Lisch reflects on historic coaching debut

It may have come earlier than he expected but Kevin Lisch entered the history books on Friday when he became the Sydney Kings' 16th-ever coach during the emphatic win against Tasmania.

Assistant coach Lisch was proud of the way his team responded to the adversity after being told earlier in the day they'd be without coach Chase Buford for the grand final replay.

"To be honest, 99 per cent of the work is done before the game itself and the guys had done that," said Lisch, who credited fellow staff members Fleur McIntyre, Daniel Kickertt, Angus Henskens, Toby Banfield and Jonny McGailey for helping the team claim the victory.

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"Chase is doing a great job of building this program based on resiliency and that 'next-man-up' mentality', which is exactly what we did.

"It was a fun game to watch, especially in how our boys competed after that first quarter when our defence wasn't great - we dug our heels in and said we're not going down this route.

"The fight and willingness to play for each other was good to see."

As well as praising the team, Lisch also gave love to the 12,467 fans at Qudos Bank Arena for the round 13 fixture, marking Sydney's highest-attended game in NBL23.

"First of all, walking out and seeing all those fans was amazing," Lisch said.

"Then standing on the sidelines and hearing that roar, it definitely gives you some juice which we fed off."

A big part of the Kings' win apart from the play of Xavier Cooks (who Lisch stated would have his vote for MVP of the league), was the Hoops Capital side's 69.1 per cent from the field - marking the second-best return ever during the franchise's history (with the best being 73.8 per cent versus the Melbourne Tigers in game two of the 1992 semi-finals at the old Kingdome).

"Our contact attack to put pressure on the rim and not settling were big emphasises for us," said Lisch, who admitted it was great to guard Dejan Vasiljevic finds his offensive rhythm once again.

"That combined with our willingness to play for each other and share the ball, led to that high percentage from the field, which was pleasing to see.

"And any time you can play with pace, everything looks better but we aren't getting too ahead of ourselves as there are always areas we can work on."

The harbour city has a quick turnaround now, with fellow contenders the South East Melbourne Phoenix coming to Qudos Bank Arena on Wednesday, which Lisch knows will be a big challenge for this league-leading side.

"We're looking forward to that clash, especially as the last time we met was so crazy - let's just hope this time around it doesn't go as long," he said.

"They're another very talented team and I'm sure all the boys will be keen to get after it come Wednesday."

Tickets to the round 14 showdown are available here.