End the drought: How did the surprising Sacramento Kings make the playoffs without any superstars?

Los Kings de Sacramento they don’t have anyone in the top 10 scorers. His forward Domantas Sabonis is the NBA’s leading rebounder, but no other teammate is in the top 50.

How and why did you manage to qualify for the postseason since last Wednesday? What then has them in the lead as the best team in collective offense with 121 points per game?

The answer does not come with an individual name or figure. The question is answered with some nouns such as ‘system’ and ‘collective’.

The Kings secured their qualification to the postseason, with a week and a half remaining in the regular season, by defeating the Portland Trail Blazers 120-80 on Wednesday, who they repeated the dose on Friday, beating them once again 138-114.

In this way, Sacramento consolidated itself in third place in the Western Conference, and what is more, it is the leader of a Pacific Division where before it was always behind teams like the champions. Warriors de Golden State, los Lakers, los Clippers y los Suns.

At 47-30, it’s a very different team from the one that ranked bottom of that division the previous two seasons, going 30-52 last year.

And what’s more, he stopped his negative streak at 16 without qualifying for the ‘playoffs’. The last time it saw the light of day and extended its season beyond April was in 2005-2006, when it was eliminated in the first-round series. Although he didn’t get very far that season, it was another era for that franchise.

The Kings went on a streak of eight consecutive years going to the playoffs before beginning their drought. It was a time when the club had great names in NBA history, different from the reality of the current squad, where team play predominates.

“They were patient because they were selective when they went to the draw. In a few years they had no luck. When De’Aaron Fox was caught, that’s where they hit the lottery. And they understood that around him they had to make a team ”, He highlighted the Sacramento point guard, the manager of the Arecibo Captains in the BSN, Tony Ruiz, to highlight how the franchise reconstruction process has been.

The also basketball analyst on television broadcasts recognizes the collective work that has led the team to climb positions this season, but he gave a lot of credit to who he believes should win the Manager of the Year award, Mike Brown.

“They made the pertinent changes in the offseason and they bring in an experienced coach, who actually was in Golden State as an assistant, but had been coaching before, like Mike Brown. For me he is a great leader. He totally changes the face of Sacramento. And everyone looked down on that team. Everyone thought the same thing, that at the beginning he was winning and he was going to fall. And vice versa. I think it was the stability that Mike Brown gave him, and the group of players believed it and they qualified”.

But different from the glory days of the Kings that Ruiz remembers, with figures like Chris Webber and the former Serbian center Vlade Divac and the owner Mike Bibbythis Sacramento has a different game system.

Will his inexperience in the playoffs be an adverse factor?

In fact, Ruiz does not believe that inexperience in the ‘playoffs’ is a guarantee to ensure that Sacramento cannot go far. We’ll see.

“That’s why Mike Brown comes in. I think Mike Brown is going to bring a lot of experience to that group. Sometimes those youth teams may take its toll (the lack of experience) because they have not been at that level, but the leader you have is very important and essential. It should be noted that before we talked about a Clippers game against Sacramento, they scored 170 points or something like that, and one thought it was a game, if you will, guerrilla, open court. But no,” he said.

“It was how effective that team was. That team scores, that team hits the long shot, they have a lot of offensive power. And so, many times we identify the teams by what the players (individual figures) do. I think that in this case the essence of Mike Brown is paramount, because he has given it a totally different touch, both in the structure of the team, and in his system, because the guys are playing Mike Brown’s system and it has given him a result spectacular”.

The game in question was when the Kings defeated the Clippers 176-175 on February 24, in double overtime, in what was the second highest combined scoring game in NBA history. Malik Monk scored 45 points in that game, coming off the bench, and point guard Fox 42 points.

But what is that game system?

It is one that had its genesis in Brown’s past as a coach, according to Ruiz recalled.

“It’s no coincidence that Mike Brown has been with Steph Curry and Golden State for the last four or five years… I have no doubt that the hand is there. That structure is there. A structure that Mike Brown had not had experience with San Antonio before, but he was with Steve Kerr (Golden State), who came from (Greg) Popovich, which is the same school. There is. It is a collective, balanced game, which depends on both the long shot and the run shot. It is a joyous game. It is the hybrid game that is being played today ”, Ruiz defined.

His words are easily validated by this year’s statistics. For example, Sacramento is not only the collective offensive leader with 121.2 points per game, but is also third-best (tied) in the entire league in field goals made, at 43.6 per game, despite the fact that it is not the team that takes the most attempts at the basket. In fact, the Kings rank 17th in shooting average at 87.6.

That’s less than the 90 shots attempted per game by the defending champion Warriors, who average 42.9 field goals for a 47.7 shooting percentage, versus the Kings’ 49.7. In other words, the Kings shoot almost half of their attempts, second only to the Denver Nuggets (50.6%).

His three-point shooting percentage isn’t bad at 37.2, seventh in the NBA.

Third in assists

Another sample of their collective game is that they are the third best team in assists per game with 27.3

“De’Aaron Fox, who had his first year on All Star, has had a spectacular season, but all the supporting actors around him have done an exceptional job living the movie, and they’re there. It’s not coincidence. On the contrary. It is a team that is dangerous. Those teams like this are dangerous because they are in a great moment”, added Ruiz.

In individual terms, when talking about leaders in the league, Sabonis leads in rebounding at 12.4 per game. But no one from Sacramento appears in the NBA’s top 50 anymore. Fox, for his part, is the thirteenth best in average points per game with 25.2 points, and there is only one other basket player among the best 50: Sabonis is in position 48 with 19.1 points.

When asked about the high effectiveness of the Kings scoring, Ruiz assures that it is the way they show that they are not a guerrilla.

“It is the high effectiveness of scoring. To give an example. They come from winning last night (Friday) 138-114 against Portland. These days scoring 138 points is impressive. It is that they put the ball. It is not that they are playing guerrilla. It is that they are too effective. An example… four players who score 20 points or more in a game, with (Keegan) Murray, Sabonis, Fox and Monk? In four players you have 80 points? Already with 80 points you are supposed to beat anyone. It is a collective offensive. He evolves a lot and there he breaks all defensive schemes. Also, a guerrilla is not going to be among the leaders of assists”.

“Sabonis is a horse and that was a change (from Indiana) that really surprised everyone last year, and maybe it wasn’t going to be impactful, but the impact came this year. And so Monk is a player who comes off the bench and really gets the green light on that team. I’m curious why this Sacramento team is first in scoring with 121 points, and fourth in assists with 27. Which is a completely natural offense. They do the relevant things. A team with a lot of offensive power, which gets a lot out of the established game system”, analyzed Ruiz.