SACRAMENTO -- As the head coach of the Sacramento Kings, it is Dave Joerger’s job to know his team. He has to read the room and he has to make decisions that are right for the long term health of the ball club.
When he threw up the white flag early Monday in Minnesota, there was outrage on social media. As a coach of a professional basketball team, he can’t be worried about the noise from the outside.
“I know where we are and I know where our legs and and minds are at,” Joerger told NBC Sports California following shootaround on Wednesday. “It was just at that point where Minnesota got their hands on us and they were very locked in. That was going to be a tough game to win.”
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SIGN UP HERE Joerger went for the victory Sunday in Dallas and his players responded with a 120-113 win against a quality team. All five of his starters played 32 minutes or more, including a team high 39 from Buddy Hield and 37 for Bogdan Bogdanovic.
The Kings’ coach considered resting a few of his players coming into Monday, but decided to run the group out there instead. He did so with the understanding that if things went sideways early, he was pulling the plug.
“Where I’m at with those guys minutes, I know what I did leading up to that to get to that point, as far as where there bodies were,” Joerger said. “It’s easy to say, ‘they’re 20-years-old, 21, they can go all day,’ well, that was their second, three games in four nights stretch in two weekends with games in between.”
Nemanja Bjelica played a total of five minutes. De’Aaron Fox lasted just six and Willie Cauley-Stein saw seven minutes, before stepping off in the first quarter and not returning.
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Joerger went as far as starting five reserves to open the third quarter. The group responded with a 21-1 run to cut the T-Wolves lead to 12. Instead of pulling his starters off the bench and risking injury, the coach made the decision to let the game take its course.
A few of his starters are rested coming into Wednesday’s matchup with the Thunder, but a few others are still beat up. Iman Shumpert will miss his third straight game with a hip contusion. He took a hard spill Friday night against the Warriors and is still on the mend.
Bogdanovic will sit as well. The sophomore wing is nursing a sore right foot and is listed as day-to-day. These are the types of injuries Joerger is trying to avoid.
This is Sacramento’s fourth game in six nights. They are feeling the effects of one of the most difficult schedules in the league through the first 30 games.
To fill some of the gaps, the team decided against sending Troy Williams, as scheduled, to the G League. The Kings’ two-way player will have just six of the maximum of 45 days remaining with the parent club after the OKC game.
Joerger will go into the game with 12 healthy bodies, including Skal Labissiere and Ben McLemore, who have played sparingly all season.
“We’re going to have to be very scrappy,” Joerger said. “Both of the times that we played Oklahoma City we’ve done a nice job of just flying around and making up for stuff with a whole lot of energy. Getting some deflections, getting the pace of the game going up and down.”
At 16-14 the Kings are off to a quick start. They play at the league’s second fastest pace and Joerger will have his hands full trying to maintain his players health throughout the season. Sometimes that means biting the bullet and doing what’s best for the long term future of the team.