Glover's Kings know they control own finals fate

Sunday’s Freeway Series clash between the Sydney Kings and Illawarra Hawks is set to have serious implications on the final standing of the top six come the end of the NBL24 regular season, and Angus Glover is confident in Sydney’s ability to decide its own fate.

Glover spent five seasons with the Hawks but has since become a fan favourite of the side’s state rivals after playing a crucial role in Sydney’s back-to-back championships in NBL22 and NBL23.

The Kings sit in fifth place on the ladder heading into round 19 – one post below Sunday’s opposition – and Glover says the equation is simple, the Kings just need to win out in the remainder of the regular season.

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“The whole league has had their mindset changed for the past month because of how close the ladder is. It’s not just us, every team knows how important games are at this time of the year,” Glover told SEN.

“At the end of the day, we hold our own fate. If we win games we’re going to put ourselves in a good position to hopefully be a higher seed in the top six where we can get to, and if we lose we put our fate in other teams’ hands.

“We want to control our own fate and we’ve spoken about it, but at the end of the day we know what we’ve got to do, we’re going to take it one game at a time, one day at a time.

“The history is always close and the rivalry is always fierce, but this is probably a bit more on the line on Sunday, which is great for the game and great for the fans, but it’s going to be a hotly contested game.”

Sunday’s game will also give one former King a chance to cement their history in the organisation, as the club’s newest Ring of Honour recipient will be announced.

The Ring of Honour is a fan-voted award that looks to honour players’ abilities and contributions to the club beyond the court.

Tom Garlepp, Ben Knight and Brad Rosen have already been inducted. This year’s nominees are Ben Madgen, Bruce Bolden, Leon Trimmingham, BJ Carter, Marc Ridlen, Luke Kendall and Julian Khazzouh.

Glover says the Ring of Honour helps players cement their legacy at the Kings.

“Any of the guys on this year’s list would be deserving winners, and it will be interesting to see which way the fans vote,” he said.

“At the end of the day, it’s a legacy thing they’ve all done for this club, and hopefully all the guys here are in the Hall of Fame for the Kings or are a Ring of Honour winner at some point.

“You play for your legacy as well at the end of the day. You want to win championships, and if you win championships you build your legacy as well.”

The Kings and Hawks clash at 4pm AEDT on Sunday afternoon, live and free on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, 10 Peach and 10 Play.