For many of us, junior high school was another lifetime ago. It’s that awkward stage in life when girls are taller than boys and one or two of your classmates can grow a mustache, while the rest are still eating off the kids’ menu.
Junior high is also the place where you learn about deodorant, algebra and running lines at basketball practice.
Lines feel like draconian punishment. From the baseline to the free throw line and back. Baseline to midcourt and back. Baseline to 3/4 court and back. Baseline to baseline and back. Rinse and repeat.
Shoes are squeaking. Sweat is dripping from your brow. Coaches are yelling for you to hustle or the punishment will continue. You don’t want to be last, nor do you want to be first. There is a speed that is just right, because you have to save something in the tank in case you have to go again.
Sacramento Kings head coach Michael Malone turned back the clock on his players this week. With his team turning the ball over at an alarming rate, the second-year head coach reached deep into his bag of tricks and came up with an old favorite.
“We did something in practice today, which the guys did not like at all, which I kind of like,” Malone said following Wednesday’s practice. “Every fifth turnover, we ran. And we did a lot of running.”
“I realize what I have been doing isn’t getting the job done,” Malone added. “So if I have to turn to a little bit more severe penalties in practice, so be it, because we cannot continue to do what we’re doing and expect to have the results that we all want.”
According to Malone, the Kings were 28th in the league in turnovers before Friday’s matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers. 21.3 turnovers per game were leading to 18.0 points per game for the opposition. Clearly that number is not conducive to winning at the NBA level.
“The fact that it continues to be an issue, I don’t know if the message is being received the way it needs to be,” Malone said.
The Sacramento Kings have a lot of new faces in training camp, including two veterans playing the majority of the point guard minutes that were not on the roster at the end of last season. Darren Collison is the starter, and Ramon Sessions will back up both the point and the shooting guard positions.
It will take a little while for this tandem to learn their teammates’ tendencies, which should lead to a reduction in errors. But through the preseason, these two haven’t been the problem.
Collison and Sessions finished the preseason with a combined 66 assists and 22 turnovers for a sparkling 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Malone and his staff would love to see those numbers translate to the regular season.
On the flip side, center DeMarcus Cousins turned the ball over a whopping 33 times through six games. It’s an alarming number, but it has a lot to do with the influx of new talent to the team. Cousins is still learning his new teammates and more than one of them is still learning how to get open for the big fella when he draws a crowd in the post.
Over a two-game stretch, Cousins turned the ball over 19 times, including eight offensive mistakes. But many of those errors came as the shot clock wound down and Cousins had to force the issue or incur a violation.
“That’s a fine line,” Malone said of his star big man. “When he rebounds the ball and he tries to dribble up the floor and go between his legs and turns it over, that is a turnover we can’t have. When he is running the floor and establishing deep post position and they collapse on him and he tries to make a move and someone falls down and they call it a charge? Do you like the fact we lost the possession? No, but you’re also pretty happy that your big man is running the floor and establishing low post position.”
As we have said in the past, basketball is a symbiotic sport. It requires a delicate balance in order for all aspects of the game to flow according to plan. The pieces may be in place for the Kings to succeed, but a new group of players need time to build chemistry.
Sacramento wants to show major improvement in the win-loss column this season. In order to do that, it needs to show improvement on the defensive end, which will hopefully translate to better offense.
It’s pretty basic. When your opponent scores a basket against you, it allows them the opportunity to get back on defense. Conversely, a defensive stop can often translate to an easy transition basket or at least an earlier initiation of the offense.
On the other hand, a turnover is a poor offensive possession that can lead to an easy transition basket for your opponent. It is a double whammy, costing you both offensive and defensive efficiency.
“You can’t beat yourself and your opponent in the same game; it’s impossible,” Malone said.
Apparently, the message was received. In the preseason finale against the Lakers on Friday night, the Kings turned the ball over just 11 times as a team on their way to the 93-92 victory. Cousins turned the ball over twice but also handed out four assists in 26 minutes of action.
It is a work in progress, but there’s potential for success. Until then, Malone will do whatever he can to get his message across, including going the old school route.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
