After last night’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the Sacramento Kings sit at 4-8 in a disappointing start to a season they hoped would be marked by playoff contention. While there’s still a lot of 2016-17 left to be played, veteran guard Ty Lawson didn’t mince words about the Kings’ playing style and preparation after the loss.

“It’s tough. We get into our plays too slow,” Lawson said after the loss via CSNBayArea.com. “By the time we get to the person that wants the ball, there’s 5 seconds left on the [shot] clock. Going against the clock, the other team gets the rebound and is pushing it, it’s a lot of fast breaks. It’s tough. We’ve got to get into our plays sooner and, you know, play with purpose. I think we’re coming out slow and lackadasical.”

To date, Sacramento is No. 27 in pace and third in the NBA in shots taken in the last four seconds of the shot clock.

“We’re not getting a lot of fast break opportunites and the team we’re playing against is getting all dunks, layups … it’s like if you look at the first quarter, I think they made one 3, one shot outside the paint. (Editor’s note: The Spurs actually went 2-for-5 on 3-pointers last night.) The rest of those 27 points was in the paint or free throws, so, we’ve got to fix that or we’re going to be looking at this all season.”

Lawson also said the Kings’ issues in games may starting for them well before tip-off each night.

“Shootarounds, we don’t take them serious. Nobody takes them serious. So, we do the same thing, even five-on-oh. Our pace is the way we play in the game. So, if you want to change that, we’ve got to change it with ourselves. It’s got to be important to you.”