King Kuol claims another NBL rival

Sydney Kings coach Brian Goorjian saw his team's defence go up a gear to lead to Friday's win over the Tasmania JackJumpers, with Bul Kuol leading the charge.

There's never been any question over the defensive capabilities of Kuol, since he burst onto the scene at the Cairns Taipans three seasons ago, but staying out of foul trouble has been a constant struggle for the Paris Olympian.

That was again a concern in the first couple of weeks to start his first season with the Kings, but Kuol's last eight quarters have been nothing short of outstanding.

He was a massive reason why Sydney beat the Taipans by 26 points on Sunday and came from behind to beat the JackJumpers by nine points on Friday.

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After restricting Taipans scoring sensation Rob Edwards to 2/12 shooting, Kuol backed up by hounding Milton Doyle for most of Friday, holding the Tasmania championship star to eight points on 2/13 shooting.

Kuol also spent some time quelling the influence of Jordon Crawford in the second half, after he threatened to win the game singlehandedly in the first, with 18 points.

"That's the first thing we sat down and talked about was that it's not just about playing hard, there's an art to the defensive player Bul can become," Goorjian said.

"Part of it is how he uses his feet and his hands, and I think he's made some really good adjustments.

"He's not fouling in the backcourt, he's not fouling off the ball and he's not leaving his feet to foul the shooter.

"Tonight to play like he did on both of those guys and have one foul, and not to foul out of the last game, are huge strides for him."

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What Goorjian didn’t see a lot of from his team in last Friday night's loss in Adelaide to the 36ers was the tenacity, toughness and teamwork required to beat a team like the JackJumpers.

He was fully aware that Tasmania would come out breathing fire after their record loss back on Sunday and that's exactly what happened, with the Kings coughing up 13 first-half turnovers and going down by as much as 16 points.

But the Kings showed all the fight and character that Goorjian wants his team to be known for after the main break, as they ended up dominating the glass and willed their way to a nine-point win.

"I think they (Tasmania) are the best team over the last three or four years of tenacity, toughness and teamship, and that's their trademark," he said.

"So to win a game against them on a court where they are desperate, and 16 up right before the end of the half, it's huge for us as this new group grows.

"That's an area that we've targeted where we've got to get better in competing and that's the biggest thing that we get out of this game."

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Coming out of that Adelaide loss last Friday night, even though the Kings lost Jaylen Adams with a back injury, Goorjian knew that everyone involved in the team needed to lift their effort and concentration levels.

That worked on Sunday at home to the Taipan, in a 26-point victory and then they had to dig deep at half-time on Friday after the JackJumpers hounded them into just a 33-point opening half.

Goorjian couldn’t have been prouder of the second-half performance.

"It's something we talked about since the Adelaide game where I think we got exposed," Goorjian said.

"As a group and coaching staff is included in all of this, we had to tighten up our games and do our jobs better, and everyone had to lift in those effort areas.

"Playing at home in a second game after playing on Friday night and getting whopped and having no Jaylen, that was huge on Sunday.

"Then coming down here into a hornet's nest and getting tested in those toughness areas, and winning like that, it's really important long-term with our team."