Do Kings coach Mike Brown and GM Monte McNair see eye to eye on offense-defense debate?
It would be wrong to suggest some sort of rift between Kings coach Mike Brown and general manager Monte McNair, but it’s fair to wonder if they differ to some extent when it comes to the offense-defense discussion.
Since the start of training camp, Brown has staunchly maintained that defense will be the key to any postseason success in Sacramento. Brown has been part of four championship teams as an assistant coach, one with the San Antonio Spurs and three with the Golden State Warriors. Knowing what it takes to win in the playoffs, the reigning and unanimous NBA Coach of the Year is adamant in his belief that the Kings must be better defensively.
Brown has been willing to sacrifice something offensively to achieve the desired results on defense. After setting a record with the highest offensive rating in NBA history last season, Brown isn’t worried about his team’s ability to score, but McNair clearly had offense on his mind prior to the All-Star break.
“We know we’ve got to improve the offense back closer to what it was last year,” McNair said when he addressed the media following the NBA trade deadline. “If we do that, I think we can make some noise, but we’ve got some work to do because the West is tough 1 to 12 or 13 this year and every game is going to be a dogfight.”
The Kings (31-23) still have some identity issues as they come out of the All-Star break with 28 games to play in the regular season. They won 48 games to secure the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference last season, ending the longest playoff drought in NBA history, but they have fallen to eighth in the West this season.
The stretch run starts now as the Kings prepare to face the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday at Golden 1 Center. The Kings are one of four teams — all within 1 ½ games of each other — vying for the last two automatic playoff berths in the West. The Kings, New Orleans Pelicans, Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks are all hoping to avoid the play-in tournament while the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors are coming on strong with the same goal in mind.
Should the Kings try to run and gun their way to the playoffs as they did a year ago? Or should they keep emphasizing defensive effort, focus and physicality? This is a question that could determine Sacramento’s fate as the Kings try to return to the playoffs following a first-round exit in a seismic seven-game series against the Warriors last season.
“If we’re going to be No. 1 in the NBA on offense and No. 25 in defense, we’re not going to have a chance, so somehow, someway, we have to keep improving on that end of the floor to give us a chance,” Brown said. “It might not work out, but for me, coaching this team, I’d rather know I tried to do something that I felt could truly help us get to what our goal is than to sit back and have this pretty offense and have fun during the regular season, like we were last year, and get knocked out in the first round or even the second round.”
By the numbers
This conversation requires a close look at the numbers. Last season, with De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis surrounded by shooters such as Kevin Huerter, Keegan Murray and Harrison Barnes, the Kings were No. 1 in offensive rating (118.6), No. 24 in defensive rating (116.0) and No. 8 in net rating (+2.6). They led the NBA in scoring at 120.7 points per game and ranked 25th in scoring defense, allowing an average of 118.1 points.
This season, through their first 54 games, the Kings are No. 14 in offensive rating (116.6), No. 18 in defensive rating (116.1) and No. 17 in net rating (+0.5). They are eighth in scoring (118.4 ppg) and 21st in scoring defense (117.9 ppg).
The Kings are giving up 0.2 fewer points per game, but their scoring average has dropped by 2.3 points. Their 3-point shooting has improved slightly from 36.9% to 37%, but their field-goal percentage has fallen from 50.4% to 48.2% and free-throw shooting has dropped from 79% to 73.2%.
Early in the season, as some of Sacramento’s best shooters struggled to find their rhythm, players acknowledged that the extra effort on defense might have contributed to weary legs and wayward shots, but Brown wouldn’t compromise. He often points out that only one team in the past 25 years, the 2000-01 Lakers, has won an NBA championship while finishing lower than 15th in the league in defensive rating. Twenty-two of the past 25 NBA champions finished in the top 10.
“Sometimes in this business, you’ve got to take chances,” Brown said. “You’ve got to try to shake things up in a way that not a lot of people are happy about or excited about, especially if it’s ugly at first and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to work, but you’ve got to try to shake things up to push the limits of your team to challenge them in order to truly be ready come the postseason to compete for a championship.”
When the Kings returned to their practice facility Tuesday following the All-Star break, Brown pointed to two key deficiencies. He noted that the Kings are 29th in the NBA in opponent’s 3-point percentage (.418) and 30th in free-throw shooting. Brown said the Kings would rank among the top 10 in offensive and defensive rating if they were average in those two categories.
McNair’s assessment
McNair has stated his goal is to ensure the Kings “maintain and improve” while setting the organization up for long-term, sustainable success. He was asked about those words during his news conference earlier this month.
McNair specifically pointed to Murray, who has emerged as one of the league’s most effective wing defenders in his second season out of Iowa. Scoring and 3-point shooting made Murray an All-Rookie First Team selection a year ago. This season, he is proving his ability to fight through screens, stick with his man and contest shots while drawing an assortment of impossible defensive assignments, from Stephen Curry to Luka Doncic.
“The defense, I do see the improvement, and we’ve done some really good stuff,” McNair said. “I think Keegan, in particular, has taken a step on that end. ... We certainly haven’t brought it every night on the defensive end, but overall, we’ve seen our rank improve. We’ve seen some really good performances. That said, we have not maintained our offense, and that is an issue. We’ve got to get better on that end because if we had maintained our offense and seen the defensive improvement, we’d be in a much different position. We know those things, but I think the improvement has been a positive. Not being able to maintain some other aspects is something we need to continue to work on and get better at.”
McNair was then asked if he and Brown are on the same page in terms of the emphasis on defense.
“I think we all know we’ve got to be better on both ends because we’re not where we need to be, but I think the defense was the easiest thing for us to improve,” McNair said. “We wanted to maintain our offense to get there. Right now, our offense has slipped as our defense has improved, and we’re in a similar spot.
“I think the biggest thing for us is, at the end of the night, we’ve got to have more points than the other team, and especially in the playoffs, you’re going to have to go and stop some really, really tough players. Just look up and down the West. It doesn’t matter who you play. You’re going to have multi-time All-Stars, All-NBA guys and future Hall of Famers that you’re going to have to stop, so we’ve got to learn to do that because in April and May, we’re going to have to do that. At the same time, we’ve got to figure out a way to score because in this league it’s taking 110, 120, 130 (points) to win, so we’ve got to do both because we can’t have a good defensive performance go to waste because we don’t score enough.”
