The Sacramento Kings, The Franchise That Doesn't Do Defense

[Bricklayer]

Piggybacking and Expanding on a statistical collection I saw elsewhere illustrating this franchise's perennial lack of dedication to defense. Tis complete insanity, especially considering the 8 winning seasons vs. now 19 losing season we've had since the team arrived in Sacramento. If the all offense approach had consistently worked to some degree it would be one thing. But as it is, its complete nonsense:

Defensive Efficiency Rankings Per Year Since Arriving in Sacto
85-86 19th of 23* playoff as as #8 seed, 37-45 record
86-87 22nd of 23
87-88 21st of 23
88-89 21st of 25
89-90 21st of 27
90-91 19th of 27
91-92 20th of 27
92-93 19th of 27
93-94 22nd of 27
94-95 11th of 27 Brian Grant/Michael Smith arrive via draft
95-96 19th of 29 playoff as an #8 seed, 39-43 record
96-97 22nd of 29
97-98 23rd of 29
---------------------------
98-99 16th of 29 beginning of golden years, Adelman arrives
99-00 11th of 29
00-01 7th of 29 55 win season, Christie, BJax arrive
01-02 6th of 29 61 win season
02-03 2nd of 29 59 win season
03-04 21st of 29 Webber knee, also lost Pollard, Hedo, JJax, Keon
04-05 23rd of 29
05-06 13th of 29 Artest/Bonzi year, last Adelman year
---------------------------
06-07 21st of 30
07-08 25th of 30
08-09 24th of 30
09-10 21st of 30
10-11 23rd of 30
11-12 28th of 30

*the second number is how many teams were in the league each year

Key Stats:
27 seasons
Finsihed Top 10 in Def Eff 3 times
Finished Bottom 10 in Def Eff 20 times
Finsihed in top half of league in defense all of 6 times in 27 years (5 of 8 during Adelman's years). Six.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

Oh Rick where art thou.

Minnesota...yes, I know.

 

[Section 101]

Piggybacking and Expanding on a statistical collection I saw elsewhere illustrating this franchise's perennial lack of dedication to defense. Tis complete insanity, especially considering the 8 winning seasons vs. now 19 losing season we've had since the team arrived in Sacramento. If the all offense approach had consistently worked to some degree it would be one thing. But as it is, its complete nonsense:

Defensive Efficiency Rankings Per Year Since Arriving in Sacto
85-86 19th of 23* playoff as as #8 seed, 37-45 record
86-87 22nd of 23
87-88 21st of 23
88-89 21st of 25
89-90 21st of 27
90-91 19th of 27
91-92 20th of 27
92-93 19th of 27
93-94 22nd of 27
94-95 11th of 27
95-96 19th of 29 playoff as an #8 seed, 39-43 record
96-97 22nd of 29
97-98 23rd of 29
---------------------------
98-99 16th of 29 beginning of golden years, Adelman arrives
99-00 11th of 29
00-01 7th of 29 55 win season, Christie, BJax arrive
01-02 6th of 29 61 win season
02-03 2nd of 29 59 win season
03-04 21st of 29 Webber knee, also lost Pollard, Hedo, JJax, Keon
04-05 23rd of 29
05-06 13th of 29 Artest/Bonzi year, last Adelman year
---------------------------
06-07 21st of 30
07-08 25th of 30
08-09 24th of 30
09-10 21st of 30
10-11 23rd of 30
11-12 28th of 30

*the second number is how many teams were in the league each year

Key Stats:
27 seasons
Finsihed Top 10 in Def Eff 3 times
Finished Bottom 10 16 times

But Adelman never taught defense!!!!

 

[Warhawk]

Hey Brick, this is an awesome little table you assembled. I kinda wondered about some of this before. Now, how about including offensive standings and yearly W-L records as well! Keep this up, and we will keep adding requests!

 

[bajaden]

Well, since there were three different owners and several different GM's during that time period, I guess we were pretty consistently bad despite that. Except for a 5 or 6 year period there where we screwed up our record by actually playing some defense. Since all the good years came under one coach, and his coaching staff, I guess you can point to that as one of the determining factors.

Having a coaching staff that taught defense, and demanded you play it, along with players that were able, and willing to defend, usually results in a good defensive team. And the "able" part doesn't necessarily mean athleticism (although it helps) borne out by having players like Vlade and Bibby on the team. Neither were the greatest athlete in the world, but both were very smart, and probably did their homework.

I'm not sure how time is devoted to defense on this team. I would hope the answer is not much after considering the results. It would be easy to say well, what do you expect with Jimmer out there? Jimmer is a bad defender, and probably will be for a while, considering that he was never asked to play defense in college, and isn't blessed with the athleticism to overcome mistakes. But he hasn't played enough to be responsible for some of the debacles I've seen this year. Even if you have a good defender out there, the rest of the team is so bad at times that you won't even notice if someone is playing good defense. Or that player will end up looking bad because of trying to help on defense, and leaving his man to do so. Sort of a dammed if you do or dammed if you don't scenario.


Interesting to look at the entire record though. You'd think we'd be in the top half of the league just by accident more than that. Hey, when your at the bottom, the only place to go is up... Right?

 

[Kingster]

Well, since there were three different owners and several different GM's during that time period, I guess we were pretty consistently bad despite that. Except for a 5 or 6 year period there where we screwed up our record by actually playing some defense. Since all the good years came under one coach, and his coaching staff, I guess you can point to that as one of the determining factors.

Having a coaching staff that taught defense, and demanded you play it, along with players that were able, and willing to defend, usually results in a good defensive team. And the "able" part doesn't necessarily mean athleticism (although it helps) borne out by having players like Vlade and Bibby on the team. Neither were the greatest athlete in the world, but both were very smart, and probably did their homework.

I'm not sure how time is devoted to defense on this team. I would hope the answer is not much after considering the results. It would be easy to say well, what do you expect with Jimmer out there? Jimmer is a bad defender, and probably will be for a while, considering that he was never asked to play defense in college, and isn't blessed with the athleticism to overcome mistakes. But he hasn't played enough to be responsible for some of the debacles I've seen this year. Even if you have a good defender out there, the rest of the team is so bad at times that you won't even notice if someone is playing good defense. Or that player will end up looking bad because of trying to help on defense, and leaving his man to do so. Sort of a dammed if you do or dammed if you don't scenario.


Interesting to look at the entire record though. You'd think we'd be in the top half of the league just by accident more than that. Hey, when your at the bottom, the only place to go is up... Right?

LOL.

I see guys not switching properly. Guys double teaming players that shouldn't be double teamed. (Sometimes triple teamed). Guys not seeing man and ball and getting back-doored. Guys not closing out on shooters properly. Guys trotting back on defense. Guys running away from the ball, not toward it. Guys not stopping the ball on a fast break. Guys straying far and wide from excellent 3 point shooters. I don't buy all the talk about small ball being the main factor in the bad defense. This team has too much defensive talent not to be a better defensive team. Sure, having a shot blocker is going to make up for the defensive mistakes of others. But not that many. It's probably a combination of inexperience, inattention to detail, the lack of coaching time and some players not taking defense as seriously as they should. Too many of the mistakes are done by veteran players who really have no excuse.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

I just want to say this .. and it may not mean anything or it may mean something.

In the last two years we traded for Dalembert, we drafted Whiteside, we traded for Salmons, we signed Chuck Hayes, and we attempted to sign both Dalembert and AK47.

In 3 of those cases (Hayes-Dalembert-Whiteside) we clearly went after them for their defense. There isn't even a question, really, as all of those guys cannot do anything offensively. Salmons and AK can do other things, but I still think they are known as good defenders.

Does this mean anything? I don't know. It hasn't translated into wins or even improved defense, but maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel? maybe we ARE paying a little attention to that side of the ball now?

 

[ESP47]

What's with our guards/SF's leaving their men to do this half assed attempt at a double team only to get the ball kicked out to the guy they're supposed to be guarding for a wide open 3? I swear 50% of our teams defensive problems are from our guys trying to help on interior D while leaving their man wide open.

I get irritated when people say Tyreke is a good defender. He may be a good on ball defender when his man is trying to go 1 on 1 against him but he is absolutely horrible at team defense. He leaves his man wide open for 3's all the time. Same goes for Thornton, Jimmer and Thomas. I understand the concept of help defense but if you're going to leave your man to double someone, then you better make sure you're putting some real pressure on the guy. All too often I see our guys leaving their men wide open on the perimeter to go inside and do some little swat at the guy with the ball, only to have the ball get passed right over their head for a wide open shot.

 

[hrdboild]

We do have, and have had over the years, a number of good individual defenders. But the team defense right now is laughably bad. I don't even know what to say about it other than that. All you have to do is watch tape of an average NBA team and it becomes pretty obvious how many things we're doing wrong. If anything it's gotten worse throughout the course of the season, not better. Either our coaching staff doesn't care very much or the players just aren't listening. It's a chicken and the egg type of problem. I do know that I'd feel a lot more comfortable if I knew someone was in charge who taught NBA-quality defense and would bench anyone who didn't buy in.

 

[Kingster]

I just want to say this .. and it may not mean anything or it may mean something.

In the last two years we traded for Dalembert, we drafted Whiteside, we traded for Salmons, we signed Chuck Hayes, and we attempted to sign both Dalembert and AK47.

In 3 of those cases (Hayes-Dalembert-Whiteside) we clearly went after them for their defense. There isn't even a question, really, as all of those guys cannot do anything offensively. Salmons and AK can do other things, but I still think they are known as good defenders.

Does this mean anything? I don't know. It hasn't translated into wins or even improved defense, but maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel? maybe we ARE paying a little attention to that side of the ball now?

Also, Smart is playing Whiteside, despite his severe offensive shortcomings, Not what you would expect from an offense-small ball devotee. This is an implicit recognition by Smart that he needs his defense on the court.

 

[Kingster]

What's with our guards/SF's leaving their men to do this half assed attempt at a double team only to get the ball kicked out to the guy they're supposed to be guarding for a wide open 3? I swear 50% of our teams defensive problems are from our guys trying to help on interior D while leaving their man wide open.

I get irritated when people say Tyreke is a good defender. He may be a good on ball defender when his man is trying to go 1 on 1 against him but he is absolutely horrible at team defense. He leaves his man wide open for 3's all the time. Same goes for Thornton, Jimmer and Thomas. I understand the concept of help defense but if you're going to leave your man to double someone, then you better make sure you're putting some real pressure on the guy. All too often I see our guys leaving their men wide open on the perimeter to go inside and do some little swat at the guy with the ball, only to have the ball get passed right over their head for a wide open shot.

And to draft off of your comments, if we do have smaller, quicker guys out there, they better use that quickness on defense, to trap, to pressure, to make switches very fast, to anticipate. Otherwise, you have the worst of both worlds: smaller guys playing like slow big guys.

 

[ArcoKings]

Please forward this table to Keith Smart, Geoff Petrie, every Kings player and the MALOOFS.

 

[rainmaker]

Please forward this table to Keith Smart, Geoff Petrie, every Kings player and the MALOOFS.

None have public email. I've checked.

No one working is basketball operations has public emails.

 

[Gary]

But Adelman never taught defense!!!!

It seemed so to the casual fan who looks at PPG allowed. We were an up tempo team but our team D was actually pretty good..

What made our D look a bit worse than the numbers Brick listed was our poor rebounding. We would give WAY too many second chance points away which raised the "true" fg% a bit higher than what brick has posted there in the golden years.. But needless to say we were a good defensive team.

 

[SacTownKid]

I just want to say this .. and it may not mean anything or it may mean something.

In the last two years we traded for Dalembert, we drafted Whiteside, we traded for Salmons, we signed Chuck Hayes, and we attempted to sign both Dalembert and AK47.

In 3 of those cases (Hayes-Dalembert-Whiteside) we clearly went after them for their defense. There isn't even a question, really, as all of those guys cannot do anything offensively. Salmons and AK can do other things, but I still think they are known as good defenders.

Does this mean anything? I don't know. It hasn't translated into wins or even improved defense, but maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel? maybe we ARE paying a little attention to that side of the ball now?

I think it disproves the notion that Petrie avoids defensive specialists. Now, whether the coach has a defensive mentality, the team has the concept of team defense down, or whether or not the coach plays those defensive specialists to their strengths could be an issue.

 

[Larry David]

Bad NBA teams usually don't play very good defense. Teams that are bad year after year are even worse. It's hard to play good defense, and teams that keep failing year after year can't get their top 8 guys to do it at the same time. Instead, players focus on their numbers and have a monster season before they either leave or get paid to stay.

Due to bad owners and bad managment, they Kings have mostly been bad.

You can read those stats and conclude that the Kings are bad because they don't play defense. And part of that is true. I think the Kings also don't play defense because they are bad, and the ownership and GM caused that.

 

[bajaden]

LOL.

I see guys not switching properly. Guys double teaming players that shouldn't be double teamed. (Sometimes triple teamed). Guys not seeing man and ball and getting back-doored. Guys not closing out on shooters properly. Guys trotting back on defense. Guys running away from the ball, not toward it. Guys not stopping the ball on a fast break. Guys straying far and wide from excellent 3 point shooters. I don't buy all the talk about small ball being the main factor in the bad defense. This team has too much defensive talent not to be a better defensive team. Sure, having a shot blocker is going to make up for the defensive mistakes of others. But not that many. It's probably a combination of inexperience, inattention to detail, the lack of coaching time and some players not taking defense as seriously as they should. Too many of the mistakes are done by veteran players who really have no excuse.

Get no argument from me. I think you summed it up fairly well. I think most teams have one of their quickest players do the doubling. For instance, I see no problem with IT doubling, because he's quick enough to get back to his man. But Jimmer isn't! So why then do we have Jimmer doubling. On the old Kings, Christie was the main guy that used to double, unless someone could double down because his man was close to the man that needed doubling. Someone like Kid Gilchrist would be the perfect candidate for that job because of his quickness.

You watch this team and it appears at times that they're flying by the seat of their pants. I have no idea who the defensive coach on the team is, and how much time is devoted to defense. I know Elston Turner was the guy on the old Kings. What I don't understand, is that most of us sitting at home, know who you shouldn't leave open. So the players have to know as well. And yet, time after time we still leave the Jason Terry's of the world open. There is simply no defensive disclipine. And I agree! A shotblocker like a Davis would go a long way toward helping this team become respectable, but he wouldn't be a cure all. Our team defense has to improve.

If we get caught in a switch, and we end up with Jimmer guarding Gasol, and Thompson guarding Sessions, then we have to help in order to switch back. There are ways to do it. Problem is, you only have seconds to make the proper decision, and I don't think these guys have enough experience yet to make the right decision on defense. But its better to make the right decision too late, than not make it at all.

Bottom line is, if we have a defensive coach, fire him, because he's not getting results. Then hire the best defensive coach you can find and give him the time to work with these guys.