A Royal Pain
Fansided

Sacramento Kings: Luke Walton Has Players Believing In Him

By John Kelly

SACRAMENTO, CA - OCTOBER 25: Head coach Luke Walton of the Sacramento Kings looks on during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on October 25, 2019 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - OCTOBER 25: Head coach Luke Walton of the Sacramento Kings looks on during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on October 25, 2019 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Luke Walton had a rough start to the 2019-20 season, but he now has the Sacramento Kings playing like a playoff-contending team.

The Sacramento Kings began the 2019-20 season losing their first five games, and needless to say, fans were shocked after the team had a promising previous season.

With head coach Luke Walton seemingly unprepared for the start of the year, fans questioned Vlade Divac‘s decision to fire Dave Joerger at the time. With every consecutive loss, the chorus questioning Walton’s style and his system grew louder. After a season that saw the biggest improvement for Sacramento in over a decade, expectations were relatively high coming into this year, and Walton was not getting the job done.

But since that dreaded start, the Kings have started to turn things around as they now have a record of 5-7, going 5-2 in November. It remains to be seen whether or not Sacramento is a good enough team to surpass last season’s win total. Regardless, the players believe in Walton and his basketball ideology.

What The Players Think Of Luke

With Sacramento competing well in the last five contests, the calls for Walton to be replaced have been largely silenced. Walton sounded confident coming to the podium to address the media after last week’s victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, and the players are buying into Walton’s system and backing up their new coach.

Team Took Full Blame For Slow Start

It has been a pleasant surprise that the Kings have won five of their last seven games, which has given them good momentum to make up for their terrible start. Even during the team’s struggles, the players never doubted their head coach. Most of the players blamed themselves, which is a good sign that they are bought into Walton and are not against him.

Kings Playing Slow During Good Times

Since Vivek Ranadive took the helm of Kings’ majority owner, he has always emphasized wanting his team to play a fast-paced style. During his tenure, Joerger spent every game encouraging his players to run, often losing his voice, as an attempt to try to get his guys to pick up the pace.

When Walton accepted the job, the top subject was pace. This was going to be the offensive identity of the Kings. At the time of this article, the Kings are listed 29th in the league in pace. With that said, the Kings have won five of their last seven games.

With victories over the Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics, things are starting to look up. If Kings fans are known for one thing, it is for loving hard-working players and supporting the team when they show effort at any pace, and that is what we are seeing from the purple and white in the last week.

Walton Made Right Adjustments

When your team is struggling to win games, adjustments need to be made. Walton showing the ability to adapt when needed is a good sign of coaching. What is also a good sign of coaching is knowing your team’s strengths. Sacramento is a three-point shooting team. How well have they been doing in that category?

Right now, the Kings are ranked sixth in three-pointers made per game and sixth in three-point percentage. Considering how poorly the Kings started the season shooting the ball, it is encouraging to see them stick to their strengths and eventually figure it out.

Final Thoughts

With the Kings struggling to start the year, one had to think that chemistry and coaching were the issues. Now that the Kings have had time to play with one another, and coach Walton making adjustments to the team, the team now looks like the squad that many hoped it would be.

There is still a lot of basketball left for the Kings to make a push for the playoffs. Now that they have the momentum on their side, the postseason is definitely a realistic goal.

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