MELBOURNE coach has pinpointed poor ball use as the key contributor to his club's 20-point loss against Geelong at the MCG.

The Demons gave up a rare century from turnover, which King highlighted as the key swing factor in the match.

"I think it was 101 points we gave them from turnover, so it was hard to get any flow in the game when we hand them that much ascendancy and roll out the red carpet the other way," King said.

"In a game of footy, the style we want to play, I know there's risks associated with that but a few of them tonight – I'm not sure if it was Geelong's pressure at times, but some of our decisions and execution was pretty poor from a fundamental perspective.

"We scored 63 points ourselves from turnover, 36 from stoppage, got our kick-in goals. We almost got to 100 points, and I know there's a risk there associated with risk versus reward, but there were just some head-scratching decisions and execution that we haven't really seen too much of this year.

"You always understand Geelong were going to pressure and compete really strongly, which they did, and you tip your cap when a team comes out heightened and pressures you in those situations, but I just thought there were a few who went away from some method we've been working on."

King lauded his players' ability to fight out the match, saying he appreciated the group's resolve to remain in the contest until late in the fourth quarter.