A Royal Pain
Fansided

The Sacramento Kings Are Shining Through Adversity

By Ryan Ritter

SACRAMENTO, CA - NOVEMBER 19: Richaun Holmes #22, and Cory Joseph #9 of the Sacramento Kings hi-five each other against the Phoenix Suns on November 19, 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 License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - NOVEMBER 19: Richaun Holmes #22, and Cory Joseph #9 of the Sacramento Kings hi-five each other against the Phoenix Suns on November 19, 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 License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Sacramento Kings Bogdan Bogdanovic (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Sacramento Kings Bogdan Bogdanovic (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Where They Are

The biggest difference between this year’s team and seemingly every Sacramento Kings team from the past decade-plus has been buy-in. The team didn’t collectively put its head down in the face of adversity. Instead, they have used adversity and bought in on the defensive end in a way Kings fans haven’t seen in years and years. It hasn’t even been the case of good teams slacking off due to playing a depleted Sacramento squad. This is the Kings making good teams work for their points. It feels insane to say now considering where the season began, but this feels like a more sustainable model than even the highly popular run-and-gun system that Dave Joerger installed last year.

Since going 0-5, the Kings have posted a defensive rating of 108.8, good for 16th in the league.  They have held the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics, two of the very best teams in the NBA, to under 100 points. They held the Phoenix Suns to 45 points in the first half before taking their foot off the gas in the second. They…well, they didn’t do much to the Nets, but let’s chalk that up to yet another injury.

On the other end of the court, Walton’s gamble on slowing the team down to develop a half-court offense is starting to pay dividends. During the month of November, the Kings have posted an offensive rating of 111.5, good for fourth in the league overall. They have also posted a True Shooting Percentage of .582, also good for fourth in the league. Add in a 47.1% FG rating (also top ten in the league, standing at ninth), and the Kings appear to be getting open shots and making them on top of that.

Best of all, you can see the effort coming off of the screen. For example, Richaun Holmes‘ energy is palpable and has seemed to be a unifying factor for the squad. Bogdan Bogdanovic put together a career-high game against the Suns and seems to have found his swagger again. Nemanja Bjelica has been nothing short of revelatory. The Kings have also fully embraced the “next man up” mentality. They are playing with and for each other, the first time in many moons you could sincerely say that about a Sacramento basketball club.

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