Welcome Davion Mitchell

[SacTownKid]

Im not sure Fox really does or he wouldn’t be one of the worst defenders on the team. Mitchell is certainly going to get in his grill that’s for sure.

Is Fox a bad individual defender though? I can't see it. You have to remember, when you are a player getting the most minutes on the WORST defensive team that relied heavily on team defense it's going to crush your advanced stats. Put Davion on that team last year and the stats will say he's bad too. Or any player pretty much that doesn't excel in a defense that relies on size on the wing like that one does.

 

[EIM86]

Well, that was just Walton being Walton so is it fixable? He just didn't grasp, and hasn't ever grasped the idea of rotations. He would play guys straight through and burn up players because it's just what he does. The minutes Fox and Barnes got were just right for what you need out of core players, but playing them 16-20 game minutes straight and sitting them for longer stretches in the middle of critical quarters ended up in the ways many of us were saying they would. With players ground to stump and racking up silly fatigue injuries.

sigh you are right and hopefully Walton is out after this season (hopefully mid Season with Coach Christie taking over!)

 

[EIM86]

Im not sure Fox really does or he wouldn’t be one of the worst defenders on the team. Mitchell is certainly going to get in his grill that’s for sure.

I’ve been preaching culture here and I don’t think Fox is a culture changer but the talent is undeniable. A grillin would do him good imo but I do think he wants to win in Sac. Hopefully the culture changers, Ty and Mitchell, get him and the team to D the F up

 

[SacTownKid]

sigh you are right and hopefully Walton is out after this season (hopefully mid Season with Coach Christie taking over!)

Maybe Walton will just finally get it. If the players do like him, and no question, the dude is super likable from all accounts, it would be the perfect scenario but he's let us down how many times now? haha. He's gotten it before, then he'll go right back to what doesn't work or try and work is horn sets back in.

 

[EIM86]

Maybe Walton will just finally get it. If the players do like him, and no question, the dude is super likable from all accounts, it would be the perfect scenario but he's let us down how many times now? haha. He's gotten it before, then he'll go right back to what doesn't work or try and work is horn sets back in.

thise few games where we played team ball we looked like a real basketball team and then back to crying once we went back to horn sets again lol

 

[Sluggah]

Can we start a separate thread about players heights? I’d prefer this one talk about how Davion is playing. This dude is just different. The speed and power this man plays with is fun to watch.

Nope, sorry. This thread is now about feet, shoes, height, semantics, epistemology, and pointless nitpicking. We should change the title.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Nope, sorry. This thread is now about feet, shoes, height, semantics, epistemology, and pointless nitpicking. We should change the title.

It's tempting, but I really shouldn't.

 

[Tetsujin]

thise few games where we played team ball we looked like a real basketball team and then back to crying once we went back to horn sets again lol

Yep. Every single time Walton just let Fox and Haliburton go crazy with pick and rolls, we went on long streaks of .500 ball.

Davion Mitchell is also excellent in the pick and roll so if Walton doubles down and still refuses to play through his guards and runs stupid horn sets I have a pretty good feeling Walton won't be coaching the Kings come the end of the season.

 

[Tetsujin]

Nice story and all, but did you know he's only 6'0 without shoes on?

Certain people when they see folks saying Davion could be a good basketball player despite being less than 6'3":

 

[EIM86]

Yep. Every single time Walton just let Fox and Haliburton go crazy with pick and rolls, we went on long streaks of .500 ball.

Davion Mitchell is also excellent in the pick and roll so if Walton doubles down and still refuses to play through his guards and runs stupid horn sets I have a pretty good feeling Walton won't be coaching the Kings come the end of the season.

its Coach Christie time lol

 

[SacTownKid]

Certain people when they see folks saying Davion could be a good basketball player despite being less than 6'3":

Is that Davion the PF? Or the PG though? lol.

 

[Double-K]

don’t trust publicized heights.

I met KJ once. He was listed at 6’1. Thought he’d be 5’11. Dude looked like he was 6’3 to 6’4 (with dress shoes on). Alternatively, AI was listed at 6 ft, but ran into him at a bar and dude was like 5’10 max.

I met Kayte at the Summer League a few years ago, she was definitely legitimate 6'2"

 

[Tetsujin]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1425289521328005120

This is literally a step for step Donovan Mitchell move.

 

[Tetsujin]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1425522512201273350

There are no days off for Off Night.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I am taller than Spud.

haha, I met him at Tower Records back in the day. He was cool, we waved/said hey but nothing beyond that as he was just shopping.

 

[Telemachus]

haha, I met him at Tower Records back in the day. He was cool, we waved/said hey but nothing beyond that as he was just shopping.

I'm amazed you were able to find him somewhere other than a golf course.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I'm amazed you were able to find him somewhere other than a golf course.

I had no idea he was that big of a golfer.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

I had no idea he was that big of a golfer.

No pun intended?

 

[Telemachus]

I had no idea he was that big of a golfer.

In an interview with Grant, he once said that he is on the course from dark to dark(if you get my meaning).

 

[Section 101]

haha, I met him at Tower Records back in the day. He was cool, we waved/said hey but nothing beyond that as he was just shopping.

He would hangout in old sac, I think it was Popeyes back then. Talked to LTrain a lot, mitch a few times. Mullin would always stand by the front door never really going inside.

If you want to get spud to talk bring up the cowboys.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

He would hangout in old sac, I think it was Popeyes back then. Talked to LTrain a lot, mitch a few times. Mullin would always stand by the front door never really going inside.

If you want to get spud to talk bring up the cowboys.

Unless he was at the Time Zone or the Firehouse Courtyard I'd have missed him.

 

[TaxMan]

“I really don’t have any goals this season aside from making the playoffs and winning,” Mitchell said. “I’m just glad to be with the Kings, and I’m ready to work.”

i think it’s been a long time where our best players genuinely mean this (Fox, Ty, and Mitchell)

It's not quite as ambitious as Marvin's stated rookie year goal to be league MVP. I still remembering somehow defending that he said that.... that it was good that he set his goals high (reach for the stars!!!) vs. delusional.

 

[Volblorx8634]

Is Fox a bad individual defender though? I can't see it. You have to remember, when you are a player getting the most minutes on the WORST defensive team that relied heavily on team defense it's going to crush your advanced stats. Put Davion on that team last year and the stats will say he's bad too. Or any player pretty much that doesn't excel in a defense that relies on size on the wing like that one does.

What you're saying has merit, but I really do think Fox is a bad individual defender. He falls asleep way too often when defending off ball, often ball watching, and his man takes advantage. When on ball he is essentially a sieve most of the time. Granted, this is true of most of our players, there are way too many times Fox doesn't stay in front of his man. As is always said about him, I think he has the tools to be a good defender, but just isn't right now. At least not consistently.

 

[kb02]

What you're saying has merit, but I really do think Fox is a bad individual defender. He falls asleep way too often when defending off ball, often ball watching, and his man takes advantage. When on ball he is essentially a sieve most of the time. Granted, this is true of most of our players, there are way too many times Fox doesn't stay in front of his man. As is always said about him, I think he has the tools to be a good defender, but just isn't right now. At least not consistently.

Basically, Fox’s focus is almost entirely on offense. Have been saying this for a while, Fox needs to slow his game down, bring others into the offense, and spend more energy on defense. It’ll happen. Thought it would take another three years, but with Davion pestering him in practice, maybe it happens this year.

 

[Woot!]

What you're saying has merit, but I really do think Fox is a bad individual defender. He falls asleep way too often when defending off ball, often ball watching, and his man takes advantage. When on ball he is essentially a sieve most of the time. Granted, this is true of most of our players, there are way too many times Fox doesn't stay in front of his man. As is always said about him, I think he has the tools to be a good defender, but just isn't right now. At least not consistently.

Agreed. I *really* do think we'll see an attitudinal change in him this year. First, he and Tyrese already committed to stepping up their defense. Just words, but it's a start. Second, Davion and all his presence implies in terms of example, accountability, practice, etc.

Third, think of the rest of that backcourt as a whole. In addition to Davion, you have TD, who gets after it defensively and will get after it even more now. (Can't wait to see him and DM side-by-side harassing people!) You have Tyrese. Do you have ANY doubt that he'll be good to his word in re stepping up his effort? I LOVE the fact that he's been attending the summer league games, been vocally appreciative of Davion's D, building chemistry with him. Davion, Davis, and Tyrese are gonna be digging in on the defensive end. Holmes, Len, Thompson, HB, Harkless, Metu - they'll ALL be working hard. I don't think De'Aaron will want to be the defensive slacker out on the floor, especially if/as/when the team's new defensive identity finds some early success, which I think it will.

 

[ppine]

The Kings will likely use a 3 guard set fairly often because they have talent at the position.

 

[The_Jamal]

What you're saying has merit, but I really do think Fox is a bad individual defender. He falls asleep way too often when defending off ball, often ball watching, and his man takes advantage. When on ball he is essentially a sieve most of the time. Granted, this is true of most of our players, there are way too many times Fox doesn't stay in front of his man. As is always said about him, I think he has the tools to be a good defender, but just isn't right now. At least not consistently.

Yeah it's very much a "when he wants to be" with Fox right now. He's made huge strides basically becoming an elite offensive player, but the next evolution of his game is to bring that same intensity on defense, which he's more than capable of doing. We see it when he's in big match-ups vs guys like Ja that he can lock anyone up or in the 4th quarter.

I think Davion's energy/skill is just going to boost the whole team on defense, but adding another ball-handler/playmaker should give Fox some breathing room to feel like he doesn't have to carry the whole team offensively either. So he CAN play great defense every night and let Hali/Mitchell take some of the offensive workload.

 

[dude12]

I’m really interested in how this team will perform as is right now. Talent in the backcourt and now we have multiple pieces that can defend and do it well in Davion and TD. I do think we will see Hield and TD filling up the SF position as well….though small, we will be quick and athletic and deep enough to apply pressure constantly. Deep enough at the 4 and 5 to be active and enough diversity in skill sets to defend pnr or rebound or have more offensive bigs on the floor.
It’s potentially intriguing.

 

[Tetsujin]

I’m really interested in how this team will perform as is right now. Talent in the backcourt and now we have multiple pieces that can defend and do it well in Davion and TD. I do think we will see Hield and TD filling up the SF position as well….though small, we will be quick and athletic and deep enough to apply pressure constantly. Deep enough at the 4 and 5 to be active and enough diversity in skill sets to defend pnr or rebound or have more offensive bigs on the floor.
It’s potentially intriguing.

I think we could potentially see the Kings play more drop on defense next season a la the Bucks with Mitchell in the Jrue point of attack role. Obviously the thing that makes the whole Bucks scheme work is Giannis being one of the most versatile rim protectors of all time but if you have Richaun and/or Len back there patrolling the paint, you probably won’t be record breakingly bad on defense at least.

 

[The_Jamal]

I think we could potentially see the Kings play more drop on defense next season a la the Bucks with Mitchell in the Jrue point of attack role. Obviously the thing that makes the whole Bucks scheme work is Giannis being one of the most versatile rim protectors of all time but if you have Richaun and/or Len back there patrolling the paint, you probably won’t be record breakingly bad on defense at least.

Yeah, there's a pretty giant gap between 20th ranked defense in the NBA and the worst defensive season of all-time. The offense was legit good for most of the year and there's still upside on that bone with Fox/Hali and maybe even longer shots like Bagley/Metu/King still improving. There's no reason with TD/Harkless/Len/Mitchell/TT defensive upgrades this team can't be in that 18-22 range defensively. Especially if Mitchell comes out the gate as a unicorn perimeter defender.