Doug Christie started out hot as the Sacramento Kings coach, with the team going 10-2 and winning some close games, the kind they were losing under Mike Brown. However, the team has gone 5-8 since then and got run off their home court by an energized Warriors team Friday night, 132-108. That dropped Sacramento back to .500 and has them sitting as the No. 10 seed in the West, with Phoenix close behind.
After that loss, Christie called a meeting of his starters — Malik Monk, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis — reports Chris Haynes.
The starting five Christie met with have played just 136 minutes across seven games, but it has a -3.5 net rating because the group has been terrible defensively (a 124.1 defensive rating that is six points per 100 possessions worse than the worst defense in the league). The Kings knew that trading away De’Aaron Fox (who forced his way out) would be a setback for the defense, but an improved offense was supposed to make up for that. Instead, Monk and LaVine have been more your turn/my turn rather than playing off each other, the halfcourt offense is still clunky — they need to get back to more DHO actions with Sabonis, that is a strength they have moved away from.
Before Christie took over, the Kings were 13-18 but had a +1.5 net rating. That means they should have been 16-15, but their struggles in close games cost them. Since Christie was made head coach, Sacramento is 15-10, but with a -0.7 net rating, their early success under Christie in close games is the difference (the net rating suggests they should be 12-13 or 13-12 under Christie).
Christie has the team playing faster and has opened up the offense, which is 1.7 points per 100 possessions better since the coaching change. However, that’s not enough to make up for the defense being 3.9 points per 100 possessions worse.
Kings management and ownership felt a coaching change was needed, but the real issue remains a flawed roster.
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