New coach, same old Kings

The Sacramento Kings have their 4th coach in 3 years and through 12 games this season, look like the same old team. The team is off to a tough 4-8 start after dropping last night’s game to the San Antonio Spurs. With a new arena and a new coach, expectations were higher this year, but the team has been plagued by the same issues that have haunted them the past few years, poor defense, lack of hustle and inconsistency. The team has two star players in Cousin and Gay that they can count on. The rest of the team is filled by role players who have been inconsistent.

The Kings made a big splash in the off season by hiring Dave Joerger to replace George Karl who lasted just over one season with the team. The team added guards Ty Lawson and Aaron Afflalo in the off season to replace Rajon Rondo. Back up point guard Darren Collison missed the first 8 games to a suspension over a domestic violence incident and the team hasn’t looked in sync the whole year. They blew a 19 point lead to the Los Angeles Lakers last week at home.

Last night’s game saw the team get off to it’s usual slow start, getting down early to the Spurs. Sloppy play and poor shooting by the Kings enabled the Spurs to get off to a fast start. The Kings second team came in and was able to get them back into the game and take a brief lead in the second quarter before they fell behind again. The team never regained the lead and trailed at one point in the 4th quarter by 16 points as fans left the arena.

After the game Ty Lawson and Demarcus Cousins spoke of the team not being prepared and not playing hard in practices before the game. Each player said that it’s up to the players to change how they play.

Ty Lawson critical of Kings offensive pace in loss to Spurs https://t.co/fkgZ1n34ai pic.twitter.com/pxFkYjAlGX

— ABC10 (@ABC10) November 17, 2016

Cousins critical of Kings preparation, slow starts in loss to Spurs https://t.co/iZMIBT8c4E pic.twitter.com/U3FsJ0hGg8

— ABC10 (@ABC10) November 17, 2016