The 15-21 Sacramento Kings are giving up 108.1 points per game (the most in the NBA) and their 105.6 defensive rating on the season ranks fifth-worst. But don’t blame any of that on guard Seth Curry.
Fed up with the team’s defensive effort after Thursday’s 118-115 victory over the Lakers in which they blew a 27-point lead, Kings head coach George Karl stressed the importance of intensity on that end of the floor and called the younger Curry the team’s best on-ball defender.
“Seth, right now, covers the ball better than anybody on our team,” said Karl per Cowbell Kingdom. “And we need somebody to cover the ball.
“I don’t need any more points,” he continued. “I don’t need any more anything except someone to cover the damn basketball. If someone gets hungry enough to cover the basketball, he’ll probably play.”
While the 25-year-old Curry is averaging just 3.9 points per game in 11.3 minutes per game, his playing time has slowly risen as of late due to his energy on defense. His impact may not be fully reflected in the stat sheet (the Kings are only 0.4 points better defensively per 100 possessions with Curry on the floor as opposed to when Curry is off, perhaps due to small sample size from his limited minutes). But he’s a pesky defender that works hard and provides a grittiness that the team otherwise lacks on that end.
Though Karl’s praise of Curry may be more of a shot at the rest of the guys on that roster than anything, it’s great to see that the blue-collar defensive exuberance of Dell’s other son is not going unnoticed.
Watch out, Steph. Little bro is coming for that MVP. Well…not really.
H/T NBA Reddit
*Stats courtesy of NBA.com*
