The Sacramento Kings lost Thursday night to the Memphis Grizzlies by 41 points. Head coach Doug Christie said he is frustrated with the results, but likes what he is seeing from the younger players. He noted that despite the lopsided loss, they played better than the score indicated.
Sacramento Kings head coach Doug Christie is frustrated. He said the whole locker room is frustrated. They have lost eight games in a row, and there is no telling when the losing streak will end.
"It's definitely frustrating. I think the biggest thing is when we go back and look at the tape, when we look at the first quarter the other night (a loss to Oklahoma City), that's about as good a first quarter as we have played, especially defensively, boxes and elbows," Christie said after the game. "On the weak side, guys were communicating and everything 24 hours later. Similar to what happened to us with Atlanta.
"We have to find the ability to play right away and play with a sense of urgency and have the energy necessary to win games on a night to night basis."
The Grizzlies jumped out to a 35-22 lead at the end of the first quarter. They performed even better in the second quarter. The game was out of reach by halftime. Christie said they have to play with a greater sense of urgency.
"It's an absolute must. This is absolute frustration. This isn't bad feelings, but we know there is a process that we have to go through to get where we want to go," Christie said. "Really happy with the young guys, good to see Keegan [Murray] back out there trying to find his way and his wind."
Christie keeps preaching that the team has to play Sacramento Kings basketball, for whatever that means. He said they will review the tape and coach them up accordingly.
"We will look at the tape and we will continue to coach them to a style of basketball that is Sacramento Kings basketball."
He said that in the beginning of the Grizzlies game, they had a game plan and tried to execute it. Christie said they were taken out of their game and did not fight back.
We have a lot of back to backs, and we have to find the way to have them lead and make sure that we are ready to play," Christie said. "I think that the game plan was good.
"They came out and punched us in the mouth and we didn't respond."
Christie said the process is difficult, both mentally and physically.
"This process is a painful thing to go through," Christie said. "You have to look at the totality of what we have been dealing with this season, but that's the reality of the NBA and we just have to figure it out."
He went back and reviewed the game defensively and said they did a good job against the Oklahoma City Thunder a few nights before, but that it fell apart against the Grizzlies and never got back up to par.
"If you look at playing the world champs in the first quarter go back and look at that. Everybody was handsy and everything that we talked about on the defensive end," Christie said. "You come back and we just lost focus. We have to stay true to what it is. You can't just drop the rope and not do the same things that got you in a position on the road to get you a victory."
Christie said he has an idea of how his team can look when it plays the way they are coached. There are several key things they have to consistently, which they are just not doing.
"We have the proof of concept from the standpoint that we have seen them when they play the right way, when they are handsy, when they are communicating, when they are physical, when they are sharing the basketball," Christie said. "When we get to 27 assists the ball is moving around and the guys are knocking down the shots."
Christie said the guys have to hold each other accountable and not allow one another to stray from the game plan.
"Part of that is the accountability for each other," Christie said. "Holding each other accountable on a night to night basis."