Recently eliminated by his former colleagues from Golden State after a Game 7 that turned sour, Mike Brown went through the inevitable stage of the “exit interview” on the side of Sacramento.
Best coach of the year, the Kings technician obviously shared his disappointment after his team’s elimination in the first round, even though they had home advantage after an excellent season (48 wins for 34 defeats) concluded in third place in the West. But he also acknowledged his troop’s many improvements in what remains his very first year at the helm of the team.
“Even if I don’t want to say too much by still reacting ‘hot’, what will haunt me about this series is above all their ability to get offensive rebounds”, reacted Mike Brown in his end-of-season press conference. “It was a factor that we controlled and that had a huge impact on the series in the end. We knew that Steph was going to make big matches, I know it well for having lived it by his side [à Golden State]. But the fact that we let other guys have big offensive performances was manageable. This is something that will probably bother me during the summer. »
Branded by the undermining work of a dominating Kevon Looney (11 points, 21 rebounds, 4 assists) in the paint and offensive rebounds (10 takes) in Game 7, the Kings and Mike Brown will certainly adapt their workforce and their methods to solve this major problem.
“Game 6 was our best game of the series”
But the lack of tightness of the Californian defensive block is not the only major reason for this bitter failure in Game 7. For Mike Brown, the too many missed throws were as many bullets in the foot of the Kings. An unforgivable fault at this level…
“Game 6 was our best game of the series. And that’s when TD [Terence Davis] was defending on Steph. On the one hand, it allowed us to give Fox more space to attack on offense, because TD can catch fire at any time at 3-pointers. We decided to make this choice and it paid off so, at Game 7, we wanted to stay the course and try again. It would have been better if we had been able to control our rebounds… but also if we hadn’t finished at 59% on throws [16/27 au total] ! It’s difficult to recover from a dozen missed shots in a decisive Game 7, and this against the defending champions! For me, it’s these two aspects [les rebonds et les lancers] which cause us to lose the match. »
Armed with a duo of All-Stars in the prime of life, in De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, as well as many young players with high potential (including Keegan Murray), the Kings have above all put an end to their infamous series of 17 seasons without playoffs. Enough to look to the future with optimism despite this exit from the road still fresh in the memories.
“We know that there are cities where guys don’t want to go, or who hesitate. And we clearly don’t want to be on that list. However, with the group we have, we are lucky that our young players are happy to be here. We are in a League of players and if your players are happy, you have a chance to win. »
“When Foxy gets there, Sacramento is going to go up in flames! »
In difficulty at the start of the series, with 10 points in the first three sets, rookie Keegan Murray finished better, with 23 points in Game 4 or this double-double at 15 points, 12 rebounds in Game 6. Mike Brown sees him a major part of his major five for years to come.
“He has such talent but like all great players, he has to go through certain stages. He has to go through it to understand that he can play at a high level in these major events. Because, often, the pressure is more internal than anything else. He had to manage a lot for a starting rookie in the playoffs, even if he didn’t necessarily show it to others. He showed he was more than capable of holding his own. It bodes very well for him and for our team. »
Unfortunately not on his best day in Game 7, at 16 points at 5/19 on shots and 6 assists for 5 stray bullets, De’Aaron Fox clearly did not get the end of the season he deserves, he who has got his first All Star cape, as well as the sought-after title of best player clutch this year. But “Foxy”, as Mike Brown calls him, also holds the keys to the future of the Kings. His trainer thinks he still has room to improve!
“I think he deserves and has deserved everything he has received this season. He makes a great couple with his wife Recee [Caldwell] and now a beautiful family with babies Reign and Kai. He has a chance to become an elite player. It has that little extra something. He obviously has the physical, technical and mental qualities. But, at first, I thought it could be good or even very good, but it exceeded my expectations. It’s going to be hard to get that high but I’m going to help him get there. Because when he gets there, Sacramento is going to be on fire! »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| De’aaron Fox | 73 | 33.4 | 51.2 | 32.4 | 78.0 | 0.5 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 6.1 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 25.0 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 79 | 34.6 | 61.5 | 37.3 | 74.2 | 3.2 | 9.1 | 12.3 | 7.3 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 3.5 | 19.1 |
| Kevin Hurter | 75 | 29.4 | 48.5 | 40.2 | 72.5 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 15.2 |
| Harrison Barnes | 82 | 32.5 | 47.3 | 37.4 | 84.7 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 4.5 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 15.0 |
| Malik Monk | 77 | 22.3 | 44.8 | 35.9 | 88.9 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 13.5 |
| Keegan Murray | 80 | 29.8 | 45.3 | 41.1 | 76.5 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 4.6 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 12.2 |
| Trey Lyles | 74 | 16.9 | 45.8 | 36.3 | 81.5 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 4.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 7.6 |
| Terence Davis | 64 | 13.1 | 42.3 | 36.6 | 79.1 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 6.7 |
| Davion Mitchell | 80 | 18.1 | 45.4 | 32.0 | 80.6 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 5.6 |
| Chimezie Metu | 66 | 10.4 | 58.9 | 23.7 | 74.0 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 4.9 |
| Kessler Edwards | 22 | 13.9 | 43.5 | 34.9 | 76.9 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 3.9 |
| Richaun Holmes | 42 | 8.3 | 61.8 | 62.5 | 78.9 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 3.1 |
| Neemias Queta | 5 | 5.7 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 2.4 |
| Alex Len | 26 | 6.2 | 53.3 | 0.0 | 68.8 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 1.7 |
| Keon Ellis | 16 | 4.4 | 43.8 | 50.0 | 57.1 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.5 |
| Matt Dellavedova | 32 | 6.6 | 34.0 | 33.3 | 57.1 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 1.5 |
| Pj Dozier | 16 | 5.0 | 30.3 | 12.5 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.4 |
| Kz Okpala | 35 | 7.1 | 42.1 | 33.3 | 87.5 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 |
| Chima Moneke | 2 | 4.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Deonte Burton | 2 | 3.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
