Sacramento Kings Need To Clean Up Before Consequences Begin

The Sacramento Kings are lost with no one having an answer to why. Is the head coaching spot an area of improvement?

With the NBA season not even a week old, the Sacramento Kings have looked as bad as any team we have seen in years. Let us be honest, many of us have seen bad basketball teams, but not many as bad of this year’s Kings team so far. Once again, the Kings were blown out by the Utah Jazz in embarrassing fashion. All 48 minutes were a hot mess for the purple and white.

Not even the Kings’ broadcasting team could find an answer to the current problem and Luke Walton even said himself that the start has been “embarrassing”.

Diving Into The Stats

With 78 more games remaining in the regular season, the Kings need to find answers to why their hard work and practice have not translated onto the court. Let us take a look at the season numbers in a few areas of the game.

The Kings have recorded a total number of 75 assists this season. Not only that, but they have committed a whopping 75 turnovers which makes their assist-to-turnover ratio terrible. The team has also committed 90 personal fouls which have been hard to watch as well.

The Kings’ offense has struggled as well as the team collectively is shooting 40% from the floor (ranked 28th in the league) and 35% from the three-point line (14th in the league). The team is turning the ball over at a high rate and committing silly fouls. They are also not putting the ball through the net which has made their offense the least efficient in the league.

In terms of ratings, the Kings are 30th in offensive efficiency and 27th in defensive efficiency.

Too Early To Panic?

It has only been four games, so there is no need to panic. But the way the Kings have played has been very discouraging. There is no sense of urgency, hustle, or team pride when the purple and white step on the court. The team does not show energy on both ends of the floor and the body language looks unmotivated.

Again, it is only four games and the Kings will have plenty of chances to prove themselves. But for a team that basically had the mentality of playoffs or bust this year, this has to be the most frustrating start to a season in a long time.

Igor Kokokov A Solution?

With a young and inexperienced roster, the Phoenix Suns were not expected to win many games last season. It was a rebuilding year for the franchise that drafted Deandre Ayton as the #1 pick, so winning 19 games was not that much of a surprise, but the lack of chemistry was.

Current Kings’ assistant coach Igor Kokoskov was to blame for the Suns’ failures last season which is why he was relieved of his duties after just one year. Igor knows the Xs and Os of basketball and has had success coaching overseas and being the assistant to many NBA teams. If the Walton era goes south, the Kings have a replacement in Kokoskov.

Was Igor A Replacement All Along?

With Luke Walton dealing with the sexual-assault charges shortly after being hired by the Kings, was hiring Kokoskov a backup plan in case the Kings and NBA found the charges to be credible? It was never to be anything other than a quality NBA hire who has seen and done it all in the basketball world. As a head coach with limited experience, it makes sense for Luke to have Igor and use his wealth of knowledge.

Whatever the reason Kokoskov is here in Sacramento matters little now. It could be the answer to an unforeseen problem if Walton fails to find an answer for his team’s problems.

Vivek Is Impatient

Vivek has a reputation as an impatient man who wants to win above all. With every dismal performance from the Kings, pressure raises from the coaching staff to find answers soon.

Promising the Kings’ glory days would come back to Sacramento again, Ranadive has waited long enough. The fans have been patient for even longer. Everyone deserves to see a Kings playoff game again, sooner rather than later. If this team cannot fix their problems soon, the team’s postseason dreams could be over before Christmas.

Final Thoughts

How quickly the history of the Kings losing creeps back into reality.  With the best fans in the league always showing support when effort and energy were visible, it needs to be priority number one for Sacramento to turn the tide around.

The season is still young with time for the team to show us what Walton sees in practice.  A good hardworking team, that we have seen little of this year, have yet witnessed but desperately need too.