Luke Walton Has The Right Approach To Coaching The Sacramento Kings
Luke Walton is going to bring in a new culture to the Sacramento Kings. The team, which was already one of the NBA’s leaders in pace per game under Dave Joerger, will be coached by one of the league’s most exciting and highest tempo coaches in the game. It should come as no surprise that Walton wants his team to shoot 35 three-pointers a game. If that’s indeed what’ll happen, expect a lot of high scores in the Capital City.
When it came to pace of play for the 2018-19 season, the Kings ranked 3rd and Walton’s former team, Los Angeles Lakers, ranked 4th. This should give a good indication that there won’t be a major dropoff in point production for Sacramento this season. Walton and his style of play, is the perfect fit for the Kings.
Let’s say Walton and Sacramento do indeed shoot 35 three-pointers a game. If going by last years team stats across the NBA, that would put them 6th in the league. Last season, the team shot just under 30. They’ll need to incorporate this to keep up with the Western Conference elite.
When you have scorers like Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, Bogdan Bogdanovic, De’Aaron Fox, and Marvin Bagley, all whom can shoot the 3, the emphasis on the deep ball really comes into play. You need to play to your strengths. That’s exactly what Walton intends to do. He’s going to give his players the green light to shoot the ball from deep.
Following a model made popular by Mike D’Antoni and the Houston Rockets, the three-point barrage is used heavily in today’s NBA. Why not use the same approach? The Kings ranked 4th in three-point percentage last season, so they are more than capable of connecting on the shots they take. It’s the only way to maintain an advantage in the West.
A lot of fans and analysts criticize Walton for the coaching job he did in LA last season. Indeed, it was a bit of a trainwreck. However, most of that can be attributed to the LeBron factor. We’ve seen what Walton is truly capable of.
Walton took a truly disfunctional team and had them play with the fourth highest pace in the NBA. The Kings are a tight knit group, and distractions aren’t an issue for them. Imagine what this style of play can do for the Sacramento Kings. With their pace of play last year, and Walton’s high tempo offense, the scores will be through the roof. There’s little doubt this team will be one of the highest scoring in the NBA.
It’ll be an exciting season for the Sacramento Kings. Expect a lot of three-point shots to be taken, leading to some high scoring outputs. If the team takes this step, they’ll be a playoff team. Luke Walton has the right approach to coaching them.
Image Source: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Daniel is a guru of baseball and basketball prospects. He’s a very experienced Amusement Park traveler as well. Follow him and his hot takes on Insta @dgentleman9288
