Before the start of the season, I don't think many fans could have imagined that the Kings would be at such a height after fifteen games. After narrowly beating the Grizzlies, the Kings, who have won seven straight wins, are 10-6 to third place in the West, and it looks like they're still improving, and it's a surprise for a team that missed the playoffs for sixteen straight years.
The Kings' sudden rise this season is actually due to many reasons, such as their trade to Huerte, recruitment to Monk, and the selection of rookie Murray, but what cannot be ignored is the growth of their core player Fox. Fox has improved too much this season, and he has reached the threshold of All-Star-level guard. Fox played in 15 games this season, averaging 25.9 points, 5 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.4 blocks per game, and his points, rebounds and assists have improved significantly compared to last season, but importantly, he is averaging 3 minutes less per game than last season. Especially in the shooting percentage, the improvement is too great, the three-way shooting rate is 55.5%/40.8%/84.4%, which is an improvement of about 10% compared to almost every item last season, which can be said to be completely reborn. The Kings have played 7-4 in 11 key games this season, while Fox is averaging 4.5 points while shooting 64.5 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from three-point range and 100 percent from the free-throw line. So you can see that Fox's play in key moments is a lot more stable.
Of course, in addition to the growth of the players, the change of the Kings is definitely an important person. Mike Brown, the defensive coach who has built the league's top defensive system for the Warriors over the past six years, and his first noticeable change to the Kings is not defensive, but offensive. McBrown moved some of the Warriors' offensive play to the Kings, encouraging players to run more and be more decisive on three-point shooting, so the Kings' three-point shooting this season has increased significantly compared to last season. The Kings have played very well on the offensive end this season, averaging 120.9 points per game, 49.8% shooting, 62.6% interior shooting, and 61.7% true shooting percentage, all ranking first in the league, and 117.7 points per 100 turns, second in the league. This is what the Kings have played on the offensive end this season, McBrown let the players run more, pass more, cut more, averaging 14.4 three-pointers and 28.2 assists per game to give them a wide offensive space, which is McBrown for the team.
And McBrown has brought more to the Kings than that, his better defense has not yet been reflected, and there are only some shining points or small improvements. Because it's clear that the current Kings are a team that is weak on offense and defense, and their defense is at the bottom of the league compared to their league-top offense. Whether it is from limiting the opponent's interior offense and rebounding protection, or for the opponent's outside projection defense, the Kings have done a terrible job, of course, on the one hand, they do not have such defensive resources, on the other hand, the establishment of a defensive system takes time, and it takes time to change defensive habits. So although defense has become a big factor in their height, they still have time, and you can expect a little from their defense.
Another point that limits the height of the king is experience. Throughout the Kings' games this season, the few games that were lost were basically played at key moments, and in the end, they lost a few points. Similarly, in their game against the Grizzlies today, they made consecutive errors in the last three minutes, allowing their opponents to keep chasing points. It's a matter of their experience, they don't have enough experience to deal with critical moments, they haven't been able to make the right choices at all times, to stay calm. But as the schedule progresses, the Kings will gradually grow this point, and how much experience they can summarize will determine their height.
The Kings' stunning start to the season gave fans hope of making the playoffs, and their successive beatings over some of the biggest teams proved that they have the strength to play in the playoffs. Keep improving, have a good coach, great squad depth, have a fairly qualified core, and maybe the Kings are going down their dark horse path.