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Kings Notes: McLemore Ready to Rise

Highlight reels, Vine and Instagram videos don’t do Ben McLemore’s improved handle justice.

Thanks to a relentless offseason routine and help from the Kings coaching staff, the second-year pro enters 2013-14 with heightened confidence.

“I just want to get better this year,” said No. 23. “[I tried to] improve my game after seeing what I needed to improve on from last year, and this summer I worked really hard on different aspects of my game.”

Whether he was back home in Missouri, in Los Angeles with his close friend and teammate Ray McCallum or in Sacramento with the coaching staff, McLemore spent the past three months constantly trying to get better.

“I spent a lot of time with [Assistant Coach] Dee [Brown] over the summer and then coming back [to Sacramento] working with him and ‘CJ’ [Assistant Coach Chris Jent],” he said. “Just putting in work throughout the entire summer and through Summer League.”

McLemore is shooting 42-percent from the floor, 44-percent from deep and hasn’t missed a free throw yet this preseason.

With one final exhibition game on the horizon, it’s now up to McLemore to continue his growth and show fans everything he’s worked over the past three months.

“I’m pretty excited to have the opportunity to start for the Sacramento Kings [entering my] second year,” said McLemore. “It’s been a great experience throughout the summer. I’ve worked really hard and I’m very excited.”

Malone Lauds Improved Offense, Stresses Ball Security

Sacramento Kings Head Coach Michael Malone has been pleased with his team’s offensive production through six games of the preseason.

Led by DeMarcus Cousins’ 17.6 ppg – which is currently 10th in the NBA – the purple and black are averaging 101.5 points per contest and are shooting at a 47.5 clip.

“If you look at our offensive numbers right now, I believe we are 10th in scoring, 4th in field goal percentage and 7th in three-point percentage,” the second-year coach said. “Imagine how good we could be offensively if we actually valued the basketball. We have a very good offense [but] we are killing ourselves.”

Malone understands the Kings turnover rate of 21.3 per game has hampered chances to win more this preseason.

“I always say – ad nauseam – you can’t beat yourself and your opponent in the same game – it’s impossible,” he stated after practice on Wednesday. “If you look at the numbers and the stat sheet from San Antonio, aside from our turnovers, we did a lot of great things until that fourth quarter.”

Searching for their first road win in exhibition play, the Kings used a pair of 9-0 runs in the second quarter of Monday’s game to take an 11-point lead at halftime over the defending NBA champions. But the Spurs responded with a 12-3 run in the third quarter and a 13-6 spurt to close out the game to clinch the win.

Malone stated that Sacramento will need to cut turnovers in half if they want a chance to win close games in the regular season.

“We did something today in practice that the guys didn’t like… for every fifth turnover, we ran,” he admitted, “and we did a lot of running.

“We’re stressing less dribbling, more ball movement, take what the defense gives you, and pass, drive or shoot without any hesitation.”

Despite the turnovers, the coaching staff has been pleased with the new offensive system in place. Just three weeks after implementation, Sacramento’s offense has been impressive – keeping pace with some of the top teams in the NBA this preseason.

“The thing that gives me hope is, as I told the players today, when you have all the offensive capabilities that we have – the scoring, the field goal percentage, the three-point shooting, all the things that we’re doing well – our offense could be so much better,” concluded Malone.