The season for giving just ain’t happening for the hapless Sydney Kings as the losses continue to pile up. Melbourne United delivered a clinical 108-90 win against Sydney at home. It was the Kings’ seventh loss of the season and things are not looking up for the beleageared club.
A sold-out Hisense Arena was on hand to see the Kings jump out to an early lead, but Casey Prather (22 points), Tai Wesley (21) and Josh Boone (19) were too good in front of their home crowd. The Kings were led by Jason Cadee’s 17 points, who got the visitors within four (84-80) midway through the final quarter. Brad Newley also had 17 in a game that was a lot closer than the final score suggests.
Are the Kings close to winning their next game? Nope. But they are trying hard. Kudos to Kings management for these drastic changes because they know the season is now on the line this early.
AussieHoopla.com writers Marco Selorio, Adam Fahmy and Jonathan Adams share their views on how the Sydney Kings can secure their next win.
MARCO SELORIO
1.) RUN AND GUN. Commit and and push the ball, support your teammates, fill the wings and run. With the pending arrival of Jerome Randle, things are about to go zero to 100 real quick.
2.) SCORE FAST. Apply Mike D’Antoni’s 7-Second Rule. Quick passes in transition will eventually find the open man if everyone’s committed to run. First to 100 wins.
3) SIT PLAYERS WHO FAIL TO RUN OR PLAY D. Coach Andrew Gaze needs to do his job or his assistants need to point out which players are coasting or cherry picking on both ends of the floor.
4.) HACK AND WHACK. Use your fouls, you got fifty to use between 10 players per game. No easy baskets or layups. No soft AND1s, hack your opponents and let them know that your team is ready to protect and defend their turf.
5.) HIRE A DEFENSIVE COACH. The young bigs and rookies look raw and lost at times, but they do have promise. Gaze, Copeland and Kendall are offensive guards, but the bigs need someone who can help them with the intricacies of the game. Dean Vickerman provided this last season, the need is urgent.
JONATHAN ADAMS
1. UNLEASH THE BEAST. Jeremy Tyler can build on that strong start, protect the rim and rebound at a high level. One of the biggest issues for the Kings is their inability to defend the key way and rebound at a high level. Recent history shows to contend for a championship you need to be in the top half of the league in rebounding. Tyler and Perry Ellis must bring it to improve in this area. Tyler showed promise, but he needs to stay out of foul trouble, he had around 10 fouls (officially 5) on debut.
2. DEFEND ALL POSITIONS. Every Kings player needs to lift their effort and intensity on defense. If they don’t, Gaze needs to find some players who will do the work.
3. PROTECT THE KEY. As discussed the Kings need everyone to improve on defense and rim protection, and cannot just expect Tyler to solve all of the problems.
4.TEAM WORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK. Play as a team at both ends. Randle should help keep the offense flowing. Gotta share the ball and play as one unit, not just score as individuals relying on someone getting hot.
5. HUSTLE HARD. Perry Ellis and basically all kings bigs need to hustle, hustle, hustle after every rebound on every defensive play especially around the rim where opponents have been scoring at will.
ADAM FAHMY
1.) PLAY AS A TEAM THROUGH HARD TIMES.
2. ) BETTER DEFENSIVE ROTATIONS AND OVERALL COMMUNICATION. Nobody talks on the court.
3.) MORE BALL MOVEMENT AND OFF BALL CUTTING ON OFFENSE
4.) MORE MINUTES TO BETTER PLAYERS. Why is Singh playing almost double the minutes Humphries is? Why is Garlepp warming the bench when you can utilise his skill set?
5.) NEWLEY NEEDS TO ATTACK MORE. Right now the Kings are never going to do well with Newley taking pull up 3s, he needs to go to what he’s best at and cut straight to the hoop