Mark Jones, Kings & ESPN – Doug Christie And Additions To Kings Staff

Mark Jones, Kings & ESPN – Doug Christie And Additions To Kings Staff

the Kings. Mark Jones. Are we going to try this a third time? Third time’s a charm is what I always say. That’s a That’s a phrase I coined. Uh Mark Jones. Mark J. Street Jones joining us. Mark, if you got us this time. Oh, we good, right? J Street. Okay, good. We’re good. Perfect. Mark, how you doing, man? What What do you What do you do when there’s no college football and no Kings? Uh man, that that other thing with uh ESPN and ABC keeps me on the road. I got games three and four between OKC and Denver coming up uh Friday and Sunday this weekend. So um yeah, it’s going to be great to do that. And um I always do these games with and this is no lie with thoughts of the Kings next year and what it’s going to look like for us in mind, you know, with Doug with the new front office with Scott and with BJ in and calling the shots now. So um yeah, there’s a part of me that’s that’s kind of projecting for next year. So, um, yeah, I’m keeping busy doing those games and, um, depending on how many game sixes there are in the, uh, you know, around the association in our programming at ESPN. Um, I could be anywhere this weekend. I mean, the week after that. James, before you get to a real question, Mark, I I’m actually really really excited I get to tell you this because I’ve never actually gotten to tell somebody this before. I tweeted this when it happened. And so now I’m just getting to to tell you you were on game three of Warriors Rockets. Yes. And Steph hit the shot where he’s he’s faced up against uh Jaylen Green at the top of the key and just pulled on it. Oh yeah. Just and and ripped it. And you just said uh you know you’re into the call and you just said wet and then laid it out and let the crowd take it. And that was just a master class in broadcasting. I think too many broadcasters talk too much and I thought that was awesome by you. So, great job. I appreciate that. I appreciate that, Kyle. Yeah, in those moments, man, there’s nothing that you can say that’s going to embellish the scene. I mean, that’s where TV is such a powerful medium. So, uh sometimes less is more. That’s like I I love those moments at Golden One Center when I get to say Golden One Center, the microphone is yours after a big scoring run or a Keegan Murray three or whatever it is. So, thanks. I appreci appreciate the kind words, man. Absolutely. All right. you know, now you can be a professional, Mark, when you you’re uh I hope I’m around enough, you know. I just hope I’m around enough on on J Street and in Midtown and calling me games as a as a national guy, you know? So, uh trying to figure that one out. I mean, wouldn’t you want a guy that can tell great stories about your team and the league, the other teams that the Kings are playing? Yep. I agree. I agree. Just me. All right. So, Mark, I got a I got a real question for you here. Um, this OKC Denver matchup. Um, it does feel like I said this to Kyle and I don’t know if he agreed right away, but it feels like this is Western Conference Finals. Like, yeah, this is this is two heavyweights right now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now, I know Minnesota would take exception to that, especially looking at the fact that they’ve beaten I mean, they’ve dogwalked Denver the last few times they played them. I think they’ve beaten the Nuggets six times in a row, and everybody remembers the 20point comeback in Denver in the conference semi-finals last year. But I agree with you when you look at Sheay and Joker and the seasons they’ve had, the two MVP candidates, uh, team that won 68 games in the regular season against the champs two years ago. It really does have a a major showdown feel to it. And, um, I wouldn’t be shocked that the winner of this comes out of the Western Conference, you know, still. But I love the Ant conversation you guys had, especially in wake of the fact that uh Chris Finch actually said what he said about him last game. I I’ve gotten to know Ant pretty well over the last couple of summers. He works out down here in Miami a lot. And I mean, I’m always in the gym watching these guys work out and he’s right up there, guys. Like I can remember his player development coach Chris Hines telling me recently that there was a point last year like ants in this routine where he likes to even on the road get in you know a thousand shots shoot a thousand threes the day before a game even after a flight in. And they were in San Antonio I think he told me and you know the Spurs practice facility was unavailable for whatever reason. uh the facility that they thought they’d be able to get was closed and Chris Hines told me that he and aunt were driving around in an Uber for half an hour and finally ended up in the basement of a church gym getting up shots that night. So that’s that really speaks to the dedication of of Anthony Edwards and just how far he’s come especially with the three-point shooting, you know. Mark Jones, television voice of the Sacramento Kings joining us. Man, I was um you’re on game, you said three and four. Yeah, this weekend. I don’t have a pen. I usually write that stuff down. Three and four this weekend. Um, was game one a a little bit of a fluke where all right man, OKC just just didn’t do the right stuff down the stretch and Aaron Gordon hit a big shot or do you think there’s genuine concern with with Oklahoma City in that series? I think they’ve got to be careful now because they tricked off that game. I mean, the foul strategy was poorly executed. In theory, it was great, but you know, when you’re not letting enough time run off the clock before you foul, uh, that’s malpractice. And they did it twice. And, uh, their margin of error just got a little slimmer. And I don’t, if I’m okay, I’m extremely concerned because if the game is close in clutch time, I don’t know that there’s still a more connected team in the NBA at the offensive end than the Denver Nuggets. their ability to close games in the last five minutes, last two minutes, uh, is probably as good as any teams in the NBA. Now, their defense, that’s another story. They finished 19th, 18th in defensive rating, uh, they can be had defensively, but when it comes to their offense possessions, uh, if they’re within striking distance, they’re a threat. Yeah. Yeah, I totally agree. Uh, Mark, let’s, uh, let’s skip to the King stuff. We got all kinds of King stuff happening. Uh, first up, you’ve known Doug Christie for a long time. Uh, like a couple of decades when he was a New York eating wings eating chicken wings in my basement in Stamford, Connecticut. Yeah, he still eats chicken a little bit. He still eats chicken wings, but that might be the only meat that that Doug still partakes in. Uh just like how excited is it for you to see him and sort of his process to go from a player uh to be gone for a little while but build his way through uh the broadcasting world, get onto a coaching staff and then finally get his opportunity to take over the team that he loves. Man, I it’s one of the great NBA stories I think over the last uh you know since I’ve known Doug 20 odd years. um when you look at his journey from Pepperdine to getting a rough beginning in the NBA as a player, um me reporting on the NBA today that uh he got a phone call from the Seattle general manager, which was mean-spirited, basically saying, “You better take this money or else you’re not going to get signed to um being traded to the Lakers, not getting enough playing time with the New York Knicks that he should have been playing under Pat Riley and then finally really uh coming into his own in in Toronto and Sacramento um TV. What a great journey. And Doug has always been a very um introspective type of basketball uh talent um being able to um not only see himself and read the room well uh but having wonderful basketball intellect and knowing its applications too. And you know, the time the short time that I got to work with Doug uh in broadcasting, I learned a ton from him in terms of basketball strategy and basketball nuance. And I’m excited to see him uh execute that now. Uh having the agency to incorporate all of his own philosophies from day one in training camp uh to day one of the regular season. I I think he’s going to do a fantastic job. He’s ready for the moment. Do you think there’s going to be a a noticeable difference as we talk with television voice of the Kings Mark Jones uh here on ESPN 1320? Do you think there’s going to be a discernable difference next year between what the Kings look like maybe on on both ends of the floor now that Doug does get a full off season to to implement it rather than just trying to kind of like hang on and steer a ship that was really trying to capsize last year? Um, do you think we’ll see a noticeable difference from from the Kings on the court? I I do. I think that um, you know, roster permitting, I think one of the the blueprints is probably uh, the defensive disposition is where we’ll see the the first kind of profound change and look and Doug’s impact. And I mean, I think if you look at the way that the Houston Rockets play, um, they may not always have a chance offensively, but they’re they’re they hang their hat defensively on on the outcome of games, and it’s worked for them to the tune of being the number two seed. Uh, I’m not sure that Sacramento has that kind of personnel right now, but uh I think if there’s a a vision um that might be part of it uh in terms of Doug being uh a defensive-minded player or at least, you know, we we talk about it’s interesting in basketball now when you talk about so and so is the best player or this guy’s the best player. Uh I think there’s been uh in the way that we reported in the media a slanting of we always think that to mean oh he’s the best offensive player, but I think when you talk about ultimate success in basketball, it has to be at both ends of the court. And I think we’re going to see a lot more of that uh in the way that Doug um plays the guys who are on the roster and uh in terms of the defensive execution. I think you saw uh a lot more aggressiveness, a little bit more trapping, a little bit more blitzing. uh a little bit more uh risktaking uh that was I think ultimately effective by Doug when he took over this year. You know, Mark, it’s always tough when you you have one coach leave um and and sort of his coaching staff. What happens next? Yeah. Um just where are you at with this? It looks like there’s only I don’t know maybe two or three guys back from uh from the staff that was here before. Um, and we don’t really know how this thing is going to be built out, whether Mike Woodson will come in, whether Bobby Jackson will rejoin the team, any of that stuff yet. Um, but we do know that a lot of these guys are like on to their next place. Um, and it just how tough it is. Yeah. Um, I know that Doug is probably looking forward to um starting with a fresh slate with his guys, you know, um that he’s aligned with with um Scott Perry and and BJ Armstrong and um you know, you talk about the vertical and horizontal alignment. I think that uh you know Scott has talked about his background with Doug and uh I’m sure that they’ve uh vetted out some of the tangible things that they want in players and their tangible philosophies and even some of their intangible things. So, um, you know, I think when we look at whoever lands on the bench, um, there’s going to be a kind of a uniform philosophy, right? And and there’s going to be some experience there because, um, Doug is going to be a firsttime head coach, per se, you know, I mean, he’s he’s been interim, but first time with his people and, uh, I think he’ll do a fantastic job. I think he’s prepared. I’ve watched him in some of the scouts from the time he was doing scouts as an assistant with Mike and um I watched him closely in summer league last year as the head coach and he’s prepared for this moment and Doug has great relationships around the NBA too and and I would expect that that kind of um relationship clout will will bear fruit on the bench and ultimately with the players and ultimately with victories next year. talking with Mark Jones, television voice of the Kings here on ESPN 1320, Sacramento sports leader. Uh you mentioned having clout around the league and relationships around the league. That’s something we heard a lot with Scott Perry. How much can how much of an impact can that have in the front office going into a year where um we might see some some significant changes for for the Kings roster? I think it’s going to give Sacramento a leg up on things. Uh if you look at the recent trend um in terms of player movement uh deals that are made around the NBA free agent signings um there’s been a trend to you know you got Telm in Detroit you’ve got um uh Leon Rose in New York uh you have Phoenix uh all guys who have been former agents now with uh significant input And I think BJ Armstrong with his background and Scott’s experience, um, you know, I think they’ll be able to cultivate the type of, um, you know, relationships and, uh, the climate that will bring about the type of roster that they need, if that makes sense. You know, you think there’s a certain amount of nuance and savvy that’s required to get that done. At the end of the day, it’s like back in the day, it was always, you know, Boston and Danny A calling Minnesota’s buddy Kevin McCale to to work out deals or these things happen in the league. And I think when you have guys that are entrenched that way, uh, it can be beneficial. And I think Sacramento’s uh, maybe going to benefit from that this year. We have Mark Jones, the television voice of the Sacramento Kings and of course all over ESPN, a broadcasting legend here. Mark, uh, we can’t keep you all day. Um, but I wanted to ask you Oh, no. I gotta I gotta read this text to you because I’m sorry, James. Can you hold Yeah. So, I I just got a text and uh I was asking him about something, right? And he says, this is one of our old guys in Sacramento said, “Buddy is really bought in defensively and has really improved his technique. He’s more athletic than people give him credit for and super competitive and embraces the challenge of guarding the other team’s better players. He’s really embraced being a two-way player and not just a shooter. Cherry Stack House. Wow. So that’s that’s back. That’s Buddy. That’s stunning. That’s stunning. Um All right. Before we get before you get out of your That’s That’s okay, man. I love it. I love it. Yeah. um what is the first move that you’re making if you’re the Sacramento Kings here? Like how how do you get this thing back on the right path? Uh knowing sort of the the deficiencies that they have. Yeah, I think it’s a point guard, right? Um and that’s no slight on Keon Ellis, but I think uh you can bring in a point guard who’s ready to contribute pretty much right away and uh start him or uh bring him in off the bench. But I I think that’s probably the most pressing need. And um you know, I think that you make sure that uh Keegan Murray is taken care of um because he’s eligible for um you know, his deal. And I think uh out there in the universe, if you’re looking at comps, maybe it’s the maybe it’s like the Trey Murphy comp somewhere around there, you know, in that neighborhood. Um as for you know Demar and Zach and Domas um that’s the core and I think it remains to be seen whether uh the front office wants to um keep it intact or try and get some assets that will bring about uh that said point guard that I mentioned. Mark Jones, television voice of the Kings. You can hear him all over ESPN as well. He’ll be on games three and four of Thunder and Nuggets this weekend in Denver. Uh Mark, thank you so much for carving out some time for us and let’s do it again soon. You got it, Kyle. James, keep up the great work, man. See you soon. Awesome. We’ll do. Thanks, Mark. Hey, buddy. One of the best. Mark Jones. Mark J. Street Jones. That’s right. Friend of the

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