Davion Mitchell, Trey Lyles & Coach Brown | Postgame Pressers 4.2.24
Davon it looked like that second group really took over tonight especially without Malik out just how much different is it there is it out there with you specifically being able to get more shots up and being able to just to run the offense a little bit more yeah I
Mean uh Malik was a key piece in our offense um scoring the ball facilitating u i mean I just kind of listen to the coaches and take what the defense giv me um they kind of tell me to just be aggressive uh you got to be more
Aggressive I mean those shots are gone those points are gone so be be more aggressive throughout the game how good does that shot feel right now especially for you from the corner oh feel good I wish I would have hit that one uh I think it was a full third
Quarter uh I missed it wide open but I mean it feels good right now and then obviously just Trey obviously has had a big impact tonight so he was pretty tired just what did you think of his impact overall amazing um not even just scoring but just playing hard um getting
The 50-50 balls rebounding he’s kind of doing everything for us he’s kind of just being himself he’s getting back to himself he’s getting the win back which is good for us hey Devon when you playing against guys like Paul George James Harden Russell Westbrook and you hold them guys under under 100 points
How uh satisfying is that good I I think our physicality was really good today um listen to the game plan um I mean throughout the game we try to keep James Harden going right um because we know when he go left he’s really effective and all the other guys I mean like Paul
Jorge we kind of showed him different things throughout the game um he kind of struggled a little bit but I’m just glad we got the win I know defense has always been your calling card but really since March going into now early April the defense as a whole from the entire team
Seems to be looking really good just what’s your perspective on how your teammates and the team as a whole has grown on the defensive end I think we’re just embracing the physicality um I think we love it um I mean we helping helping each other one another um being
There for each other taking charges um I mean Keon had six fouls tonight so he’s being physical I mean it was a lot of a lot of take attack fouls we I think we’re being physical we’re just getting ready for the playoffs we’ve seen a lot
More of that three guard lineup with you fox um and Keon out at the top what does that Dynamic bring to the team on both ends of the floor um I think defensively um I think that uh we can stay in front of the guards um get deflections um
We’re kind of fast when in transition uh I mean when Fox getting downhill we kind of me and Keon in the corner hitting those Corner shots for him I’m giving them space so I mean it’s it’s a really good lineup Davon it seems like almost from the All-Star break uh whatever
Happened at the allstar break there’s no hesitation in your game especially on the offensive end do you feel that all a sudden you’re just like getting the ball and going yeah I mean I’m not thinking I’m just kind of just making quick decisions playing the game of basketball
And taking what the defense give me honestly Davon does it feel like you guys are changing right now or you know whether it’s just since these injuries or maybe since the break or or whatever it is as you guys have kind of acclimated to like the more physical
Game and and playing defense better like are you guys you guys kind of changing in some way u i mean I think that I think naturally it’s going to be a little bit of change because we’re missing Kevin and and Malik so I think uh defensively
Kind of got got to be our calling C right now U especially with those two two guys out I mean they scor the ball really well for us um they hit tough shots for us I mean I think defensively got to be our calling car so I think
This we’re just being more physical it’s hard not to notice Malik’s presence on the bench I’m just curious how he’s encouraged you and in the bench unit with kind of taking the torch from him in that second unit oh it’s been amazing I mean especially uh I think one time in
The first half he kind of told me to uh I mean just keep shooting the ball if they’re going to close close out short and that’s what I did I was hitting those shots I mean he just kind of just telling me to just keep being aggressive um keep being through aggressive
Throughout the whole game and that’s what I did given those the adversity you guys have talked about with these injuries does this does a win like this help reinforce the confidence that you have that you can you know kind of survive without some of those players
Around yeah I mean I think that every game we we kind of have confidence um even when we lose games I mean we’re going to we’re going to lose some games but I think throughout we just going to keep sticking with the game plan um being physical and just kind out with
The win Bray just how good does it feel to be back out on the court and having finding some success for yourself and for your team but after sort of week or two off there with a knee injury I was tired of today but um no it felt it
Felt great to be out there with the guys competing um playing together we’re playing hard um and it’s always nice playing at home but the last two and a half weeks was was tough for me just having to sit back and watch and and um
You know not being able to go out there and try to help the team out but you know now being back is is obviously you know where I want to be so I’m happy about it Trey if you had to rate Keegan dunk where would that be on the 1
Through 10 scale it was you I’ll give it like a six sounding like Muk up there he could do better yeah Keegan can jump you know he he be playing with job but he can jump so but good for him I’m glad he was aggressive uh speaking of which just the aggressiveness that
You’ve seen out of him especially with Malik and ke Kevin uh absent right now just how big was that for you guys tonight uh it’s great you know uh Keegan can score in a variety of ways three LEL score so um when he’s when he’s aggressive when he’s going out there and
Taking shots and making shots and and being aggressive on both ends of the floor cuz he can defend as well he’s he’s he’s the player that we need um and that’s what we need from him all the time what do you think was working for you guys defensively tonight and how
Encouraging was that uh we were being aggressive we were talking we were covering for one another um we were getting to their Shooters um and and we followed the game plan basically to a te tonight um so you know we’re when we’re capable to do that we’re Five Guys on
The string we’re we’re just score on feels a bit crazy to say with Malik’s absence but that was maybe the best the the bench as a whole has looked tonight with yourself with Davon with Alex Lenn just how ready are you guys to step into that spot and and and take advantage of
The opportunity that’s coming uh we we know that there’s you know we were missing a lot with Malik his playmaking his shot making you know his leadership on the court and stuff like that so I just think everybody was capable and ready to step up in big ways aen was
Humongous on the defensive end for us tonight blocking shots and then off offensive rebounding and stuff like that so um you know we’re all capable and now we’re just getting you know more touches and stuff like that with Malik out and uh we’re we’re all stepping up and and
Making the right plays and do what we’re supposed to do Trey you mentioned how tired you were I mean did did did that maybe even workload kind of exceed what you were thinking you might be able to go out there and do tonight yeah I mean
It was a long stretch there in the second half which is what got me but um you know I was I was all right um I got on mic for not calling a timeout but um no it was all funny games I’m just I’m just glad to be out there again you know
I’m I’m ready to play as many minutes as they need so uh Trey you just mentioned um you know more touches and and you know obviously Malik and and Kevin were were high volume like production guys is there a feeling in in this group that that you guys still have enough you just
Kind of redistribute those those shots those field goal attempts that you guys can still accomplish what you want to do yeah for sure we have guys that can score the ball Davon showed that you know the last few games um he’s shown that the last few years he can score the
Ball um you know we have guys capable and ready to shoot and make plays um so everybody’s just stepping up and and staying consistent staying ready for the for the moment man uh just a a great team win by our guys um you know we we talked about trying to get out in
Transition uh in running against them especially with them coming back from the East Coast uh we tried uh they did a pretty good job for for um you know coming back from the East Coast that’s how I feel I’d like to yawn too uh um but the neat part about it we had
Seven fast break points they had zero uh so that was great uh we also talked about um uh trying to offensive rebound because we did a good job I think in our last game against him I think we had 21 Second Chance points and our guys were
Great we had 20 offensive rebounds uh domas was a Workhorse on the glass he had seven offensive rebounds I mean he had a 2020 game almost a triple double just I think that’s his 70th uh double double uh on uh in a row right is it
70th in a row what is how manyan he got he got toas got so many damn records I I can’t figure it out but he hell of a job by him um you know you even look at a guy like Keon Keon took one shot he was
In foul trouble but he plays uh 21 a little over 21 minutes he has rebounds you know you’re talking about your two guard getting seven rebounds in 21 22 minutes in a game uh he impacted the game so he was he was great um but you
Know I I thought our guys they they played you know we always say play together and and uh and I saw a postgame comment by Kelvin S Talk by Kelvin Samson and he he was talking about how his guys play for each other and I think
That’s the better way to play play a better way to say it you know we want to play fast we want to play physical but we want to play for each other and uh there a lot of different ways you can do that and and and you know one of them uh
Is the thing that I’m harping all all the time and spray the ball spray the ball spray the ball go from a good shot to a great shot and when we do that usually good things happen and you know we had 21 sprays tonight our goal is to
Get to 20 sprays we had 21 sprays tonight and just them have having to run around whether you make the shot or miss the shot them happen to be in rotations and run around I tell you what that gives you an advantage a because it continues to wear them down but B it
Gives you an advantage on the offensive glass cuz they’re just running around closing out trying to talk trying to communicate now you can go eat that offensive glass up if you’re missing shots so uh the 21 sprays was was was just beautiful to watch um but at the
End of the day I I thought our bench was absolutely fantastic um Davon was and he’s been really good for us you know we talk about trying to find the scoring that we’re missing with uh you know Kevin being out and with Malik being out and you know Davon he’s
Taking on a little bit more of the scoring load for us in playmaking load he’s been F fantastic on both ends of the floor uh Trey man he just he plays so hard and he’s another big body and uh you know he can shoot the ball he space
The floor but you know his 15 davon’s 14 how hard those guys play how impactful they are defensively uh but at the end of the day freaking Alex L man what a man he was tonight I mean the three blocks he played 12 minutes and he was a
Plus 18 and 12 minutes versus a very good Clipper team he impacted the game on both ends of the floor he just plays the right way he was he played a beautiful beautiful game of basketball uh in the short amount of time and you speaking about talking about seven rebounds he had seven
Rebounds in those 12 minutes so he was our DP uh fantastic game by him but more importantly I mean Clipper team you hold him to 40% from the field and and 95 points just a big big big win for us tonight Mike what is what does this do
These last two wins what do you feel it maybe does for not only their confidence or obviously a confident Bunch but maybe even your own confidence to realize that maybe you can pull you’re maybe capable of maybe pulling this off a little bit well you know we we’ve we’ve always been
Confident throughout the course of the year and you know we you just run into new things that you got to figure out you know and whether it’s the expectations the injuries however you want to call it there are going to be new challenges that are going to be in front of us and
We have to just keep finding a way I mean had a big win up in Minnesota missing missing Fox you know um Malik stepped up and so again we have confidence in our guys our guys have confidence in each other obviously every win that you put together especially
During this time of the year and versus quality opponents it continues to add to that belief because I’m I’m a huge believer in that uh that Mojo stuff you know and the stuff that you can’t chart or the stuff that doesn’t show up in analytics and so every win at this point
Versus these quality teams especially when we’re in the position we’re in continues to add to the belief but uh it was there um you know we just needed to figure out how you know how we want to play and I think after the allstar break post All-Star break our guys made a
Commitment to each other trying to trying to get stops knowing that at the end of the day we’ll find a way to score most nights uh but the the shot may not always go in and so we give ourselves a chance to win we got to get stops and
Try to win The Possession game and and and and that’s really how we got to win versus quality team I we scored n points you know and and you know before you know what I was afraid of was you know everybody kept saying we got to score
120 win we got to score 120 win no we don’t we don’t have to if we can get it done in The Possession game and if we can get it done defensively at least our capabilities and our guys are starting to show that now Mike you talked about
The post All-Star break what are you seeing from Davon because it feels like a weight’s been lifted off of him and he’s just playing basketball he’s not thinking so much out there no he he is playing basketball but also uh am giving him an opportunity so so you know there
Was a stretch there where uh you know Keon started playing well and so I was playing Keon in front of him and then I throw Davon back in for a little bit then I pulled Davon back out and so as a young player if you’re not quite sure
What your uh your your uh playing status is going to be from game to game sometimes it takes a little bit of time adjusting and you have to dig deep and look within to try to stay locked in no matter if you get two minutes zero
Minutes or 30 minutes and to his credit he’s done that and now we’ve been more consistent with his minutes and he’s got a better feel of when he’s going in and when he’s coming out and all that and and then we’ve also given him a lot more
Freedom as time has G on and and with that freedom he’s handled it the right way but he’s starting to show that uh or he’s starting to show that of what he’s capable of not just as an on ball Defender but as a shooter and as and as
A scorer and he’s works really really really hard in off season uh on his offensive game and I’m just happy that it’s uh starting to show CU it’s it’s it needs to show at the right time and and right now is the right time hey Mike
Going back to the bench a little bit sounds crazy to say with Malik not being there but this might have been one of the more most impactful bench performances of the Season I’m curious just in your experience the significance of a role that bench plays in developing and becoming a championship program
It it plays a huge role um because during the playoffs anything can happen from injuries to whatever you want to call it and you know to to get guys to um be able to feel this type of game and and have some success or have some
Adversity and try to figure it out the next time around I can’t I can’t I can sit here and talk to them until I’m blow in the face about my experiences sometimes they just got to go through it and so to be able to get the production that we’re getting from
The bench gives them the belief you know that we were talking about earlier that we all need to have especially some of these guys that haven’t played big minutes in a significant role in the playoffs and you know even our starters really haven’t because I don’t I I I
Don’t you know I think uh um uh HB is the only one that’s been past the first round that plays significant minutes for us that’s in a significant role you know and and so to get minutes and have success from our bench guys like that again it just adds to the belief that
You need to have uh going into the playoffs because you can have foul trouble you can have injuries crazy stuff has happened and you need guys to be comfortable not only as individuals to be able to step up but you need that their teammates need to feel comfortable
Uh with with anybody being out on the floor Mike Keegan’s dunk was that the wiggle you were talking about last year that was little hey Keegan starting to get a little wiggle now now it’s about time Keegan muray uh we don’t know I don’t know when
The next time we’re going to be able to talk to you before you go on this East Coast trip just how important is it to take care of business in New York in Boston over the next couple of days yeah again whether we go east or we’re here
These games matter every time we step out on the floor we have to be locked in and we have to try to get wins because there’s still a chance for us to move up in the standings there’s still a lot of games left everybody is really really
Tight uh our guys know what’s going on I know what’s going on we know Dallas lost tonight um so we have to be able to take care of what we can and if we do that we just see what unfolds with the rest of the league coach like like you said a
Little earlier uh about Keegan last year you was always telling them to like go dunk on guys or whatever and now seems like every week he’s attempting or’s he’s dunking on somebody do you think he got the message and um is um is that a
Part of is that show some part some some part of his progression this season no for sure Keegan you know like I said last year Keegan was primarily a catch and shoot three-point shooter and this year he’s shown the ability uh to defend at a high level to rebound uh at a high
Level um and to score from all three levels and you’re right you know last year when we when we t talked to him about uh um going to the rim he didn’t need to fade and shoot a running hook or he he’s so strong he’s a big man and uh
He can play with some force and uh it’s starting to show and again we need that with with with uh Malik and Kevin out um we need him to step up and to score from all three levels and do it with some Force because um you know anytime he
Goes to the rim he’s capable finisher while uh uh while getting fouled you know that his next step now you know everybody’s jumping at every all he’s got to do is look at the rim and guys are flying when he drives he looks at The Rim guys are flying and now he’s got
To be able to have some gamesmanship within his game and if he gets a guy up in the air go right into his body to draw that foul because you got the guy out and finish at the same time he’s still kind of pump fakes and steps
Through and lets the defense off the hook uh but I he’s definitely heading in the right direction he’s made a ton of progress and it is much needed by our team right now uh Mike we know you know what kind of lift uh Trey gives this group and and how everybody feels about
Him to lose Kevin and Malik but but then to have Trey and also Sasha come back at the same time is that kind of provided a little bit of a you know a spiritual lift for the the rest of the group yeah I mean you know you again I I give our
Guys credit against Dallas they they they fought um you know we didn’t we had some empty possessions down the stretch because uh you know we weren’t obviously expecting Malik to go down and and we were trying some some things that Malik has a pretty good feel for with fox out
On the floor and and um and then we had to play HP and and Keegan extended minutes and you know having Trey gives us the ability to continue defending the way we like to defend against Dallas uh but given HB a little bit more rest um
Throughout the course of the game and uh so again having those two bodies those two veteran bodies uh it just helps our overall depth and uh which is which is very very much needed and then it helps our spacing because both those guys can shoot the ball and and they know how to
Play uh uh basketball the right way um Mike um obviously you’ve talked a lot about like through the whole season that the Kings this group needs to find like different ways to win like if the shots not going down things like that how gratifying is it to you to see a win
Like this obviously you know you shot I believe it was 28% from three but obviously you still beat a good Clipper team pretty handily so how gratifying for you after that’s been the message all year is a win like this it it the thing I like about it is this is how you
Win in the playoffs um you don’t win in the playoffs averaging 125 points a game and thinking that’s how you going to win that’s Fool’s Gold you just look back at the teams in the past that were high-scoring teams fun to watch I enjoyed watching them during the
Regular season but they were out after the first round if they got lucky maybe the second round and you just look at the history of NBA champions I don’t think there are many NBA champions that finish outside of the top 10 on the defense and defensive side
Of the floor in the last 25 30 years there might be a couple because there are some exceptions from time to time um but you have to have a balanced team your offense has to be pretty good uh but your defense has to be exceptional because when you get to that second
Third round I mean is a it’s tough and that shot ain’t going always go in now you go from having media coverage of maybe 15 or 10 people you got 50 75 media members watching your every move you got your family asking for you got all these expect it’s crazy and one
Thing you have control over is how hard and how physical you play defensively and if you believe that you’re going to have a chance and for me uh our group is heading in the direction that they need to head in order to have some success come playoff time it’s no guarantee but
I I’d rather have more control on the defense I’d rather have more control for us knowing that we can defend and knowing that hey we got a prettyy good chance of scoring I’d rather have it that way than oh man this shot better go in because it
Ain’t always going to happen coach you may have just answered this question right there but both Trey and Davon when they came out they talked about the game plan and how well the team followed the game plan so as the coach what pleased you the most about the way the team
Followed the game plan and do players get any special considerations in practice if they publicly praise the game plan as they did this even yeah fellas if y’all continue to say I’m a hell of a coach when you come up here I’ll give you a day off here and
There every once in a while no you know what our group I tell you you know we played a lot of games we’ve been injured and so you know especially Fox and domas we put a lot on their shoulder which we’re supposed to and we’re going to continue doing that
Um a lot of games in a short amount of time guys are leaving it out on the floor so we haven’t had a lot of practice time and we’ve tried to prioritize rest uh over hey come in and execute this and do this better and that better and I give
Our guys a ton of credit because you know we’re doing it by watching film and walking through stuff and not doing a lot of I don’t think we had any physical contact now our uh Lo guys that don’t play we have a next group you know Kobe
Javel and those guys they they got a bang heads before practice starts so they can keep their Rhythm but our top eight nine guys they don’t do that at all and uh like uh um we didn’t have shoot around today we had a walk through practice yesterday we didn’t have shoot
Around I don’t think the day before because we’re trying to prioritize like I said rest and so for our guys to be able to retain what we’re trying to explain to them and do and then they go execute it without actually going through it live or going through it semi
Live man I I give them a lot of credit that’s that that’s the feel that they need to have because uh these games are coming quick and uh we’re going from east coast to West Coast West Coast to East Coast and teams are still playing you know back in the day teams were
Resting you just love these last six seven games because you can experiment and R guys we can’t do that so I I applaud our team for uh retaining the information that we’re giving them on a night in Night Out basis coach two quick defensive ones for
You what do you feel like worked well for you guys in pick and roll defense specifically with James and also the Clippers only 36% uh in the paint tonight what do you think was working there you know we we we always say play physical and I thought our guys did I
Thought uh our bigs were really really good at the point uh of the pick and roll you know they revers hard and they were up the touch and they did a great job of mixing in some blitzes that were really aggressive with high hands and we
Put them on their heels and you know when you get blitzed time After Time After Time or the coverages are changing it throws you off also you know that we took away the pocket James is really good at making that pocket pass and then our weak side defense was was fantastic
You know we we we our primary tag guy was great so when that big cut he couldn’t just go and dunk it all the time and and then we rotated out to Shooters so I thought our guys were just on a string tonight uh starting with being really physical uh on the defense
Into the floor they were on a ring uh always in the right spot when the ball moved everybody moved and everybody covered and or protected uh uh each other and that was that was uh beautiful to watch and same with with with the dribble drive when the dribble Drive
Happened or we broke down defensively somebody stepped up and played big at The Rim we sunk and we filled on the backside and then we just sprayed out and covered the three-point line as best as we could they were you know shooting 54 55% from the three in the first half
And I think they were six 11 and and you know they they ended the game I was at five for for for 16 the rest of the way so we did I give our guys credit they they did a heck of a job in both those areas
Stay connected with the #SacramentoKings:
Davion Mitchell, Trey Lyles and Coach Brown speak to the media following a 109-95 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, April 2, 2024.
Davion Mitchell 0:00 – 3:58
Trey Lyles 3:58- 7:02
Mike Brown 7:03 – 26:36
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6 Comments
Offense is the best defense. Meaning, the more pressure a team puts on through their offense the easier it is to get defensive specialists to go in and wear down the opponent. This is like rodman. So without the constant offensive pressure of someone like Jordan, the defense specialist, rebound specialist, or moving without the ball and get open specialist cant work as well. Denver, for example, has the constant offensive push going because of the joker.
Coaching
Confidence
Monk
They need 2 🛑 down playing Keegan. That DUNK was AWESOME.
Best 1 I've seen from him.
🟣👏🏾🤜🏾🤛🏾👍🏾✌🏾
Love Davion. I’m so pleased he has an opportunity to play more minutes
Davion played well. I said it before, Trey is good.
That Malik’s attire was an eye catching piece. I missed his break away dunks.