Goorjian highlights Oliver and Adams' play in win over Taipans

Cam Oliver and Jaylen Adams came up huge as the Sydney Kings escaped Cairns with an important Friday night win, but the glue that must bring Brian Goorjian's team together could be Shaun Bruce and Izayah Le'afa.

While the Kings came into NBL25 as raging championship favourites, it has been a continued work in progress for Goorjian and his coaching staff to get the best out of his ultra-talented playing group.

At the same time, they boast an 8-6 record and for a stream struggling to find its groove, fourth place is a more than positive spot to build from.

The continued theme from Goorjian is the Kings need to find a way to provide more support for former MVP winning point guard Adams, and getting the best out of gun big man Oliver.

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While Friday night wasn’t perfect and it turned into quite the grind against the Taipans, the Kings ending up prevailing 81-75. There were positive signs on both ends of the court. 

The Kings went for Bruce in the starting lineup to try and provide that extra ball handler and take the pressure off Adams.

It didn’t necessarily work in the first half with the Kings outscored by 15 points in Bruce's 10 minutes, but in the second half he played another 12 minutes for a plus-nine result. 

Le'afa also played an important 17 minutes. including some stifling defence on Rob Edwards.

That extra help saw Adams finish the game with 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists, instrumental in the victory.

"That point is what is going to determine how things turn out for us, the Cam Oliver situation and how he moves forward with us and I keep talking about guard play," Goorjian said.

"Bruce, Tyler (Robertson) and 'Zay', that situation and how that moves forward is really important, because we're clunky when we don't have that second guard on the floor right now.

"Everybody's going after JA, so we're trying to protect him and not have him have to carry the ball all the time, and the ball moves better with another handler out there.

"He was beneficial in that tonight where even though Bruce wasn’t dominant, it really helped JA get rest while he was still on the floor, so his performance was important.

"I'm hoping we can give Zay more too now that he's back from New Zealand, and Tyler has a lot more to give despite being in a bit of a hole right now. Those three guys in that position are going to play a lot now to help JA rest while he is on the floor."

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Then there was Oliver who produced a standout performance back on his former home floor with 26 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two assists, on 10/16 shooting.

It's not just about the numbers for Goorjian. He's liked the improved dedication Oliver has shown in recent weeks to provide the team what is being asked of him.

"Cam Oliver, a lot of talk's been going on about him finding a way with us and we've been a hard hand in coaching him and demanding some things from him," Goorjian said.

"There's been a process and I thought at practice it's starting to get better even in the games we lost in the back stretch.

"Then tonight he was instrumental in the win by running the floor, pressuring the ball, running to the post and rebounding - he was elite."