Cats too good for Kings in NBL Cup Game Two

Written by Matt McQuade for Kings Media

Result: Perth Wildcats 113 Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings 106

Stats That Matter: Rebound count Wildcats 45 Kings 32; Wildcats 16 offensive rebounds; Wildcats 19 second chance points; Wildcats 27 assists

Kings MVP: Casper Ware never stopped trying to lead the Kings to an improbable comeback win.

Turning Point: The third quarter. The Wildcats took the Kings out of their rhythm with a disruptive pressure defence early in the second half and Sydney never really recovered.

The game was over when: Mitch Norton made a bucket with 36 seconds left to provide the Wildcats with enough of a buffer.

Trending in the right direction: Didi Louzada had his best game of the season off the bench and shot the ball exceptionally well.

A furious comeback has fallen just short for the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings at their second game of the NBL Cup, as they went down in a high-powered battle 113-106 to the Perth Wildcats on Tuesday night at John Cain Arena in Melbourne.

Down by 15 points with less than four minutes left in the final quarter, a brave effort from the purple and gold fuelled by a late 11-point burst from Casper Ware (34 points, five rebounds, four assists) saw them cut the margin to just three with 25 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, Sydney could get no closer, missing a pair of three pointers in the final seconds, and the Wildcats were able to close it out from the free throw line.

Ultimately, what did the Kings in was an inability to defend, resulting in Perth scoring the most points in a game against Sydney since Melbourne United put up 125 in Game Two of the NBL20 semi-finals – ironically, in the same venue. Foul trouble contributed to those defensive woes, with Jordan Hunter seeing limited minutes thanks to four quick fouls in the first half and Perth sent to the charity stripe early and often.

“I think Casper was the one who nailed it perfectly in the change rooms afterwards, in the sense that we got in foul trouble early, and regardless of what we thought about those foul calls, it made us very tentative and soft,” said a disappointed Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings head coach Adam Forde.

“We sort of backed off a little bit. We were trying to chase and rotations off the ball were softer because everyone was fearful of fouling.”

“That’s definitely on us to not get rattled no matter what the calls are. It’s a good learning point for us, because we’re still relatively new and coming together, and we’re finding out what our strengths and weaknesses are.”

Sydney’s offence again shone in the opening period, with Ware’s 11 points and two triples from Didi Louzada (19 points, three assists) leading the Kings to a 30-24 advantage after one – the 30 points representing the first time the Wildcats had given up 30 in an opening quarter this season.

And Louzada, who had his best game of the NBL21 campaign, kept lighting it up from the perimeter in the second quarter, nailing another couple of triples and producing 10 points in the frame to help maintain Sydney’s lead.

“He was due that one and I was glad he was able to get a little bit of his swag and his bounce back,” Coach Forde said.

“Didi out there smiling on the court is a very good basketball player.”

“Hopefully we can continue that momentum and look to go to him when we need to tick that scoreboard over.”

But while the Kings were having no trouble scoring in the second period, there were some worrying signs that the team’s defence was having trouble coping with Perth import forward John Mooney (30 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots).

Taking advantage of Hunter’s presence on the bench, Mooney had 12 points in the quarter and helped the Wildcats monster Sydney on the glass, with Perth holding a 26-16 advantage on the boards at halftime as they reduced the Kings’ lead to just two, 56-54, at the main break.

Predictably, the Wildcats came out with much greater defensive intensity in the start of the third quarter, throwing out an extended 1-2-2 press that took Sydney out of their flow, and with Mooney continuing to dominate and Bryce Cotton (30 points, nine assists) getting off the leash, momentum shifted.

Perth outscored the Kings 32-17 in the third period, with only seven points from Craig Moller (10 points) keeping Sydney just in touch as the Wildcats took an imposing 86-73 lead into the final change.

“It was disappointing, because I thought we were better than that,” Coach Forde said.

“It’s the first time we’ve gone up against the 1-2-2 and we talked about it at different stages.”

“Beating it is on the back of solid passing and ball fakes, but it stuck in our hands too long.”

“It’s another teaching point, and we’ll take that for what it’s worth and learn from it.”

But even though Cotton and Mooney were having their way with Sydney, helped by a solid cameo from ex-King Todd Blanchfield (17 points, four rebounds), the Kings refused to lie down and kept coming.

With the team down by double figures late in the fourth, Coach Forde called for a smallball line-up to try and generate some defensive energy, and it worked as the Wildcats were forced into error and some bad decisions.

Ware was fouled twice from beyond the three-point line and made six straight free throws, and Brad Newley (six points) buried a triple to give the team some hope of a miracle.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be, as the Kings fell to 4-5 on the season and picked up just two points in the NBL Cup for winning the first and fourth quarters.

In the compressed NBL Cup schedule, Sydney has just 48 hours before their next game on Thursday night against the New Zealand Breakers at John Cain Arena in their second game of the NBL Cup. Tipoff is at 5:00pm and the game will be broadcast on ESPN and SBS On Demand.

Rise With Us Sydney.

PERTH WILDCATS 113 (Mooney 30, Cotton 30, Blanchfield 17)
SYDNEY KINGS 106 (Ware 34, Louzada 19, Vasiljevic 13) at John Cain Arena, Melbourne.

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