These were not your Grandma’s apple turnovers.
The Sacramento Kings put a foul taste in viewers’ mouths by way of sloppy play this season. Turnovers were the common theme, and there was more variety than Ben & Jerry’s flavors. Over-dribbling, forced passes and offensive fouls all contributed to a year of wasted possessions.
Sacramento averaged 16.3 turnovers per game, ranking 27th in the NBA and the most as a franchise since the 1998-99 season. The Kings recorded at least 20 turnovers in a match 20 times this season, and notched single-digit totals only twice. It was a telling sign when the team spilled a season-high 27 turnovers in a season-opening loss to the Golden State Warriors.
The table below shows the turnovers between three Kings head coaches this season.
| W-L record | Assists p/g | Turnovers p/g | Points off turnovers | |
| Michael Malone | 11-13 | 19.5 | 16.3 | 14.7 |
| Tyrone Corbin | 7-21 | 19.2 | 16.5 | 15.5 |
| George Karl | 11-19 | 22.1 | 16.0 | 15.5 |
The table below breaks down turnover responsibilities among the players (number in parenthesis is games played with the Kings).
| Assists p/g | Turnovers p/g | Turnovers per 36 min | % of team’s total turnovers | |
| DeMarcus Cousins(59) | 3.6 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 19.1% |
| Rudy Gay(68) | 3.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 13.7% |
| Darren Collison(45) | 5.6 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 8.4% |
| Andre Miller(30) | 4.7 | 1.9 | 3.4 | 4.4% |
| Ben McLemore(82) | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 10.4% |
| Ramon Sessions(36) | 2.7 | 1.4 | 2.9 | 3.8% |
| Omri Casspi(67) | 1.5 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 6.6% |
| Ray McCallum(68) | 2.8 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 6.4% |
| David Stockton(3) | 3.0 | 1.3 | 4.4 | 0.3% |
| Jason Thompson(81) | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 6.3% |
| Reggie Evans(47) | 0.7 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 3.4% |
| Derrick Williams(74) | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 4.2% |
| Carl Landry(70) | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 4.1% |
| Nik Stauskas(73) | 0.9 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 3.0% |
| Quincy Miller(6) | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 0.2% |
| Ryan Hollins(46) | 0.3 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 1.9% |
| David Wear(2) | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Sim Bhullar(3) | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Eric Moreland(3) | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Analysis
- Michael Malone’s firing in mid-December damaged the Kings’ offensive efficiency as well as its defense. Luckily for the franchise, George Karl jump-started the team’s ball movement and made strides towards fixing the sloppiness.
- DeMarcus Cousins ranked second in the NBA with a career-high in turnovers per game. While he faced constant double and triple-teams, a few of Cousins’ turnovers were the result of his decisions as point center. Perhaps it’s time to let a guard run the the offense.
- Rudy Gay saw a drop in usage percentage of 27.6 to 27.0 from a year ago. More than subsequently his turnovers per game decreased by nearly a half.
- When healthy, Darren Collison looked poised as the Kings’ floor general, but he’d like to cut down mistakes in his second go-around.
- Shooting guard Ben McLemore improved his decision making in his sophomore NBA season to increase his assists by 0.7 and his turnovers to 0.5 per contest.
- Ray McCallum, who started at point for the the final 30 games of the season, managed a 2-1 assist to turnover ratio. That will have to improve if he hopes to compete for a starting role at the one.
- Speaking of 2-1 ratios, current Wizard and eight-year veteran Ramon Sessions couldn’t manage one. His trade departure was best for both parties.
- Sessions’ replacement, 39-year-old Andre Miller, breathed life into the Kings’ stagnant ball movement. Nearly two turnovers per game off the bench left more to be desired, but he provided a much needed jolt to the second unit.
- Rim attacker Derrick Williams had a superb season taking care of the ball. The forward’s knack to drive and put the ball on the floor without getting picked is one of his most underrated skills.
- Despite his struggles shooting the rock, Nik Stauskas was responsible with the leather. As the season wore on, the off guard increased his dribbling and passing with no harm done.
- Coaches will review game tape in the offseason and conclude that Reggie Evans and Ryan Hollins should see a reduction in touches.
The Kings built some momentum rolling into the offseason, but the 2014-15 campaign will serve as a painful reminder of the consequences of careless basketball.
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