Game 5 PREVIEW – KINGS VS WILDCATS

Kings-Wildcats.

It’s East meets West

Two legendary franchises.

And an early season blockbuster.

These two teams have combined for an astounding 16 NationalBasketball League championships.

Introduced players that would go on to be among the greatestthe league has ever seen.

And together have been responsible for some of the bestgames in NBL history.

Not to mention a few of the most memorable playoff series ofall time.

Both teams sit thousands of kilometres away from oneanother. Yet the rivalry that has existed since 1988 is no less intense becauseof it.

Any time the purple and gold heads to Perth, they are metwith an avalanche of boos from the denizens of RAC Arena, known to all andsundry as the Red Army.

That kind of vociferous support is exactly what the SydneyKings are hoping to receive on Saturday night in Afterpay Arena as the Wildcatslook to consign the home team to consecutive losses at their venue and theirthird straight loss overall following a tough defeat to New Zealand in Canberraon Wednesday night.

And Perth will come in full of confidence, given they areriding a four-game winning streak to currently sit in the top three of the NBLstandings with a 4-1 record, capped by a 100-86 home win over the New ZealandBreakers last Saturday night.

This will be the Wildcats’ first foray interstate thisseason, but they are playing with the kind of belief it takes to win on anyfloor, any time.

Despite the significant absence of centre Jo Lual-Acuil Jrdue to injury, Perth has more than enough weaponry to still create seriousissues for the purple and gold.

It starts with import forwards Kristian Doolittle (15.2ppg,5.0rpg, 6.6apg, 1.0spg, 51.0% FG, 47.6% 3PT FG, 70.0% FT) and Dylan Windler(18.0ppg, 6.2rpg, 2.4apg, 48.4% FG, 43.3% 3PT FG, 93.8% FT). Doolittle is anAll-NBL talent who is one of the best two-way players in the league; Windler isan outstanding perimeter shooter who is coming off his best game of the seasonagainst the Breakers where he was breathing fire from beyond the perimeter,hitting seven triples as part of his 32-point haul.

Then there’s explosive guard Elijah Pepper (23.8ppg, 2.6rpg,3.2apg, 1.2spg, 50.0% FG, 37.0% 3PT FG, 80.0% FT) and tyro rookie AnthonyDell’Orso (13.4ppg, 3.6rpg, 3.0rpg, 1.4spg, 49.0% FG, 34.6% 3PT FG, 80.0% FT).Pepper has scored 25 points in each of his past four games and is a devastatingscorer when he gets rolling; Dell’Orso is another in a group of youngsters whohave come into the league this year and made an instant impact.

All of that, and then Perth goes ahead and brings in animport point guard by the name of Brandon Knight who was a first-round NBAdraft pick in 2011 and played 451 games for six NBA teams during his nine-yearrun in the Association.

Knight made his debut last week and was impressive inlimited minutes – he will add leadership and a cool head in a crisis for theWildcats, who have an excellent head coach in John Rillie leading the way fromthe sidelines.

So, there’s no question this Perth outfit is exceedinglydangerous and the Kings will need to step up their play from what have been apair of hard-fought losses.

Head Coach Brian Goorjian admitted after the defeat to theBreakers in Canberra that opposing teams are throwing a lot of bodiesdefensively at point guard Kendric Davis (22.8ppg, 4.8rpg, 7.4apg, 1.0spg, 41.8%FG, 78.1% FT) and that he needs to find ways to free up his superstar. ExpectKD to bounce back at home after a couple of difficult outings.

The absence of Matthew Dellavedova means more minutes forthe brilliant Makuach Maluach (15.8ppg, 3.8rpg, 73.2% FG, 61.9% 3PT FG, 75.0%FT) and rookie Will Johnston – both will be key in trying to take the pressureoff KD and attack the Perth backcourt.

And Sydney’s frontline will have a large responsibility innegating what is an impressive group of Perth forwards – look for Xavier Cooks(15.6ppg, 6.4rpg, 2.4apg, 1.8bpg, 67.4% FG, 65.2% DFT), Torrey Craig (15.2ppg, 5.2rpg)and Andrew Carr (10.4ppg, 7.6rpg) to be active and aggressive at both ends ofthe floor.

This is a big one.

Time to get back on the right side of the ledger.

Let’s go Kings.

WHO

Sydney Kings vs. Perth Wildcats

WHEN

Saturday 17 October, 7:30pm AEST tipoff

LOCATION

Afterpay Arena, doors open 6:00pm

TICKETS

On sale via Ticketek

THE PLAYERS

KINGS

Projected Starters: Kendric Davis; Makuach Maluach; TorreyCraig; Xavier Cooks; Andrew Carr

Bench: Tyler Robertson, Jason Spurgin, Harry Wessels,Jayden Stone, Will Johnston; Lachlan Bofinger; Peitok Machar; Bailey Hanson

WILDCATS

Projected Starters: Brandon Knight, Elijah Pepper, KristianDoolittle, Dylan Windler, Angus Brandt

Bench: Jaron Rillie, Jesse Wagstaff, AnthonyDell'Orso, Alex Higgins-Titsha, Cameron Huefner, Tana Hopa, Marley Sam, JimmyWhitt

THE COACHES

KINGS

Brian Goorjian (9^th season with Kings, recordwith Kings 213-88, NBL career record 600-277, 7 NBL championships)

WILDCATS

John Rillie (5^th season with Wildcats, NBL record80-56)

NBL26 REGULAR SEASONSERIES

Kings won 3-0

NBL26 PLAYOFFS

Kings won 2-0

CURRENT STANDINGS

Kings 3-2, 3^rd

Wildcats 4-1, 2^nd

KEY MATCHUP

Torrey Craig vs KristianDoolittle

Doolittle is vitally important to the Wildcats given howmuch he provides for Perth at both ends of the court. A genuine two-waysuperstar, he can score inside and out, he’s an excellent rebounder andfacilitator, and he can defend virtually every position on the floor. He’s oneof those rare players who can dominate a game without scoring. Craig wassensational in the final quarter on Wednesday night and showed what a key he isfor the purple and gold, going to another level offensively when his teamabsolutely needed it. A humble superstar, Torrey goes about his business with aminimum of fuss, and his vast NBA experience is something this young Kingsgroup will lean on heavily, especially with Delly currently absent throughinjury.

THE QUESTIONS

Will a wounded Sydney come out swinging?

How tough will it be to stop the Wildcats’ plethora of long-distancethreats?

HISTORY

All-time Head-to-Head

119 games played; Wildcats lead 69-50

In Sydney

60 games played, Kings lead 32-28

At Afterpay Arena

25 games played, Kings lead 14-11

DID YOU KNOW?

TheKings are currently riding a five-game winning streak against the Wildcats,their second longest winning run over Perth in franchise history. Sydney’slongest ever winning streak against the Cats is seven games between 2002 and2003 – both streaks have come