Round 3 Preview: Kings vs Bullets

Sometimes, there are those wins that can define a team’s season.

It can happen in different ways. A blowout. A comeback.

Or in the case of the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings, it can be an against the odds victory.

That’s what the team got last Saturday night in Cairns – a W as decided underdogs against a home team in Cairns that needed a positive result in their own gym, but were outplayed for most of the night by a determined, hungry and courageous Kings, who were desperately undermanned before the game, copped a further hit with young star Angus Glover going down during the game, yet showed tremendous commitment to withstand everything the Taipans threw at them.

The 99-91 win was one full of merit, and even this early in the season, it could be one that the team looks back on as one of those key moments in their NBL21 campaign.

On the back of that excellent performance, Sydney now heads to Brisbane to take on the Bullets at Nissan Arena, the first of a road double-header in Round Three as they travel to Adelaide to face the 36ers next Saturday.

Brisbane is yet to record a win this season, and will be a desperate outfit in front of their home fans after two losses to the Hawks in their opening games.

However, the Bullets have shown that despite their losses, they are a highly competitive outfit. They had their chances in both games and will come out with a good deal of confidence knowing that they are facing a Kings unit suffering a decided manpower shortage at the moment.

Nathan Sobey (21.5ppg, 1.5spg, 50% FG) has been Brisbane’s leading scorer in the early stages of NBL21, and is a player the Kings must control. Now playing his more favoured shooting guard role, Sobey is devastating in transition and you can’t sleep on his perimeter shot despite a return of just 25% from three this season.

New import forward Vic Law (16.5ppg, 10.0rpg, 3.5apg, 41.9% FG) has been pretty much as advertised since arriving in Brisbane. He’s an explosive, productive forward who can score inside and out and has been strong on the glass, and neutralising his output will need to be a focus for the purple and gold.

Then there’s centre Harry Froling (8.5ppg, 11.5rpg,4.0apg, 50% FG) who has been getting increased minutes with the absence through injury of regular starter Matt Hodgson. Froling is a skilled pivot with an excellent passing game who has been effective on the boards thus far.

And of course, Brisbane has a couple of shooters who will need to be accounted for, from old friend Jason Cadee to former 36er Anthony Drmic – both of whom can get hot in a hurry and do serious damage.

But despite the Kings taking early hits on the injury front, they too will present significant challenges this Saturday.

It starts with Casper Ware (20.0ppg, 2.0rpg, 90% FT) who was spectacular in the second half of Saturday night’s victory in Cairns and is going to be a very difficult cover for the Brisbane guards.

Ware’s one-two punch with impressive big man Jarell Martin (16.5ppg, 9.0rpg, 53.3% FG) is already paying serious dividends. Martin was awesome in a terrific head-to-head matchup with Taipan superstar Cam Oliver, scoring the ball in a variety of ways and working his butt off on the glass.

And while most of the national basketball media has been talking up the Rookie of the Year prospects of the likes of Josh Giddey, Mojave King and Justinian Jessup, Sydney’s long-range gunner Dejan Vasiljevic (14.0ppg, 3.0rpg, 40.0% 3PT FG) is showing that he needs strong consideration as the league’s best first-year non-restricted player.

Naturally, you can’t forget El Toro himself, the ageless wonder Brad Newley (15.5ppg, 5.5rpg, 56.5% FG) who made his first six shots against Cairns last Saturday and looks like he’s still got that great first step, nor can you discount the important contributions of guys like Shaun Bruce, Craig Moller and Jordan Hunter.

But the man who has brought this group together under difficult circumstances is Head Coach Adam Forde, who got his first NBL win against the Taipans and deserves enormous credit for the job he has done since replacing Will Weaver just weeks before the start of this season. Everything that Adam is about – hard work, togetherness, determination – has been clear for all to see and the team has quickly bought into his philosophy. His effort has been very impressive.

It’s only early. But the signs are positive for the purple and gold. This week will be tough to negotiate, but two wins, starting on Saturday night against the Bullets, will set the boys up exceptionally well for a successful campaign.

It’s time to shoot those Bullets down.

Rise With Us Sydney.

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WHO

Sydney Kings vs. Brisbane Bullets

WHEN

Tuesday 26 January, 3:00pm tipoff AEDT

LOCATION

Nissan Arena, Brisbane

TV/RADIO

SBS Viceland; SBS On Demand; Cluch Radio, SWR99.9FM Radio

THE PLAYERS

KINGS

Casper Ware (import); Shaun Bruce; Dejan Vasiljevic; Craig Moller; Jarell Martin (import)

Brad Newley; Jordan Hunter; Tom Vodanovich; Didi Louzada (Next Star); Daniel Kickert, Jaylin Galloway (development player); Archie Woodhill (development player)

BULLETS

Jason Cadee; Nathan Sobey; Orlando Johnson (import); Vic Law (import); Harry Froling

Anthony Drmic; Tanner Krebs; Tyrell Harrison; Tamuri Wigness; Matt Hodgson; Callum Dalton (development player); Blake Jones (development player); Kian Dennis (development player)

THE COACHES

KINGS

Adam Forde, NBL rookie head coach, NBL record 1-1

BULLETS

Andrej Lemanis (5^th season with Brisbane, NBL career record 198-176, record with Brisbane 48-68, three NBL Championships)

2020/2021 REGULAR SEASON SERIES

First Meeting

NBL LADDER

Kings 1-1, fourth

Bullets 0-2, ninth

KEY STATS

KINGS

Points: Casper Ware, 20.0ppg

Rebounds: Jarell Martin, 9.0rpg

Assists: Shaun Bruce, 4.0apg

BULLETS

Points: Nathan Sobey, 21.5ppg

Rebounds: Harry Froling, 11.5rpg

Assists: Jason Cadee, 5.5apg

KEY MATCHUP

Casper Ware vs. Jason Cadee

If the Casper Ware who dominated the second half of the win against the Taipans on Saturday steps on to the floor in Brisbane, Jason Cadee is in a world of trouble. Casper always gives maximum effort at both ends, but he had 20 second half points last week including a run of three straight triples, and his energy and focus noticeably lifted his team. He’ll be in attack mode against Cadee, who has never been known as a great defender. Nonetheless, Brisbane’s starting point guard has some weapons he can go to, not least of which is a dangerous outside shot. Casper will need to play his usual intense defence and deny Cadee at every opportunity – the last thing you want to do is allow the Bullets’ guard to get into any kind of rhythm.

THE QUESTIONS

Will Jarell Martin dominate in the post?

Can the Kings shut down Brisbane’s outside shooters?

HISTORY

All-time Head to Head

78 games played; Sydney leads 44-34

In Brisbane

40 games played; Brisbane leads 23-17

DID YOU KNOW?

Brad Newley is the longest-tenured Sydney King currently on the roster, and is in the top 15 all-time for games played for the purple and gold, sitting 14^th with 116 games. He’ll overtake Luke Kendall in 13^th place with his 125^th appearance, and could potentially enter the top ten all-time for Sydney by the end of this season.