Matt George, Locked on Kings – The Kings Should Start Keon Ellis

Matt George, Locked on Kings – The Kings Should Start Keon Ellis

No way we were going to go a week without talking to our Matt man Matt George of the locked on Kings podcast ABC 10 after the Kings win a couple of home games in a row back into the six spot in the Western Conference playoff race Matt man

I don’t even know where to begin I I Kings win two in a row were you surprised you be honest with us were you surprised that the Kings took both games against the the the Bucks and the Lakers the way that they did this week as much as

The Kings Kings fan in me wants to go absolutely not because when they they they play up to the level of their competition yeah winning back-to-back games against the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers like I I expected the Kings to beat the Lakers I’m not

Gonna lie to you because that team is sorry and and the Kings own that team no they are sorry but but the the Milwaukee Bucks win I thought was pretty not not just getting the win but specifically how they got that win I thought was was pretty significant um we’ve seen many

Times over these two seasons D the the Kings respond to bad losses and they’re loss to was it the what was the game before that Houston it wasn’t a terrible loss necessarily it was disappointing but it wasn’t a terrible loss compared to some of the ones we’ve seen but we’ve

Seen Sacramento respond but it’s it’s specifically how they responded and then to carry that from one night to the next where the second night of a backtack wasn’t even discussed once like it wasn’t even brought up there was no part of how the Sacramento Kings played against the Los Angeles Lakers that even

Remotely made you think about any not just in the the excuse but pointing out that it’s the second night of a back-to-back it didn’t matter it was irrelevant because the Sacramento Kings showed up and decided to play the way that they knew they were capable of

Playing the way that Mike Brown has has challenged them to play the way the locker room is challenging themselves to play regardless of the circumstances home away opponent regardless of the situation the king showed up ready to go and that to me was the surprising part

That they were able to do that two games in a row yeah I I know we we talk about the the Houston game and how that went down I still believe they they’ve been playing good basketball for a while now you know and that doesn’t always result

In in a in a win and even that Houston game that was one of the few games as of late where they didn’t shoot the ball very well they didn’t take advantage of opportunity ities early in that game to extend their lead but in general I think

I think the Kings have been playing good basetball as of late and I know we focus on those two games the last two games that they just played but do you see it the same way do you think in general they’ve been playing well since around

The All-Star break I do think they have been playing better particularly on the offensive end I mean they’ve scored over 120 points I think like four or five times since the All-Star break they’ve broken 130 like two or three times so offensively they’re starting to kind of

Get back to where I expected them to be and where we know they’re capable of being not necessarily every single night but they’ve looked like a prolific offense again that being said there have been games and there have been stretches in games specifically like what I was really frustrated about in that Houston

Loss was once again you went through this quarter where you scored 17 points in the third quarter like to me that’s unacceptable for the Sacramento Kings team regardless of what you’re doing on the defensive end the floor I know shots aren’t always going to be falling but

That is your strength that is your identity you can’t have these extended LS because we talk about these big runs that the Kings consistently have found themselves on the wrong end of this year and a lot of people want to point to the defense of you aren’t able to hold leads

And you’re not stopping a team from scoring 22 points over an eight minute stretch but offensively you only scoring four six eight points over that same stretch to me is even more concerning than the defense I talked about that a lot and asked Mike Brown about it and

What we got over these last two games was kind of a finally a blending of both better physicality and a better in impact on the defensive end of the floor that translated to better offensive opportunities and then the Kings getting back to a pillar of their offense which

Is paint touches and spray threes Mike has hit that hard over these two games and the Kings have shot over 50% on spray threes in back-to-back games which is one of the reasons why this Kings team not only won those games as as comfortably I guess is the right word um

As they did but also one of the reasons why in both those games the kings were shooting over 40% from three-point range so there’s I mean there’s a lot that we can get into in this there’s a lot that’s happened I feel like over this week from the Houston game through these

The the the back-to-back against the the the Bucks and the Lakers but um and I’m excited to see like kind of where the conversation goes necessarily but there’s a lot that’s happened this week that I think represents oh stop it you’re talking about one thing and one

Thing only go ahead let’s talk about Keon Ellis it’s what it’s what I’m I’m sorry I should have led we should have just said ladies and gentlemen Matt George lockon Kings abc1 Matt Keon Ellis thank you thank you that was the intro that I was hoping for because I think

We’re going to disagree a lot a bit and I am I am I am captain of the I am all in on Star Keon Ellis the rest of the season I’m all in like completely on it I think his impact so why do you hate Kevin hder so much let’s start there I’m

Glad see there there’s the best place to start because over here never liked Kevin herder I think he’s terrible no I I I I’m a I appreciate what Kevin herder does and I also I think there’s a you were talking with Kyle Madson about this and one of the things that I disagree

With is that that like you lose Kevin herder if you make this decision or you potentially lose Kevin herder or you can’t go back if you make um a decision like this to try we have never seen Keon Ellis start with the Sacramento Kings when they were healthy we have not seen

It Keon has been plugged in when the Kings have needed to plug him in because either dearen Fox was out Keegan Murray was out or recently Kevin herder was out we have not seen what could be the best that the Sacramento Kings have to offer which is starting Keon Ellis at the two

Next to dearon Fox for the tone that he helped set that’s the biggest deal deal to me Kevin herder is the more certainly the better shooter he can’t hold a candle to Keon Ellis defensively no matter how hard he tries that’s just the reality of the situation and Keon

Ellis right now is knocking down shots so like there’s a big distinction to me when Kevin herder is knocking down threes you can live with what he does on the defensive end of the floor when Keon Ellis is knocking down threes it’s no contest who’s the more impactful player

For the Sacramento Kings right now plus I think the writing’s been on the wall all season long I don’t expect Kevin hder to be member of the Sacramento Kings next season I expect Keon Ellis to be a member of the Kings next season it’s all about winning basketball games

Right now and Keon Ellis to me gives you the absolute best chance to win basketball games because of what he is doing now the six and0 as a starter that’s fantastic we all know there’s a lot that more that goes into that than just Keon Ellis being a starter right

But the tone that he is setting Mike Brown has talked a lot about how starting Keon Ellis takes some of the pressure off of dearon fox so the king play the New York Knicks on Saturday night starting Keon Ellis put him on Jaylen Brunson look what Keon Ellis just

Did to Dame Lillard and D’Angelo Russell in back-to-back nights Dame Lillard 10 points D’Angelo Russell six points for context because I I brought this up here are the games for Dame leading into that 10-point performance in Sacramento 41 points 20 points 28 points 35 points then 10 points Dame was cooking and Keon

Ellis quieted him down then you have D’Angelo Russell who had a 4 fourpoint game two games before playing the Sacramento Kings D’Angelo Russell has played the the Kings twice this month in both those games 10 points and six points those are his two lowest games of

The month Keon Ellis has had a major impact on that now to be fair Keon did not start in the first Laker game but he did play a decent amount coming off the bench and his assignment was guarding D’Angelo Russell so Jaylen brunson’s tearing it up right now you start the

Game by throwing Keon Ellis who’s going to give you 110% out of the gate defens trying to lock down jayen Brunson take some of the pressure off of fox who doesn’t have to worry about guarding Jaylen Brunson for 30 minutes a night help him set the tone maybe Jaylen still

Scores maybe he doesn’t but what I’m seeing from Keon and what I’ve seen from Keon consistently over the six games that he has started is out of the gate the Kings have played with a different level of defensive Focus defensive intensity that has allowed them to not

Fall behind early on and have to switch into that survival mode to scramble to get El back into games or try and switch on the Fly and suddenly wake up defensively in the middle of the second or third quarter instead of right out of the

Gate I first of all I don’t have any problem with Keon Ellis starting I don’t have any problem with it if that’s what happens like I said I love the way he’s played um he’s earned it and he’s been effective so I don’t have any problem

But I’ll give a couple a couple of counters here number one how many times have they started off slow the Kings yeah they they’ve started off slow a handful of times this season especially defensively 66 games yeah talking about five games when they started off slow so

It’s it’s a problem the starting lineup is a problem most recently we talking the Lakers game that’s probably the only one that’s probably the only one in the last 10 to 20 games no started slow the starting lineup has been poor defensively all season long and well but that’s what I’m talking

About here but that’s not starting off slow that means defensively they haven’t played well but hell a lot of the issue the the main issue really with the Kings lately is they can’t hold a lead you gotta get a lead to hold a lead right yes we’ve also seen them blow 20o leads

At home consistently this season we’ve seen them blow 20o leads in record time this year because of those massive runs that they end up going on so I get your point about overall uh starting slow like this team can score we know they can score score Mike Brown has been

Consistent with that all season long I’m talking about when Kevin or um Keon Ellis is starting the tone is set defensively from the jump better than anytime Kevin herder is starting and I it it unfortunately has to be an Ellis versus herder thing because that’s the spot that’s available and it’s not fair

To put all the success on Keon and all the failure on Kevin but our eyes tell us the numbers tell us Kevin is a walking Target on the defensive end of the floor it’s not that he’s lazy it’s not that he’s not trying he’s not like LeBron James standing there watching

Harrison Barnes get open threes the entire night it’s not what he’s doing Kevin herder’s working he’s trying he just cannot play defense he can’t like we’ve seen it enough this season he is not a good Defender he is incapable no matter how hard he has worked and he’s

Been doing that all season long I give him all the credit for that we see tangible evidence the eyes tell us the numbers tell us when uh when Keon Ellis starts the Kings set a tone defensively they ramp up the physicality it hasn’t just been over these two games when they

Beat the freaking Oklahoma City Thunder on their home floor without dear Fox was because Keon Ellis also helped set the tone defensively in that game as well to where if I’m not mistaken I think they held the Thunder to either under 100 points or just over 100 points in that

Game so I’m talking about starting slow defensively because we know this Kings team can can light it up at at any point in time offensively and go on these these huge offensive bursts but when Keon is playing what I am seeing is a team that has picked it up on the

Defensive end of the floor and I haven’t been able to see them replicate that certainly consistently at any point this season when Keon is not starting or not playing I’m being a jerk right now but they were down for most of the first quarter on Wednesday so I I don’t know what because

It’s about this fast start and everything start they were down 13 to8 they were down most of the first quarter the other yeah but can I can I go go a step further this is not I’m not will Z here I’m just I’m just looking at at at

Box sheets that’s all I’m looking at right now there seems to be to to Matt’s point a pretty it’s only six games and I’ve probably come across four of them there seems to be a pretty significant difference in the points given up in the first quarter when Keon Ellis is

Starting versus when he’s not so here’s the other question about that though how many many times has he started in place of Kevin hder I believe that was the first one so so so we’re saying it as if they’re they’re hunting Kevin herder it’s his issue half the time he’s in the game

When you can separate those if you wanted to separate what the what the kings are doing defensively in Kevin herder like in in terms of starting and the you can separate that and say it’s actually in and I don’t think Matt I don’t think Mike is making this move no

I don’t think he is either but if you did it’s like Kevin this isn’t about what you’re not doing it’s about what Keon is doing that’s perfect and that’s how you because Kevin you like we look at these numbers with you Keon domas Harrison Keegan out on the floor this

Isn’t about you it’s about him and that’s what we’re focused on because you’re right that’s perfectly to the best that I could find that’s the only time he started in place of of Kevin herder I also found it it appears just again a non will Z search here the one

Game that was a really rough start for Sacramento outside the Lakers one that we just referenced was the Denver game before the All-Star break that they won and the score was like 60 to 61 or whatever that awful score it was terrible game but it was a really bad

Start for Sacramento that they clawed their way yeah and and Matt just to clarify a reiterate I love Keon ell Casey no Casey’s really cranky today he is not for your nonsense I love I love Keon Ellis if he were to start I think that’d

Be fine I like we kind of all discuss the reasons why I don’t think it’ll happen but it’s nothing against Keon it’s more of like uh you know it’s a hard move to make yeah yeah 65 games into the season with a team that’s 11

Games over 500 but why is it a hard move to make now when Mike has tried to make this move with Chris Duarte at two separate times over the course of this season like did he try to start D the second time though it well it it’s debatable yeah because remember herder

Was coming off the injury and I think he came back on the bench and then it was okay we’re not that’s this is not what we’re doing um but Matt that was earlier like if you’re Mike in my opinion and I’m not a coach you can’t

You can’t be searching right now like if you’re if you’re searching it’s and this is the part Mike has acknowledged I’ve got to keep him on the floor I’ve got to find ways to make sure he’s on the floor M um while shutting down the idea of

Starting Keon Ellis he shut down that that question once from Kyle mats and and it and it came back up again and I guess it came up Matt you know this better than we do it it came back up in maybe a pregame media session uh uh it

Must have been the Lakers game because I know Kyle brought it up after the Bucs game so it must have been the Lakers game that it came up a second time yeah it was brought up um because Kyle asked after the Bucks game it was brought up again pregame and then I

Asked again post game and I I I think I mean oh you guys really pressing his buttons and and if he reacts negatively to it that’s fine but I’m I’m going off of the consistency of what Mike Brown has been asking for you say searching Mike Brown has been searching for this

Defensive effort and intensity for the last two seasons and Keon Ellis is the one that’s finally given it to him Kevin herder has not so so I get searching with your lineup but you’re the basketball that you’re trying to play these last two games two game sample size totally understand but these last

Two games have shown you that in back-to-back games which the Kings have not been able to do at any point this season in back-to-back games you got what you were looking for and a large part of that was a former two-way player which kind of full context here if you

Were to tell me at the beginning of the Season that in March I’d be lobbying for the Kings to start Keon Ellis over Kevin herder and the kings were in a playoff race I called you crazy but here we are and that’s credit to Keon in his story

And how hard he’s worked to get to this point that being said what Mike has been asking for and talking about and wanting all season long since training camp Keon Ellis is consistently giving to him and when Keon Ellis has been starting it’s not just Keon doing it but the rest of

The team I think has been following suit I think the way Keon plays also impacts the players that are around him at least with how the sacri kings are starting I don’t it’s not that Kevin’s not a inspiring leader or anything like that it’s just what the ey test is telling us

The Kings have played more impactful physical defense consistently this season not just over the last two games when Keon Ellis has started that’s one of the major reasons why they’re six and 0 in those starts you have not gotten to see what it potentially looks like to continue starting Keon Ellis which again

I agree with you I don’t think it’s going to happen but you haven’t gotten the chance to see what that looks like with Monk and with herder and still Davon Mitchell a defensive first guard coming off the bench with that second unit I just some things like Mike is

Stubborn with certain things and I love him for it but like I’m I’m refusing to start Malik monk because Malik Monk Is this impactful Sixth Man of the Year perfect love it Mike totally understand like I I get it even though we all know Malik monk not only is capable of

Starting he’s the third best player on this Kings team this season it’s not even close that being said now that’s kind of leaked into yeah Keon Ellis is playing really really good as a starter I’m going to continuously point out that he’s six and0 as a starter he’s doing

The things that we want oh but I don’t think I’m I want to commit to him being a starter full-time because Kevin herder’s been giving us good things as well but your actions have been telling us all season long with Kevin herder’s diminished minutes and two different situations where you experimented

Starting Chris Duarte over Kevin herder that he hasn’t been living up to your expectations it’s about winning right now and to me Keon is giving you the absolute best chance to win so don’t over complicate things go for it but truthfully the only thing that’s unacceptable to me for the remainder of

This season guys is Keon has to be playing every single night for the rest of the season he has to be and and that’s the one thing that Mike said that I’m absolutely gonna hold him accountable to because he answered Kyle madson’s question with Keon is one of

Those guys where I can get a minutes at any time I can get him in and I can put him in with any lineup and I and so do it like Keon has to be playing 15 20 minutes a night minimum in my opinion for the remainder of this season because

The impact that he’s made do I think he’s going to be perfect for all those minutes no he’s gonna struggle at times but Keon’s impact is undeniable Mike has found something here with three guard lineups and Keon and Davon both making an impact Off the Bench carry that into

The playoffs that’s the only unacceptable thing he couldn’t do or could do and really just last thing we can move on but that’s the bottom line I think too much is always made of starting and all this other stuff like I’m not gonna say it doesn’t matter because there’s a reason certain people

Start but it’s too much made of it like at the end of the day what’s the minutes distrib distribution looking like who’s closing those games everybody looks at Malik monk we love Malik M we don’t I I’m not gonna speak for every I don’t care that he doesn’t start I love that

He plays 28 minutes and in crunch time he’s the one bringing it home or helping bringing it home with Fox and sabonis more times than not that’s all that matters you can have Kevin Harter start and play 11 minutes like he did the other day Keon play 21 and get the get

The same type of impact I don’t there there’s no you’re right now you’re 11 games over 500 you’ve been playing good basketball even before these last two games there’s no real need to start him as long as he’s in the rotation as long as he’s getting his 20 minutes a night yeah

There’s no need to upset possibly upset the apple cart with with Kevin Hur her or anything like that just keep doing that keep and that’s what I was thinking Matt said you said Mike might be over complicating things he might be trying to simplify things like rather

Than you know like you you you said you maybe Mike is stubborn with some certain things maybe he understands the intricacies of the team and the personalities and there’s a certain way to go about this and the simplest thing to do is what he acknowledged Keon needs

To play and in a lot of cases he probably needs to play a lot that’s the simplest way to deal with this it might be over complicating things by starting him and then figuring out okay what’s the perfect time to get Kevin in here how do I stagger this lineup how do I

Get Kate Keon and Davon on the floor who have been really well been playing really really well together I think that’s extremely lethal while also keeping dear and domas staggered and where does Malik fit into this because Malik is a scorer but now there’s another scorer potentially on the like

There’s a lot that goes into that 60 games left you know 60 games into the season 20 games less left less than 20 games left and you’re fighting every single night Matt whether you play or not for five and six here in the Western Conference standings yeah what Kenny

Said about the the the closing lineups I I 100 actually I’ll say this I 99% agree with the one percent that that holds me back a little bit Kenny uh is the tone that Keon and the Kings have set defensively from the jump with Keon starting versus you start Kevin hder you

Get punched in the mouth again right out of the gate and now Keon comes in with Malik and you’re you’re asking your bench to kind of bail you out a little bit the Kings don’t have to be down 10 points necessarily in that case but if

If Dame or Jaylen or D’Angelo Russell or the guard for example who Kevin herder is now on instead of Keon Ellis if that guard gets going or that player gets going or you have a situation like the Bulls game where where Kobe white doesn’t have to do any of the scoring in

The first quarter because AO I always mispronounce his last name dumu is that how you pronounce his name i s guy out of Illinois yeah him because he went right at Kevin herder and scored like 12 points in the first quarter Kobe white didn’t have to do any of the scoring and

Then dropped 30 for the remainder of the game 37 for the remainder of the game part of that is because whoever Kevin is guarding they’re trying to get that player involved they’re trying to get that player to attack so if that’s Dame or that’s Russell or that’s Jaylen

Brunson tomorrow and Jaylen gets going and then you’re bringing Keon in Off the Bench they like okay now you slow him down but he’s already got a rhythm going now you’re hurting yourself versus Why not start the gate Why not start the game and put Keon on him and make him

Work right away doesn’t mean he’s not going to score but two really really lethal offensive guards shut down in back-to-back nights because of Keon and it started from the very beginning it wasn’t a third or fourth quarter thing the kings were up 14 and gave up 22 points after the first quarter against

The Bulls this slow start like I’m I’m looking for this slow start the only one is the Lakers and the Denver one before I’m looking for this slow start that the starting lineup gives this team I’m talking I’m talking defensively gave 22 points against Chicago in the first

Quarter I understand and half of those points were from the guy that Kevin herder was guarding all right they gave him 22 what is it herder or is it the team they gave 22 points in the first quarter they were up 14 at the end of one quarter all right they were they

Were tied the other night against the Lakers so let’s let’s try this before uh Matt just storms out and leaves Matt’s gonna Matt’s gonna punch me when he sees probably I firmly believe that and as long as it’s filmed then it’s fine I break my wrist on his

Jaw uh Trey lyes and Sasha venkov did not practice today um lles did come out following practice wearing a sleeve on his leg and put up flat-footed shots that’s according to our man uh Sean Cunningham um we have spent 30 plus minutes talking about Keon Ellis and

Defense Matt it’s all fun it’s great great boy it sure feels like this team wins basketball games when the three drops we could talk about starting and we could talk about Kevin her we could talk about all this all day because it’s fun but they hit what was it 17 threes

And what was the other one 15 and seven 19 and 17 against the L maybe 19 against the bus let’s try this they hit a lot of Threes uh four nope that’s the that’s the Lakers they hit 19 against the Los Angeles Lakers and they hit 18 against

The Milwaukee Bucks that Matt that feels like the Difference Maker for this team 10 out of the 20 against Milwaukee off of spray threes 11 out of 19 against the Lakers off of spray threes that’s the difference right there Mike Brown calls it the easiest three-point shot that you

Can take it’s like can you can you for those that aren’t tuned into to all the Mike’s press conferences or or or aren’t aren’t aren’t listening to lockon Kings for as much as they should be what is a spray three sure so it’s a paint touch

Spray three is a pillar of Mike Brown’s offense there’s there’s three pillars there there’s that one there’s um I actually can only remember two of them one is make a decision in half a second so like either attack shoot or move the ball in half a second That’s Mike does

Not want the stagnant ball so those are two of the three pillars and for some reason I’m not remembering the third um but paint touches and spray three are essentially When anybody but especially a guard so dearin or whoever attacks the basket touches the paint to any extent

Whether it’s like at The Rim or just inside the free throw line to any extent touches the paint that draws the defense in you spray it out to a catch and shoot hopefully wide openen three or the very least good shot on the perimeter that is the epit that’s like that’s like

Milwaukee Bucks basketball 101 right that’s why the Bucks surrounded Giannis onent tmbo with Shooters Giannis attacks the basket touch the paint he either finishes because he’s a freaking nature at The Rim or he kicks out to Brook Lopez or whoever’s there and they’re knocking down three so it’s a very basic

Fundamental way of playing basketball with the importance of three-pointers nowadays but it’s so impossible to stop when you have players like dearen Fox who you have to throw two or three guys at to help because he’s so quick and he can blow by anybody on the perimeter so

That is a paint touch three you touch the paint and you kick it out to what Mike calls the easiest shot in basketball which is like you’re playing or like you see in warm-ups you’re catching the ball you’re set and you shoot it’s the easiest shot that you

Could have so why not try and create as many of those as possible and Mike has been very very vocal about since the All-Star break Kenny even though the Kings have been playing better basketball and I agree with you since the All-Star break Mike has pointed out

That the Kings whose goal is to have 20 spray three attempts a game they were averaging 11 he pointed that out to us after the the um uh after the Rockets game since then 20 and 19 and in both of those games the Kings shot 50% or over

50% from three-point range on those spray threes which kind of changed my viewpoint on something DLo and actually I’m curious both of your guys opinion on this I felt at times that the Kings have been overring on the three-point shot recently since the All-Star break their three-point totals have been down

They’ve been more in the 30s than they’ve been over the in the 40s in fact these two games where they’ve eclipsed 40 back to back I think it’s the first time since the All-Star break that they’ve eclipsed 40 multiple games in a row the reason why that number was going

Down because the spray three attempts were going down not because they were less relying on the three-point shot is because they weren’t generating as many good three-point looks as Mike is wanting to generate so that’s a major difference in the offense to me over these past two games is that the

Three-point shooting percentage is up and the kings are making shots because they’re generating better shots than just a typical pullup and transition or even think about like a dribble handoff three between deont sabonis and Kevin herder that’s not a bad shot the Kings love to try and create that shot but you

Should have 10 or 15 of those a game to 20 spray three-point attempts there’s 35 right there and there’s a good chance you’re knocking down 40 plus percent of those as a team it’s it’s essential for this team they especially with dearon yeah dear is

So lethal and just just a three ball in general I mean that’s I I understand everything Mike Brown says and and I teach when I teach my kids defense First Defense is where you’re going to win defense is where you you’re always going to give yourself an opportunity sometimes you just got to

Look at that personnel and you can say that’s not how we’re going to win games we’re gonna win games if we’re hitting 15 plus threes so you better get them up and that’s just what it is with this team they’re hitting the three ball if they’re scoring in the 115 120 vicinity

They’re one of the best teams in basketball but if they’re not they don’t they don’t really have a change up like I don’t I don’t think they can grind out a game I don’t think that’s how this team is built so not to interrupt but to question Matt just asked about being

Reliant on the three like that’s always kind of a frustration I’ve had especially when they get down it feels like it slows down their pace and they just kind of they try to get back into the game with a couple of quick possessions and if it goes if it doesn’t

Go their way it goes the other way and it can kind of get ugly and I think that’s why sometimes we’ve seen leads disappear and different things like that but as Kenny was talking I was looking at the I just I just have March pulled

Up in front of me we look at we look at small sample sizes of the Season both you know positively and negatively but in the five wins this month 124 130 131 129 and 120 those were their point totals only in three of those games

Games did they hit your marker of 15 two of them they didn’t the t-wolves game they scored 124 didn’t hit that marker as a matter of fact they fell well short of it they hit 11 threes in that game the other one I believe was the first

Laker game yeah it was the first Laker game where they hit 12 to what Matt was talking about a second ago they’ve and I think to what you were talking about the way that they’ve played since the allstar break they’ve been making an effort we’ve saw 70 plus uh paint points

Uh twice or at least twice that I last checked uh this month and yeah that that that Laker game was not a point in the paint uh the first one was yeah the first one was yeah second one was2 points yeah second wasn’t yeah I think

It was 76 if I remember uh correctly and I don’t have to remember correctly I can just look yeah 76 to 50 but to to your to your point Matt it feels like they’ve tried to go away from that a little bit while focusing on what Mike wants and if

It’s there you say make that Split Second decision a lot of times that Split Second decision or at least recently has been finishing at the basket we brought up simplifying things earlier and I think Mike has done an excellent job of that over these two

Games and that might be what it is to get through to this team at least into the playoffs when you can play a team best of seven times and afford to kind of play a little more chess the Kings have simplified things back on the offensive end he get back to a

Fundamental way to play basketball that we should be able to exploit with our quick guards and our three-point Shooters which is the spray threes the Kings have gotten back to that and then on the defensive end and Kenny I know that you probably were very happy to

Hear Mike talk about this the high fives on Closeouts like that is a that is a fundamental defensive way of defending the three that you learn in high school or younger right how to effectively close out Doug Christie talks a lot about when you close out on a shooter

You go to their side you don’t go right into them because it’s going to be a foul but it’s like if if I and Kenny and I were to walk by each other right now going different directions and we meet in the middle and high five each other

As we walk by like that’s the effective way to essentially close out on a shooter you don’t want to make actual contact with the shooting hand again that’s a foul but you want to essentially meet them at the top of their shot and act like essentially

You’re gonna high five them that is the best way to contest and the Kings have done an excellent job of that over the past two games and Mike Brown has made sure to point that out so you went back to a fundamental way to play offense and a fundamental way to defend the

Three-point shot which has been so bad for the kings that Mike Brown pointed out a couple weeks ago if the kings were just League average at defending the three they’d be a top 10 defense in the league their three-point defense is so bad that it’s dragging the

Kings from top 10 to in the 20s and in the bottom half of the league where they have have consistently been so he simplified things and for two games the kings of responded well Mike pointed out a number that I never even considered before the Laker game that blew my mind

Was that that was the kings are six and0 in the six games that they’ve held their team held their opponents under 100 points no surprise the Kings should always win when they hold their team under uh triple digits but in the game after that they’re giving up an average

Of 116 points like so they’ve not been able to do that two games in a row let alone consistently so the other night they hold the Lakers to 107 that’s a nine-point Improvement on their average and lo and behold they win both of those games so he’s gotten the team to buy in

Simplify things and figure it out for two games what does that look like on Saturday against the Knicks more specifically more importantly what does that look like against the Grizzlies what does that look like against the Raptors and what does that look like against the Wizards the three games that

You play after that three games at the Kings if they play like they did over the last couple of nights they’re winning those games and hopefully taking a fourth quarter off but we know this team are they going to show up and do that that’s that’s the funny part is

They know yeah they all brought it up after the win against the L yeah no we know we know we get up for these games all right well they got the Draymond Green syndome it’s hard to get up for them sorry mfers all right we get up for the

Grizzlies well look I’m G check I’m G check with with Matt right now we’re gonna check pretty much every week uh till the season is over one to 10 10 being your maximum uh level of confidence where are you with whether or not this team finishes in the top six I’m at

A nine an eight or a nine I’m beating the Lakers that eight we’s a eight I’m at an eight they’ll they’ll finish in the top six where you at Matt number that I had in my head before you said that was eight and I don’t think I’ve

Ever drifted below a six I think I said that last time or something similar to that last time when I was with you guys last week there has not been a I’ve never imagined or allowed myself to think this Kings team is going to be a playing team I always thought they’d

Finish top six because I think they’re a top six team Talent wi in the Western Conference I think they’re better than all these teams that are underneath them and rightfully so they’re better than Dallas they’re clearly better than the Lakers they’re better than the Warriors and they’re better than the Phoenix Suns

I I think that stands true so I’ve always been six minimum usually seven eight with the kings are actually gon to make the playoffs and uh and now it’s hopefully they they’ll continue to prove me right good stuff man this I this one tomorrow could be ugly not not ugly like

Oh could go back for yeah yeah yeah like it could just just just just could be ugly yeah which which which which which which would New York would absolutely invite yeah that is absolutely what they want like K kings need to get up and down the floor yeah yeah pull pull them

Into pull them into their Pace made set the pace do that Houston Houston made it ugly and that didn’t work out for the king it’s not their game I’ll sneak two things in here before we wrap up the first one is not to reopen the can of

Worms KC but if if the Kings start Kevin herder and they get punched in the mouth to start this game you best believe the noise is gonna get even louder for Keon Ellis and I’ll be the lead I can almost guarantee you it’s not gonna happen because it rarely ever happens I don’t

Even know why we’re talking about I hope you’re right don’t happen I hope you’re right second off uh it’s a shame that we just did this entire segment after damont sabonis just made Anthony Davis his little brother again didn’t even talk about domos so I know you guys got

Brother you guys gotta go but I want to point this out too because I think this is important for the MCH month of March as well Casey you mentioned the kings are playing better basketball this is damont sabonis is month of March 21 points 18 points 16 points 31 25 22 and

Then 17 in a triple double the other night domas is scoring the basketball I don’t know if he’s heard those comments of people saying man you’re paying a center that much a year he can’t be a go-to scorer but domas is scoring you didn’t say that but you had comments

About one did you see this dude I thought he was gonna say he like points at me like it was him yeah no you guys you guys got stop doing D like this he said hey let’s get this guy out of here you weren’t even here that day

This nonsense the way they have Rewritten the book about you bro boy hey hey and you know what that shows me Matt is he’s capable of scoring that and it has his efficiency dropped no no that was the whole point look at this guy man

What a turncoat what a sh just stole me through the barber shop window let the record show I had to defend his honor let the record show I wasn’t throwing shade at DLo I had no idea that was even a thing I was just talking about the people that have commented On’s ability

As a scorer they didn’t he didn’t say that no my thing was he’s capable of scoring more why not do it and he’s never like and I think the the the the main Crux was he’s never going to play outside himself it’s not like oh you

Want me to score more okay I’m going to start jacking up top of the key threes no he’s not he’s going to he the he’s he’s Triple H in the early 2000 he’s the cerebral assassin like he will he will be aware of what he’s doing on the floor

And the daman’s point he’s been right thank you he been right shot a little bit more bucket getting more buckets it’s helped the team yeah D to even better than maybe the point total is two to your point 14 shots 19 shots 13 shots 19 shots 11 shots 14 shots and then just

10 against the Lakers but not only all I asked for was like 15 or 16 because I think he was averaging 13 maybe 13 but he’s trying he’s trying to score he’s capable like that’s like that that’s that’s the thing like maybe he’s not oh he’s not that scor he’s a capable

Scorer especially because he’s going to make the right basketball decision seemingly every time with one ex ception when he had nine turnovers but that’s an exception uh Matt man thanks so much for for rescheduling and join us on this Friday and I I don’t know how much

Longer we can go so we’re going to let you uh get to work and go be a dad and and do all of your stuff man but we really appreciate you thank you my man appreciate you DLo KC kick rocks

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