The presence of Sydney’s new superstar signing Andrew Bogut is already starting to pay dividends on the first day of training camp yesterday at their Qudos Bank Arena home ground in Olympic Park.
Bogut was vocal all morning and expects to lead a refurbished front line that also includes sweet-shooting forward Daniel Kickert, holdover Brad Newley and new import David Wear.
“I’m feeling good, my body feels good, everyone’s feeling good. It’s still early, but once the season starts in the first two or three weeks, we will start seeing the true colours of this team,” said Bogut.
Their back court will consist of fellow Boomers guard Kevin Lisch and sparkplug Jerome Randle, who returns to Australian shores next week. The bench looks a lot to be desired, with new import Wear expected to carry the second unit alongside sophomore Dane Pineau and a bunch of rookies that include Tom Wilson, Deng Deng and Kyle Adnam.
“We got some talented Australian kids, I’m here to win a championship and I’ll try to do whatever we can to achieve that. There is a big drop off in maturity so we will try to help those guys with our experience,” said Bogut.
The big Aussie is expected to anchor the defence but he won’t be pulling any punches come October. The Kings finished at the bottom end of the NBL ladder over the last two seasons.
How will he keep everyone accountable and honest?
“I’m going to tell them. The Kings sucked in the last two years. We are gonna change our mindset.”
Shooting straight from the hip, Bogut and the Kings are open for business.