I think it's difficult to judge Fox's defense by now. Let's face it: both Ulis and James are more experienced and have a good grip of how to run the pick&roll. Both didn't break down Fox 1vs1 a lot. They made good use of screens. That's where team defense, communication and the experience how to get around or over screens quickly kicks in.
From what I have seen Fox has the footspeed and the needed tenaciousness to become a solid defender. He has active hands, isn't afraid to go in between the trees to rebound and is vocal enough to provide the needed communication. Usually with young guards that quick you see a lot more ball pressure (Schröder used to guard people closely over the whole court, constantly putting pressure on the ball), but that's maybe because Joerger emphasizes discipline and team defensive schemes over anything else.
Fox right now looks like the least of our worries. He already shows NBA level skills in some areas and he doesn't make too many mistakes. At the age of 19 this is pretty much all you can ask for this early in the season.
Is he a future star? Man that's a question you can't answer objectively right now. But fans usually aren't objective. So I get the hype.
A guy who really impresses me is Justin Jackson. I don't know why some are that critical when it comes to him. His shot isn't falling right now, but everything else about him just screams "rock solid wing role player". Long, good body, decent quickness, good form on his shot, ok on D as a rookie, floater game, good enough handle to attack a closeout. What I like most is that he just plays smoothly within the offense. He already moves off the ball like a vet and he never takes bad shots. I wanted a full sized wing like that for years. Finally the Kings caught up to the 2017 NBA and drafted one. Once he grows into his body, we may finally be able to play lineups similar to the Blazers or Warriors, that rely mainly on speed, maximum spacing and shooting.
Bogdan looks a little bit like a mixed bag to me. He just seems oddly slow, but he moves under control and has his head up. But there have been many guys able to carve out a good niche in the league, even though they weren't the best athletes.
Buddy just tries way too hard right now. Dude is a black hole, desperately trying to make plays. I don't like his step back 3's and forced layups one bit. Just run the offense dude.
Still don't understand, what Joerger is trying to do. I think the best play of the night, was the 4out play with Skal in the corner and Hill+Willie running the pick&roll on top, resulting in an And1 layup by Willie. It's just so much easier for our guards to find the bigs, when the floor is spaced like that. Not a fan at all of those high post sets and dribble handoffs. Floor is shrunk, spacing is terrible and our guards aren't good enough and experienced enough to operate in tight space. Willie never gets the ball on his rolls and layups are always heavily contested. Willies jumpshot looks much improved, but rarely is he used in a pick&pop. Skal seems to be money in catch and shoot situations, seems to have enough range for a corner 3, but is used mainly as a postup option.
I know Joerger is a fine coach, but I don't understand that.
In the offseason I expressed my fear, that the Zbo signing would result in a playstyle, that does our young bigs no good. Still early in the season, but so far the team has done nothing to soothe my fear. Right now we are playing at a very slow pace (29th PACE in the league). Seems odd for a young, athletic team with lots of guard talent. Right now I can't think off one successful fastbreak basket for Willie, who is a spectecular rim runner.
My best guess is that Joerger wants to teach the youngsters to play in the halfcourt first and wants to minimize mistakes by slowing down the pace.