BY RICHARD IVANOWSKI
AUGUST 03, 2020 08:31 AM , UPDATED 7 HOURS 7 MINUTES AGO
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Players take a knee as NBA season resumes in Orlando 'bubble'
Players from the Utah Jazz and the New Orleans Pelicans locked arms and took a knee together as basketball teams returned from coronavirus lockdown to participate in the NBA’s “bubble” season at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, on July 30. BY BEN GOLLIVER VIA STORYFUL
The first two games in the bubble were supposed to be easy matchups for the Kings.
Sacramento was favored against San Antonio and was a slight underdog against Orlando. The Spurs have a worse record than the Kings and were without one of their best players in LaMarcus Aldridge. The Magic have a slightly better record but are still below .500 in the weaker Eastern Conference.
If the Kings were going to make the playoffs, or even come close, they needed to win these games. They lost both in embarrassing fashion.
It’s hard to apportion blame among a basketball team with so many players, coaches and executives. You can waive a hand at injuries or poor play from individuals, but I think the problem is more obvious than that.
After two games in the bubble, head coach Luke Walton’s tactics have been exposed as a weak point for the Sacramento Kings.
INFLEXIBLE AND UNIMAGINATIVE
While the restart changed a lot of variables, the Kings still had plenty of intel on their opponents to work with. The Spurs played small ball throughout their scrimmages. DeMar DeRozan, who has been a shooting guard for most of his career, started at power forward.
Luke Walton made no adjustments to his standard starting lineup. This caused problems early and often. The Kings did not have the wing defense to deal with a four-guard look and got roasted on a 19-0 run in the first quarter.
Walton didn’t call a timeout during that run, which took the Kings from a three-point lead to a 16-point deficit. He ran his team into a buzzsaw and didn’t seem interested in making many adjustments.
The story was similar against the Magic. The starting lineup was the same and the rotation of bench players didn’t change much, at least not while it mattered. Orlando scored 44 points in the first quarter, the second most of any Kings opponent in any quarter all season.
HIELD IS NOT A POINT GUARD
De’Aaron Fox had an incredible game against the Spurs, posting a career-high 39 points. He seemed to be using sheer willpower to make impossible, acrobatic finishes at the basket. But that performance was wasted due to a bizarre strategy when he left the floor.
Walton relied on Buddy Hield to create offense when Fox was resting. Looking to Hield for scoring is understandable, but Walton asked Buddy to create. Hield’s gravity is lost when he slowly dribbles the ball up court and gets his pocket picked. That’s exactly what was happening, and it shouldn’t have surprised anyone.
When it didn’t work, Hield’s minutes disappeared. We have seen this happen regularly. Buddy is not put in a position to succeed, then he is punished when he fails. Hield has not seemed like a happy camper under Walton. It’s easy to see why.
Walton deserves some credit for giving up on this tactic by the game against the Magic. Bogdan Bogdanovic was the setup man for the second unit this time. But Hield’s confidence looked long gone. The team’s leading scorer from last season is playing just 20 minutes a game while shooting 27% from the field and 20% from deep in the restart.
OVER-RELIANCE ON BJELICA
Nemanja Bjelica is the clear weak point of Sacramento’s defense, though he normally makes up for it with his shooting. Walton let the Spurs take advantage of him Friday. Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich made sure his team hunted Bjelica on switches often, including the four consecutive possessions that sealed the game.
Walton heavily praised DeMar DeRozan as a dangerous weapon both before and after the game. But during the game Walton seemed to have no plan for him. DeRozan ate Bjelica alive in the second half. If he is so dangerous, why not have a strategy for him? And if your strategy flawed, why not change it?
The plan seemed to be awfully similar when Aaron Gordon put up nine points in the first four minutes of the game. Of course, there was no need for the Magic to attack Bjelica late, because this one was never close. The Kings never led at any point and were down by 20 for most of the game.
The Kings defense has been putrid in general through two games. There is no organization, no discipline and no accountability. They let two teams near the bottom of the league in made 3-pointers absolutely tear them to shreds. Sacramento’s opponents are shooting 46% from deep in the restart.
LACK OF ACCOUNTABILTY
What surprises me most about Walton isn’t any one decision on the court. It’s not even the big picture of his strategy. What constantly blows me away is how little emotion he shows after the games and how superficial his comments seem.
The loss to San Antonio was heartbreaking and the loss to Orlando was downright embarrassing. But Walton went back to the same well he always does. He says he will watch the film. He says it as if that will solve everything.
His constant suggestion that the Kings lose because of the little things is confusing. Big things are constantly going wrong on the court. Does he see those things? Can he fix them? Could he at least talk about them as if he wants to fix them?
Maybe it’s a poker face. Maybe he is frantic and impassioned about these issues behind closed doors. You could argue that it’s smart to not discuss anything important with the public but you’re wrong. This Sacramento fan base is starved for accountability and transparency. They need far more than a brief discussion of the box score and a vague promise to check the tape.
If Kings fans are left without answers for long enough, they’ll eventually assume the problem is Walton himself. Based on what he has shown through two games in the bubble, they appear to be right.
This eight-game restart schedule everyone waited for is suddenly looking mighty unpleasant. And the next few years under Walton will look even worse if something doesn’t change.
Sacramento Kings head coach Luke Walton calls from the sideline in the first half of Friday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs. KIM KLEMENT AP
