‘Y’all haven’t seen anything yet’: What Marvin Bagley III showed in loss to Magic
There was something different about Kings forward Marvin Bagley III when he returned Monday night after missing eight more games due to a foot injury.
Coaches and teammates saw something in the way he played the game, the way he played defense, the way he communicated on the floor. There was also something different about him in his postgame interview following a dramatic and difficult 114-112 loss to the Orlando Magic, a level of maturity and awareness that hasn’t always been apparent in a young man who won’t turn 21 until March.
Everyone saw something different in Bagley, who posted 18 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots in 23 minutes in his first game since Dec. 26. Bagley has only appeared in 10 games for the Kings (15-25) — who will face Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks (24-15) on Wednesday at Golden 1 Center — but he has been watching closely in hopes of helping the team change its fortunes over the second half of the season.
“I’ve been watching everything,” said Bagley, who previously missed 22 games with a broken thumb. “Watching defense, offense, what I can do better. Watching my teammates, what they were doing great, what I needed to work on so I could come back and just do it. I’ve been watching a lot and I think it’s been helping.”
Kings coach Luke Walton noticed something in Bagley, too. In fact, he noticed a number of things.
“I loved his overall passion and energy, his communicating, all the things we’ve been talking about as a group and a lot with him individually,” Walton said. “Calling out coverages is so important for big men in this league to anchor a defense and communicate things. He was calling out coverages. He was making plays when we were beat. He came over from the weak side and had some big-time blocked shots for us. He’s going to be an elite rebounder in this league, too, as he continues to grow and get better.”
Walton circled back to Bagley’s defense, which contributed to a very quiet fourth quarter for Nikola Vucevic, and then he touched on what he saw from Bagley offensively.
“He did a really nice job of communicating a defensive game plan tonight,” Walton said. “He did a really nice job offensively of — we talk to him all the time about being such a dynamic roller and what that’s going to do for the rest of our offense — and he did a nice job of setting some picks and rolling.”
Bagley still needs to set better screens and open up his field of vision to become a more willing and effective passer, but there were signs of growth in his 10th game of the season and the 72nd game of his career.
“Defensively, he came in knowing the game plan and executed,” Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox said. “His rotations were great tonight. I think he had probably his best game of the year. Obviously, it’s not always about offense, but he did a hell of a job on the offensive end as well.”
Listen to Fox when he says things like this. Fox had 31 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds against Orlando, nearly posting a triple-double for the second game in a row. After returning from a prolonged injury absence of his own, Fox is answering the call, doing every single thing he can to lead this team through impossible circumstances, and he spoke at length about what he saw from Bagley on Monday.
“I think he was great tonight, especially for your first game back,” Fox said. “Being asked to do multiple things with coverages, especially guarding a player like Vucevic, I think Marv did a hell of a job tonight and we just need to keep building off of it.”
This season might be lost already, but somehow the Kings are only 2½ games out of eighth in the Western Conference despite being 10 games under .500, and despite lengthy absences from Fox, Bagley, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Richaun Holmes. Whatever happens, if Fox, Bagley and Buddy Hield are going to show the leadership, accountability and self awareness we’ve now seen from each of them, this group can still do something special if and when good health is restored. Bagley said he’s willing to do whatever it takes.
“I’m just going to keep fighting, man, keep pushing,” Bagley said. “We’re going to go through stretches like this, but if we keep continuing to lock in and stay together, we’ll get to where we want to be.”
We’ve seen that kind of desire and cognizance from Fox. We’ve seen it from Hield. Now, maybe, we’re seeing it in Bagley, too.
“Y’all really haven’t seen anything yet,” Bagley said. “And I mean that in the most humble way possible, but there’s a lot more to my game. Whatever the team needs, whatever we need to do to win, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Kings upcoming schedule
Jan. 15 vs. Dallas Mavericks
Jan. 18 at Utah, 6 p.m.
Jan. 20 at Miami, 2 p.m.
Jan. 22 at Detroit, 4 p.m.
Jan. 24 at Chicago, 5 p.m.
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
