Sacramento Kings guard Garrett Temple voiced his frustrations with the team’s lack of effort on the defensive end Tuesday, his comments coming after the team gave up 131 points to the Charlotte Hornets in a home loss.
“We haven’t guarded a soul, haven’t defended a soul,” Temple said postgame. “If you don’t guard in the NBA, you’re going to lose every game. I don’t care who you play. We haven’t defended whatsoever, at all, point blank.”
The Kings, who rank 30th in defensive rating, 29th in opponent’s field goal percentage and 19th in points allowed per game, allowed the Hornets to make 15 three-pointers in their game on Tuesday. They gave up 72 points in the first two quarters alone.
“It’s very frustrating. Very frustrating,” Temple said. “I’m included in that. It’s team defense, individual defense, it’s a lot of different things that we aren’t doing.
“When you play against us, it’s kind of like you can pick whatever you want to do. We just aren’t guarding. Pick-and-roll, one-one-one, people get into the paint whenever they want. We got to defend, it’s as simple as that.”
The Kings hold a 12-25 record just over two months into the 2017-18 season, struggling to find a sustainable rhythm offensively and defensive identity early on.
The team doesn’t play again until Saturday when it hosts the 19-17 Denver Nuggets.
