Keith Smart gave his players their shooting statistics Thursday and asked each player to go their strengths and stay away from their weaknesses. Smart said they all agreed to do so.
With that in mind, here are five areas of the floor five Kings need to go to or avoid to keep their word (thanks to nba.com/stats).
Smart wants to see his players get their offense going by getting near the basket and the statistics show why.
1. DeMarcus Cousins: Here's the case for Cousins playing near the basket: He is shooting 59.2 percent (29 of 49) from five feet and closer. He's shooting 26.9 percent (14 of 52) from everywhere else on the floor.
2. Tyreke Evans: He's shooting 56.3 percent in the restricted area, but the mid range game (6 of 24, 25 percent) is lacking.
3. Marcus Thornton: He's more proficient near the rim than Cousins (25 of 38, 65.8 percent). On the perimeter Thornton has made 2 of 6 corner three pointers. That might be the spot to find Thornton to get him rolling from the perimeter. Playing Thornton with Chuck Hayes wouldn't hurt, either. Hayes has assisted on 10 of Thornton's shots makes this season.
4. Jimmer Fredette: He's not the biggest guard, but Fredette can score in the paint when he relies on pull ups and floaters. Fredette has made 8 of 11 shots in the paint outside of the restricted area (72.7 percent). He's also made 6 of 9 midrange shots (66.7 percent).
5. James Johnson: Johnson attacking the rim was a positive to come out of Tuesday's loss to Portland. Johnson is shooting 3 of 18 from midrange and has missed all seven of his three pointers. Johnson is shooting 61.5 percent (16 of 26) near the rim. Johnson has made 20 shots this season with only two makes from 20 feet or beyond.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
• Read more articles by Jason Jones
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
Order Reprint
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.