um how important has that been to this group and is there anybody from years prior

That he reminds you of like playing defense so man that’s that’s a great qu I would have to think about that question uh you know uh but he he he’s got a man he’s got an uncanny ability to defend the pick and roll uh to be a a great

Weak side help Defender strong side help Defender he he’s really really Elusive and really quick back to the ball and what people don’t realize is is how long his arms are you know uh and then he’s he’s got a a motor where he just keeps pursuing keeps pursuing keeps pursuing

Keeps pursuing and you need to have that um Relentless attitude if you want to be a great defender or an elite Defender and he he he definitely definitely has it and um I mean I I I know there’s probably somebody that out there that I’ve been around that’s been like him

Not not many guys though uh but he he has a chance to be a a special Defender you’re talking about a a young man that was on a two-way last year um I don’t think he got drafted uh you know he’s on a two-way last year and you know I’ve

Said this before I’ve been playing him yanking him back playing him yanking him back back playing him yanking him back and and he’s just stayed ready and and he’s been as steady as as he can be and so I I’m happy for him I’m happy that he’s stepping up I’m happy we rewarded

Him with a regular contract and he’s uh and he’s showing that he’s more than worth what what we gave him Coach uh as you’ve pointed out the offense has been very productive since the All-Star break but I notice this is the first time and I think 12 games that you’ve gotten up

Uh 4 threes how important is it for you to be near that number and does that also speak again to the importance not only of the number of Threes but the quality of spray threes that your offense is producing you said it right there I if again we don’t we’re not

Coming off a pick and rolling and shooting a three we’re not dancing with it and shooting a three um we have to move the basketball now we’re going to get some off of dh’s you know because domas does a great job with his with his screening and his handoffs and we play

With pace com off those things but you’re not going to be able to get a lot if people know you play the dho game cuz see how team they’re physical with us they’re slapping down at the ball hitting our bodies all that other stuff when we’re coming off DH so the one

Thing that we have to do they know foxy can get to the paint they know domas catches the ball in the pocket they know Malik can get to the paint uh Davon and other guys have done it too we have to spray the ball because everybody is

Doing that and so what you said is 100% accurate we were able to get up more threes tonight because we sprayed the ball and that was one of the biggest things that I mentioned is our 20 sprays if that’s what we want every game are we

Going to get 20 sprays probably not but if we can get close to it great are we going to go 10 for 20 every time probably not but it’s we’re at least going to have a heck of a chance to get closer to 50% or better plus get the

Amount of Threes we want 40 503 if we can if we can get them but the right threes so we have to continue spraying the ball and it was really evident tonight compared to the other nights of what we look like on the offensive end for a pretty good defensive team hey

Mike um you mentioned that you guys are 5-0 with Kon Ellison the starting lineup and it feels like a lot of what he brings is pretty sustainable is that a change you’ve considered uh making permanent no um I I think uh you know Keon we can get him on the floor at any

Time uh I think you know our starters have done a great job uh for most of the year and we just I not we I just have to keep trying to find Opportunities to get him on the floor for longer stretches thanks everyone thank you guys

Stay connected with the #SacramentoKings:

Subscribe 👉 https://www.youtube.com/kingsflix?sub_confirmation=1

Instagram 👉 https://www.instagram.com/sacramentok…
TikTok 👉 https://www.tiktok.com/@sacramentokings
Twitter 👉 https://www.twitter.com/sacramentokings
Facebook 👉 https://www.facebook.com/sacramentokings
Website 👉 https://www.kings.com