The Sacramento Kings have been firing on all cylinders this year, with the obvious reason being the emergence of the dynamic duo of Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox. But this explosive offense and exciting team wouldn’t be here without Mike Brown – my frontrunner for NBA Coach of the Year.
Brown, in his first season with the Kings, has come into Sacramento and immediately put his team in the best position to succeed, namely spamming dribble hand-offs with Sabonis and Fox. While I make it seem like this is a simple offense, it’s actually far from it. The hand-off, and variations of it, between these two All-Stars puts the defense in a bind and opens up space for all of the dynamic shooters on the Kings roster. To get a real understanding of how explosive the Kings’ are, just look at this highlight video:
And if these highlights aren’t enough, the numbers can help shine light on what Brown’s got cookin’ in SacTown:
Record: 27-19 (8th in NBA)
PPG: 120.3 (1st in NBA)
OFF RTG: 118.5 (2nd in NBA)
Net RTG: +3.5 (6th in NBA)
FG%: 49.5% (3rd in NBA)
APG: 27.2 (3rd in NBA)
These numbers are impressive, but it seems like the Kings are getting better and better as the season goes on, as we are seeing these dudes blow teams out with offensive explosions like last night in the 133-100 win over the Grizzlies.
Even with the highlight passes, high scoring outputs, and ridiculous 3 point shooting, there’s still a lot of pieces that have had to come together for this newfound success in Sacramento. The addition of Malik Monk has seemingly created a strong culture, with the ties to Fox back in their Kentucky days. Dynamo rookie Keegan Murray has come on in a supporting role and has helped spread the floor. Kevin Huerter is the perfect knockdown shooter in this offense. And finally Trey Lyles and Harrison Barnes have been consistent from the 4 spot.
But most importantly, Mike Brown has come in and instilled culture, energy, and excitement on this squad. And I can promise you, this would not be the case if Luke Walton was still the coach.
It’s very impressive to see the immediate success going on in Sacramento, and color me shocked if Mike Brown isn’t Coach of the Year.
LG Hoops 