Culture Change For Kings Will Take Time
By Dave "Deuce" Mason
Sacramento Kings (1-2) head coach Michael Malone wasn't happy with his team's performance following the loss to the Warriors on Saturday.
The team has bad habits including lapses on defense and falling into the selfish play that has hampered the team for the last few seasons.
"If we think we can show up to a very good basketball team in their house and just go through the motions, what's going to happen is what happened tonight: we're going to get our ass kicked," Malone told reporters on Saturday following the loss in Oakland.
Malone's passion is refreshing but it's disappointing that his team needs to hear him make comments so early in the season about "going through the motions." We're three games into the season—no team should be going through the motions.
Malone isn't going to change the culture overnight so fans should expect some of these lapses throughout the season. Didn't Mick Jagger say, "old habits die hard"?
The good news? The Kings have a favorable schedule this week with a home game versus Atlanta on Tuesday followed by a trip to Portland on Friday, and back home for Portland on Saturday.
Prediction: Kings go 2-1 this week and 3-3 overall. Patience, Kings fans.
Shooting woes
It's a small sample size but the Kings shooting has been dreadful through the first three games of the season.
Sacramento is shooting 40 percent from the field (26th in the NBA). It's too early to declare the Kings a poor shooting team but it will be something to watch. If the shooting woes continue Malone may be forced to give some minutes to Jimmer Fredette.
Fans called our show on Monday talking about Jimmer's playing time and the majority of people who called in said the third-year guard deserves more playing time.
The other issue is defending the 3-point line where opponents are shooting 48 percent of beyond the arc. Breaking news: That's not good.
You can hear Deuce Monday-Friday 12-3 p.m. with Jason Ross on KHTK Sports 1140. Follow him on twitter: @deucemason
