Kings HC Mike Brown Reveals Secret to Defensive Success

Head coach Mike Brown credits assistant Luke Loucks for the Sacramento Kings' defensive improvements.

Oct 26, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown reacts Los Angeles Lakers during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images / Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

The Sacramento Kings have been noted as a poor defensive team across the NBA over the past few years, but fans are noticing a shift on that side of the ball.

The Kings have won two consecutive games, holding the Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz to 98 and 96 points, respectively, on back-to-back nights. Through four games, the Kings rank eighth in the NBA in defensive rating and sixth in offensive rating. If the Kings can continue this trend, not only are they a playoff lock, but they would be a championship contender.

Following Tuesday's win in Utah, Kings head coach Mike Brown told the media what their recipe for success has been on defense, crediting assistant coach Luke Loucks (via Kings on NBCS):

"I think the biggest difference that Luke [Loucks] has brought to the table is he's really, really preaching our shifts, we're shifting the right way. He's worked extremely hard with our guys on it and it's paid off. We can all feel it, we can all see it... We have to keep trying to protect the paint because teams see us and think 'attack, attack, attack'... And then, we played a different zone than last year. Luke changed our zone up. He's added a little bit of zone press, which is good."

Mike Brown says Luke Loucks' defensive coaching has "paid off" for the Kings 🙌 pic.twitter.com/kQ3mTqXvGW

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) October 30, 2024

Brown stated that he believes Loucks will become a head coach in the NBA someday, so the Kings are very lucky to have him on their bench for now. Anybody can watch a Kings game and see that the defense has been phenomenal at times while noticing the offense also has moments of greatness.

If the Kings can piece together their high-level offense and groundbreaking defense long-term, they are seemingly building a strong enough squad to compete in the Western Conference.

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