BIO: Timothy Luiz Soares was born in Deming, Washington (USA) and attended Mount Baker High School in Deming. Playing for the school’s basketball team he averaged 16.6 points and 11.3 rebounds per game during his senior year 2015/16. He was named All-Northwest Conference, despite playing with a bone chip in his shoulder.

FAMILY: Soares is the son of Rogerio and Susan Soares who were Christian missionaries. His siblings are Jessica, Stephanie (who was the 2020 NAIA Division I player of the year), Tiago, and Rebecca. His father played for The Master’s University men’s basketball from 1992 to 1995, and his mother was the national Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year as a high school senior in 1986, and then played at the University of Texas.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Tim Soares made his NBL debut with the Sydney Kings at 25 years of age. He scored six points in his first game.

After winning the championship, Sydney would lose its star import trio of Jaylen Adams, Jarrell Martin and Ian Clark to larger overseas deals and be forced to revamp their roster. With the improvement from Xavier Cooks, Dejan Vasiljevic and Angus Glover during the team’s’ title run, Sydney chose to build the team around its local talent and sign imports who could complement their Aussie core. Derrick Walton Jr was brought in to replace the scoring of Jaylen Adams while sharpshooting centre Tim Soares (via Europe) and former Defensive Player of the Year Justin Simon (via Illawarra) became the team’s new import trio.

Soares, who signed a one-year deal, shared the same agent as fellow Kings players Shaun Bruce, Jackson Makoi and Xavier Cooks at the time.

“He is a versatile centre who has a great shooting touch and range – he allows us to stretch the floor and will play a key role in our offence this season” by CEO Chris Pongrass upon being signed by the Kings.

“He fits perfectly into our brand of Sydney Kings basketball and the up-tempo, exciting style of basketball our coach Chase Buford and his team have brought to the Harbour City. Chase’s first priority is to get it done on the defensive end – between Tim, Xavier and Justin we will have the longest and most disruptive defensive trio in the league.

With Makur Maker (to Washington) headed to the NBA, Kouat Noi (via Cairns) was signed and the roster finalised with rookie Jackson Makoi.

Sydney started their quest for back-to-back titles defeating Illawarra, Brisbane and Melbourne to start the season (3-0). The twenty-point win over Melbourne (91-71) was particularly impressive, which included a second quarter where the Kings reeled off a 25-0 while holding United to just six points. The win streak saw Sydney notch up their 15th straight road win – a new NBL record, surpassing the mark set by Canberra’s back-to-back championship team of the mid-80s.

Sydney suffered its first season loss the following game, with the Cairns Taipans delivering a 83-78 upset. Cairns, who played without injured star Tahjere McCall, did everything right on the defensive end while shooting, the Kings shot themselves in the foot with just 14/25 from the foul stripe. Shannon Scott (16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) led Cairns in scoring in McCall’s absence, with DJ Hogg (15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) influential as well.

Sydney would collect another road win over Brisbane before suffering another home loss against Adelaide (92-88), who had just returned from beating the NBA’s Phoenix Suns in a preseason game.

Sydney had several chances to tie or take the lead in the final minute, but several missed shots and a game-saving defensive effort from Adelaide skipper Mitch McCarron secured the win for the visitors. 36ers import Craig Randall II (24 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists) would finish as the game’s high scorer.

In round five, Sydney were on the verge of losing their third consecutive home game until Noi’s nailed a epic buzzer-beating three-pointer to defeat his former team Cairns, 106-103. Cooks, who nearly recorded a triple-double (18 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists), was a integral part in helping Sydney over the line victory, which cemented themselves into the top position on the ladder (8-2).

Next, the Kings drew the New Zealand Breakers in a highly anticipated contest featured first vs second on the ladder. Sydney survived a blistering last-quarter comeback from the Breakers to win the game (81-77) but lost Walton Jr to a ankle injury in the first half (he managed 12 points for the match in only 18 minutes) and a ankle injury to Cooks who would miss the next three weeks of games which included the Australian Boomers World Cup Qualifier game against Kazakhstan.

An epic Shaun Bruce buzzer-beater secured a dramatic win against Illawarra (83-82), who seemed on track to deliver an upset with a four-point lead (82-78) with 10 seconds left.

LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE ⚡

THE SYDNEY KINGS HAVE DONE IT AGAIN ????

Watch #NBL23 live & free ???? 10 Peach & 10play | Live on ESPN via Kayo & Foxtel pic.twitter.com/CvxWVxOkI8

— NBL (@NBL) November 20, 2022

The Kings received a boost with Cooks returning from injury, albeit in a game where Cairns snapped Sydney’s road winning streak, ending it at 17 in a row. Keanu Pinder (30 points and 13 rebounds) delivered a career-high scoring effort in a Taipans comeback victory that had to be decided in overtime (94-88). Cooks (25 points and 10 rebounds) was to go after being sidelined and scored the first 6 points for the Kings before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

In a heavyweight clash against South East Melbourne, Mitch Creek (46 points) and Derrick Walton Jr (45 points) recorded the first 40-point games by a player this season. Injuries to Phoenix players Gary Browne (calf) and Ryan Broekhoff (hip) and Sydney’s Xavier Cooks (ankle) didn’t detract from the contest as Creek and Walton Jr delivered a game for the ages, a double-overtime loss (112-113) which saw them drop to second on the ladder behind New Zealand.

Kings’ Coach Chase Buford was forced to miss the next game against Tasmania JackJumpers due to poor conduct, and assistant Kevin Lisch filled in as Sydney’s head coach as Sydney was able to get into the paint at will, recording 56 points in the paint while shooting a NBL season-high 69 percent from the field to secure a 97-77 victory.

Sydney locked themselves firmly into the top spot with a 49-point beatdown of Brisbane (116-67). The Kings’ 49-point winning margin was the largest achieved during the 40-minute era, as well as being Sydney’s biggest win in franchise history over the Bullets with Cooks (20 points), Soares (20 points), and Walton Jr (18 points) putting the majority of points on the board.

While New Zealand and Cairns fought it out for second place (both finishing with 18 wins for the season), Sydney ended the season on top of the ladder (19-9) despite losing their last two games heading into the playoffs. Xavier Cooks (16.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists) was named NBL MVP, beating Perth’s Bryce Cotton and South East Melbourne’s Mitch Creek. Soares would finish the season averaging 9.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1 block per game.

With Cairns defeating Perth (91-78) and advancing through the NBL play-in tournament, a semi-final series with the Kings was set. A spectacular performance from Cooks (27 points and 14 rebounds) fuelled the Kings to a game one win (95-87) before a drama-filled game two saw Kings’ coach Buford ejected after Kouat Noi and Sam Waardenburg both went down after hard hits to the head, which included Tim Soares also being charged with striking. Amidst the chaos, DJ Hogg (25 points and 8 rebounds) and Tahjere McCall (20 points and 7 assists) caught fire, and Cairns defeated Sydney (93-82), setting up a do-or-die game three.

In the deciding game, Vasiljevic (15 points and 5 rebounds), who had been almost a non-factor in the first two games, delivered when it counted the most, landing three crucial three-pointers and finished as the King’s game-high scorer. Cooks and Noi racked up identical double-double efforts (11 points and 11 rebounds) to propel Sydney to victory (79-64) and onto the championship series.

On the opposite side of the bracket, New Zealand eliminated Tasmania to reach the championship series before marching into Sydney and claiming game one (95-87) in front of 13,145 shocked Kings fans. William McDowell-White (19 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists) starred for New Zealand, while Barry Brown Jr (19 points) and Jarrell Brantley (16 points and 7 rebounds) also kept the scoreboard ticking over. Simon (18 points and 6 steals) finished as the leading scorer for Sydney in a game where Walton Jr suffered a injured leg that would see him miss the end of this game and struggle through the next.

Game two saw Sydney even the series, despite key players Walton Jr (4:50 minutes) and Cooks (9:05 minutes) seeing minimal playing time due to injuries. In their absence, Simon (12 points, 9 rebounds and 6 steals) came up big time at both ends, while Noi (20 points) provided some additional firepower off the bench. Although Brown Jr (21 points) delivered a strong effort, the Breakers struggled on the offensive end of the floor, shooting just 36 percent from the field as a team.

The Kings returned to Sydney with a 2-1 series lead after defeating the Breakers in front of the biggest crowd in NBL history (91-68). 18,049 fans poured into Qudos Bank Arena to witness Derrick Walton Jr (12 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds) shake off his injury concerns and Xavier Cooks (10 points and 8 rebounds), who signed a NBA contract to play with Washington that same day. McDowell-White (11 points) finished as New Zealand’s leading scorer.

Game four delivered a Breakers win in Auckland (80-70), extending the series to five games. Brantley (23 points), MacDowell-White (19 points) and Brown Jr (20 points) all coming up big in the do-or-die game for New Zealand. Derrick Walton Jr (18 points) and Angus Glover (12 points) finished as Sydney’s leading scorers.

Somehow, Sydney squeezed a few extra fans into Qudos Bank Arena for game five, breaking the record for fan attendance set in their previous home game (18,124). The Kings proved too dominant in the championship deciding game, ripping off a 14-0 run in the final quarter to secure their first back-to-back titles since their 2003-2005 three-peat. Derrick Walton Jr (21 points and 6 assists), who was named the Championship Series MVP, and Xavier Cooks (19 points and 11 rebounds) had outstanding games for the Kings, while Brown Jr (22 points) came off the bench and finished as the Breaker’s high scorer in the King’s game five win (77-69).

67,811 fans attended the Championship Series, the highest Grand Final attendance in NBL history.

It was the last game of the season, and it delivered all sorts of drama.

Re-live the best bits thanks to @HungryJacksAU ⤵ pic.twitter.com/KxOiNZnVDW

— NBL (@NBL) March 15, 2023

Tim Soares played one season in the NBL. He averaged 9.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 0.5 assists in 35 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (815 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.