Oliver wants Kings to throw first punch

Brian Goorjian might have ridden Cam Oliver hard in NBL25, but he has also praised the Sydney Kings big man for conducting himself like a man, and he himself is just focused on helping the team start games better.

The Kings have become the masters of fourth quarters this season and with Sunday's 18-4 run to seal the deal against the JackJumpers, they made it nine consecutive last terms they have won.

That's included some monster fightback wins including coming from 18 points down last time against the South East Melbourne Phoenix, but that's not something Oliver wants to see continue.

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"I think as a team we're trying to go away from being a second half team and trying to throw that first punch out there and start it from the first quarter," Oliver said.

"For us to be able to come together and get a lot of stops, and get the offence going in the second half again was pretty good for us.

"Doing that all comes down to being motivated and not really waiting on somebody else to throw the first punch, and us throwing the first punch.

"We want teams to have to catch up to our tempo with how we're playing and I think that's how it has to start. We have to make sure we're coming together, be together on everything and just motivate ourselves to throw that first punch."

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Oliver was a genuine star in his previous stint in the NBL for almost two full seasons at the Cairns Taipans which saw him earn an NBA chance at the Houston Rockets back in 2021.

He wanted to return to the NBL and asked Goorjian to coach him hard from the start. While that hasn’t been the smoothest ride so far with Oliver having some games where he's even sat out entire second halves, he has only conducted himself with the utmost team-first attitude.

Oliver still has the physical gifts to be a big time star in the league, but it's a sign of the maturity of the 28-year-old that he has taken some humble pills to play on this Kings team, and has played a strong role particularly since the hamstring injury to Keli Leaupepe. 

That has still seen Oliver have some tough nights including losses to Adelaide and Melbourne where he wasn’t sighted in the second half, but he's never dropped his head and his last two performances have been strong.

In the Kings' win against Cairns and Tasmania, Oliver has now put up a combined 27 points, 25 rebounds and five assists on 11/22 shooting. 

Sydney have now won seven of the last 10 games to sit in third place at 15-10, and Oliver has no doubt a big part in their form surge has been playing those matches over 43 days, with seven at home after their first 15 were played in 70 days with 10 of those away.

Spending more time on the practice floor to improve on things, especially their communication and chemistry, is what Oliver sees as their biggest improvement.

"In the past month at practice it's been the biggest thing for us has been communicating in a lot of ways," Oliver said.

"I think I help with that a lot and so does X (Xavier Cooks) and all of us do one through 15 honestly. I make sure we try to bring that every time in practice and that's where the most improvement has started.

"We have a real big next play mentality and I think that's what keeps us together through any quarter honestly.

"Our connectiveness and chemistry mean we're not fazed by anything and we want to make sure we do whatever we can to help us win the game."

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The big games keep coming for the Kings after beating the defending champions on Sunday to improve to third place, they can consolidate that position when they take on South East Melbourne in Melbourne on Wednesday night.

The Phoenix will replace the Kings in third place with a win in that game so it's a significant one for both teams before Sydney is back home looking for revenge on the surging Adelaide 36ers on Friday.

"It's a big game for us but we're just taking it each day at a time, and stacking days honestly," Oliver said.

"Everybody has been saying that we haven’t really scratched the surface, but I think we're scratching it now in a very positive way.

"We just have to stack days and each day you've got to be good whether it's practice, games or even rest days. Right now with everything coming up, basketball's first in all our lives right now and that's all we're worried about."