The Sacramento Kings were on the verge of eliminating the NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors, in the first round of the playoffs. Despite losing in the seventh and final game of the series, California’s season could be considered successful after finishing third in the Western Conference and ending a 16-year drought without playing in the playoffs.

he broke roadblock Initially, Sacramento management is now only considering continued improvement with the goal of establishing itself as a permanent post-season team and reaching the elite in its conference. For this, the gerente general Monty McNair, who was recently named CEO of the Year, has made improving the team’s defensive performance a top priority for the offseason.

“our net rating It was in the plus two or plus three range. “That should get better,” McNair said. according to the medium NBC Sports. And that will come if we can increase that ratio to plus five or plus six. We were the best offense so I think the most likely improvement for that will come from the defensive end. And Mike Brown will always say our defense isn’t good enough.”

In fact, the Kings finished the regular season with a Best offensive percentage in the entire league (118.6)but his defense was Seventh worst in the competition in terms of defensive ratio And the worst of all those teams that managed to qualify for the playoffs. Therefore, McNair understands that the Kings will have to offer a more balanced game on both ends of the field to achieve success at the crucial moment of the season.

“You always want to continue addressing your shortcomings, but you also don’t want to pull at one end of the rope and let go of the other,” McNair continued. “So we’ll have to do it in a way that allows us to put all the pieces we need on the field, both in attack and defence. It’s a delicate balance. Everyone faces the same challenge, but yes, we have to maintain certain things and improve others. We can’t make compromises that keep us in the same position.” the point.

This 2023 playoffs has been a learning lesson for everyone in the organization, including McNair, who now knows what it takes for a team to get deep into the postseason and compete for an NBA championship.

(Cover photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)