NBA: Midterm reports for first-year head coaches
By John Nassif
Luke Walton, Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings have been a conundrum this season. They’ve offered us a tumultuous start, a 7-3 stretch to get back in playoff consideration, and now friction between players/coaches/the front office.
Luke Walton needs to win back the locker room to get the likes of Buddy Hield and Dewayne Dedmon back on his side. To Walton’s credit, he has instilled a very active defensive mindset to force live-ball turnovers.
Given his track record at Golden State, Los Angeles, and now Sacramento, the book is still out on whether or not he should be considered a good coach.
Good Stat: Active Defense – 4th in both Steals (8.6) and Blocks (6.3) per game
Bad Stat: Rebounding – 3rd worst in Rebounds per game at 42.4