Brown’s burden

It’s easy to see why head coach Mike Brown got all worked up in the aftermath of a bang-bang play that saw the Kings fail to make a basket and then absorb a three at the other end of the court. The twist was brutal in and of itself, padding a deficit to 19 points and underscoring the hosts’ predicament a third into the second quarter. He felt Colby Jones, who sprinted for a layup after stealing the ball off a lazy pass by the Nets’ Ben Simmons, was fouled by the latter and should have been awarded two free throws. Instead, the no-call led to a five-point turnaround that provided a snapshot of their 2024-25 campaign to date.

Bottom line, Brown knew he had to do something — anything, really — to awaken the Kings from their stupor. They had lost two straight heading into the homestand, and he felt the encounter with the equally struggling Nets provided them with a grand opportunity to arrest their slide. Unfortunately, his charges appeared to be executing none of what they talked about extensively prior to the contest. And so he figured on making a spectacle of himself to get a rise out of them and, hopefully, coax them into competing.

In retrospect, perhaps Brown overdid things. He charged at referee Scott Twarodski in a manner that may well have justified an ejection instead of just a technical foul. In any case, he got what he wanted: The Kings did respond to his tirade, outscoring the Nets by 11 for the remainder of the period. That said, they still absorbed a loss at the buzzer; clearly, whatever has been ailing them requires more than just a stunt. As he noted in his post-match presser, they have struggled to put theory to practice for one reason or another.

Granted, the Kings have time on their hands. They may be a deflating 8-9, but 80% of their schedule is ahead of them. What’s more, they have a surfeit of talent at their disposal. Which is to say their fate is in their hands. The flipside, of course, is that they have to want to get better. In the highly competitive West, having a stacked roster isn’t enough; making the best use of it is a requisite. And Brown knows the onus is on him to get them to meet expectations. Whether he actually can remains to be seen.

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.