Sacramento Kings coach Doug Christie speaks at Media Day, fielding questions about his future ahead of training camp beginning Sept. 30, 2025. By Hannah Ruhoff and David Caraccio
Coach Doug Christie wanted to see one thing from Dennis Schroder as he prepared to make his unofficial Sacramento Kings debut in Wednesday’s preseason opener against the Toronto Raptors.
“Set the damn tone,” Christie said. “That’s what I want. I want him to come out and set the tone.”
The Kings are asking Schroder to help them change their defensive identity after acquiring him in a sign-and-trade deal over the summer. A late comeback couldn’t mask the fact that the Kings still have lots of work to do following a 130-122 loss to the Raptors at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
All in all, this is a building process,” Christie said. “Don’t read anything into anything right now. This is all of us going out there and working hard and trying to figure it out.”
Christie has called for his team to pick up defensively, saying he wants to hound opposing ballhandlers with 94 feet of pressure defense following made baskets and free throws. Schroder, who has a reputation for pestering opposing point guards, is the head of that spear.
Christie wasn’t satisfied with the collective results Wednesday, saying his team only picked up the Raptors on 30% of possible possessions.
“That’s unacceptable and we talked about it,” Christie said. “Eighty-five is the number, so that means out of all the opportunities that you get, when someone turns around with the basketball, they know what you ate for breakfast.”
Kings center Domantas Sabonis agreed the Kings were caught out of position at times.
“Yeah, for sure,” Sabonis said. “I feel like maybe just be a little smarter in how we do it. I felt like we had ourselves at a disadvantage most of the game, four against five. We’ve just got to pick and choose our battles, and if some personnel can’t shoot or they’re faster than us, then kind of see where we can get the best out of each other on the defensive end.”
Christie got what he wanted at times, including a first-quarter sequence in which Schroder stayed connected while pressuring Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley all the way up the floor. The result was a bad pass and a steal by Sabonis.
Later, though, Schroder got separated from his man while going around a screen, leading to an open 3-pointer. The Raptors shot 48.4% from the field and a blistering 54.1% from beyond the arc, making 20 of 37 from long distance.
“It’s a lot easier when you keep the ball in front of you,” Christie said. “When guys break you down, it causes help, which causes rotations, and if guys are making on-time and on-target passes, they see one bucket go in, and all of a sudden they gain confidence. Ever since I’ve come back here, that’s kind of been the story, but we’re going to stop that story. That’s not what we do. That’s not what we’re about. We have to find a way to contain the ball.”
Christie sat Zach LaVine in the second half and pulled the rest of his starters midway through the third quarter. A bench unit led by rookies Nique Clifford, Maxime Raynaud, Devin Carter, Isaiah Stevens and Dylan Cardwell stormed back from a 25-point deficit to get within six with 2:41 remaining, but the Kings came up short.
Christie was asked about the identity he is trying to establish and what he will take away from Sacramento’s first preseason game.
“The low-hanging fruit is the guys that went in, but I talked to them about, there’s two games every night,” Christie said. “There’s the game and there’s the fight, so we’ve got 164 games. Every night, we’re going to win one of them. If we win them both, we’re doing something. Tonight, we lost them both, and I said let that be the last time. We’re always going to win the fight.
“Unfortunately, most people will go, ‘Well, the last team came in.’ No, because we do it together. It’s all of us. They came back and threw some punches, but it’s a group effort from one to the end of the bench. It’s all the coaches, everybody on the staff. It’s everyone. Unfortunately, we lost both the games tonight. That’s unacceptable and that will be the last time that happens. That was my conversation to them.”