{"id":823587,"date":"2010-03-12T04:46:40","date_gmt":"2010-03-12T11:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cowbellkingdom.com\/?p=1158"},"modified":"2010-03-12T04:46:40","modified_gmt":"2010-03-12T11:46:40","slug":"the-reason-for-the-kings-defensive-turnaround","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/the-reason-for-the-kings-defensive-turnaround\/","title":{"rendered":"The Reason for the Kings Defensive Turnaround"},"content":{"rendered":"
Defensive and offensive efficiency haven\u2019t been the strong suits for the Kings this year. And when neither side of the floor is something you excel in, you sort of have to trick opponents or catch them off guard to win games.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s essentially what happened early on in the season. The Kings would push the tempo, hit the offensive glass and pray Tyreke Evans or someone else stepped up at the end of a close game to pull them through to victory. It worked about half the time until the rest of the league caught on that the Kings weren\u2019t going to score in the post and they needed Tyreke Evans to drive in order to create their offense. Opponents started packing in the lane against Tyreke Evans, the shots became harder and harder to get for the entire team and the post option on offense was a myth, much like dry land in Water World<\/em>.<\/p>\n When Kevin Martin returned to injury, he didn\u2019t come back as Tim Duncan. Since his healthy wrist didn\u2019t turn him into one of the most prolific low post scorers of all-time, the Kings STILL didn\u2019t have the inside option to balance out the attack. The Kings kept falling and falling. They were looking less like a team of the future and more like the 17-win debacle of the 2008-2009 season. And that\u2019s where the problems started.<\/p>\n When the team isn\u2019t winning and the return of their most efficient perimeter scorer doesn\u2019t give them a much-needed Kevin McHale clone down low, they start to turn on everybody. They turn on the fans, their teammates and even the coach. Frustration rules all and it affects the play on the court. When Kevin Martin was traded for Carl Landry, the Kings finally seemed to have a low post scorer and yet, the tension on the team still existed.<\/p>\n The Kings players complained about their roles and their playing time. With Spencer Hawes already having a couple of minor-but-building run-ins with the coach, all hell broke loose when he ended up being one of the guys in the paper discussing the frustrations with the current player rotation situation<\/a>.<\/p>\n