Martin vs. Zhou | Battle of the NBA bigs

Basketball fans will get to see 'The Battle of NBA Bigs' on Saturday, December 18th as Bryden Lawyers Sydney Kings star Jarell Martin and Chinese superstar Zhou Qi go head-to-head at Qudos Bank Arena.

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Martin, the close to 200-game NBA veteran, will take on the South East Melbourne Phoenix’s Zhou, who played with the Houston Rockets. The battle takes place this Saturday, December 18, in a much-anticipated encounter in the early stages of #NBL22.

This season more than ever you will get to experience the NBA Down Under. Nearly 20 per cent of all NBL players have had NBA experience, with 25 players in total.

The Kings have three of these stars in Martin, Jaylen Adams and RJ Hunter. As well as head coach Chase Buford, who was a head coach in the NBA G-League and recently helped Milwaukee Bucks win their first title in 50 years.

One of the most notable signings this NBL offseason was Chinese superstar Zhou Qi, the 7’2” centre who signed with the South East Melbourne Phoenix. Zhou played for the Houston Rockets in the 2017-18 season and more recently has been dominating the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

These two centres have some history.

They have matched up multiple times in the NBA, in limited minutes. The last time they played against each other before the NBL Blitz preseason was November 18, 2017, in a game between the Houston Rockets who scored 105-83 over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Head-to-head in the NBL Blitz Martin scored 15 points and grabbed 9 rebounds while Zhou Qi in his first NBL experience led the Phoenix to the win shooting 100 per cent from the field with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Before returning to the NBL Brian Goorjian coached in China, “He is the best player in China,” he said on ESPN’s Ball and the Real World podcast.

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Goorjian compared Zhou Qi’s move from the CBA to the NBL to if NBL legend Andrew Gaze left the NBL in the ‘90s.

With that much hype it seems to inevitably be a clash of titans, the Kings have three former NBA players and the Phoenix have their own collection of stars with former NBA players and Boomers Ryan Broekhoff and Mitch Creek plus former NBA players Xavier Munford and Zhou Qi. 

 The Kings will play the South East Melbourne Phoenix at 5.30 pm on Saturday 18th at Qudos Bank Arena. Get your tickets here. #WeTheKings 

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