Round Two Preview - Kings vs. Hawks
By Matt McQuade
The Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings will be looking to consolidate on a great start to their NBL22 campaign when they meet arch-rivals the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday afternoon at Qudos Bank Arena.
Sydney’s Round One home victory over defending NBL champions Melbourne United last Sunday was full of merit and showed the potential of this new-look squad.
Kings’ Head Coach Chase Buford, the youngest head coach in the history of the franchise and the youngest head coach in the NBL in 20 years, led his charges through a game that featured all the typical early season ups and downs but ultimately confirmed a few things.
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One is that this team is going to play with extreme pace and be incredibly entertaining as advertised.
Two is that the squad has tremendous depth and its youngsters – highlighted by a pair of terrific performances from Makur Maker and Biwali Bayles – are going to be genuine contributors.
And finally; maybe most importantly; the group has developed a level of resiliency in short order. That was underlined by their toughness in repelling a furious second half Melbourne comeback; a period where a lot of things weren’t going right for the Kings but they found a way to hang in there and get the job done.
It was a gutsy performance in the end; one to build from. On the other hand, Coach Chase Buford is well aware his troops will need to improve to turn back the challenge of a Hawks unit that already has some judges tipping them as title contenders this season.
“They look like the best team I’ve watched so far,” said Chase.
“They’ve got talent at every position; they play the right way, they guard.”
“It’s going to be a stern test for our team and we’ll have to be ready for them come Saturday.”
Chase’s comments are well-founded.
Illawarra is coming off a comfortable win on the road against the Adelaide 36ers; a game where their ten-point margin didn’t accurately reflect their overall dominance.
Led by master coach Brian Goorjian in his 800th NBL game, the Hawks are loaded at every position. Their three imports – Tyler Harvey, Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Antonius Cleveland – already look like they are going to be a potent group. Big man Duop Reath could be one of the recruits of the offseason, Next Star Justinian Jessup is still a dangerous commodity and the rest of their roster plays hard all 40 minutes.
Then there’s the Illawarra frontline, led by Reath and last season’s Most Improved Player Sam Froling. Like Sydney, the Hawks have great size and talent in the post and one wonders if that battle of the bigs will ultimately decide the outcome.
With Jaylen Adams out thanks to injury, Shaun Bruce will step into the starting lineup and he'll be his typical dogged self defensively. But the backcourt scoring focus will switch to uber scorer RJ Hunter, who will be improved on his first run last week. Already dubbed ‘a walking bucket’ by some commentators, the 6’5” wing has the potential to drop a ton of points at any given time and Sydney will need them all against a team that has significant offensive firepower.
Of course, there’s even more at stake than just your garden variety regular season game. This is also the opening game of the Adrian Hurley Cup for NBL22, a series that determines the top dog in New South Wales basketball in games played between Sydney and their neighbours from the NSW South Coast. That title has belonged to the Kings for the past five seasons, and there’s no doubt that the Hawks want to take back a trophy that has belonged to Sydney since 2016.
So, as per usual, there will be no quarter asked nor given when these two teams take to the floor at the Q on Saturday. It will be intense, it will be physical, there’ll be some trash talking involved and at the end one team will have early bragging rights in what is unquestionably the best rivalry in the National Basketball League.
Kings’ fans, it’s time to stand up and show your pride.
Join the Sydney Kings in the Hoops Capital.
Wear purple and gold and get loud.
Turn the Q into a fortress and help the good guys turn back the southern invaders.
#WeAreKings
WHO
Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings vs. Illawarra Hawks
WHEN
Saturday 11 December, 5:30pm tipoff AEST, doors open at 4:00pm
LOCATION
Qudos Bank Arena
TICKETS
Available via Ticketek or the Qudos Bank Arena Box Office
TV
ESPN
RADIO
THE PLAYERS
KINGS
Shaun Bruce; R.J. Hunter (import); Angus Glover; Xavier Cooks; Jarell Martin (import)
Wani Swaka Lo Buluk; Makur Maker (Next Star); Matur Maker; Tom Vodanovich; Biwali Bayles; Jordan Hunter; Jaylin Galloway (development player); Jayden Hodgson (development Player); Ignatius Mitchell (development player)
HAWKS
Tyler Harvey (import); Antonius Cleveland (import); Justinian Jessup (Next Star); Sam Froling; Duop Reath
Xavier Rathan-Mayes (import); Harry Froling; Isaac White; Tim Coenraad; AJ Ogilvy; Emmett Naar; Akoldah Gak (development player); Lachlan Dent (development player)
THE COACHES
KINGS
Chase Buford, NBL rookie head coach, record 1-0
HAWKS
Brian Goorjian, 2nd season with Hawks, record with Hawks 22-18, NBL career record 536-238, six NBL championships
2020/2021 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
Tied 2-2
Hawks defeated Kings 85-82 @ Qudos Bank Arena, Round 5
Hawks defeated Kings 89-69 @ John Cain Arena, Round 9
Kings defeated Hawks 79-75 (OT) @ WIN Entertainment Centre, Round 15
Kings defeated Hawks 79-73 @ WIN Entertainment Centre, Round 21
2020/2021 STATS
KINGS
Points For: 86.4ppg, fifth
Points Against: 85.8ppg, fifth
Field Goal Percentage: 43.9%, sixth
Defensive Field Goal Percentage: 43.6%, third
Rebounds: 40.6rpg, fourth
Assists: 16.4apg, seventh
Steals: 5.0spg, ninth
Blocked Shots: 3.1bpg, sixth
Offensive Rating: 111.4, fifth
Defensive Rating: 110.5, fourth
HAWKS
Points For: 82.3ppg, seventh
Points Against: 82.1ppg, second
Field Goal Percentage: 42.7%, ninth
Defensive Field Goal Percentage: 43.3%, second
Rebounds: 41.6rpg, second
Assists: 15.9apg, eighth
Steals: 7.8spg, first
Blocked Shots: 4.6bpg, second
Offensive Rating: 107.5, ninth
Defensive Rating: 107.2, second
NBL LADDER
Kings 1-0, fifth
Hawks 1-0, third
ROUND ONE RESULTS
Kings defeated Melbourne United 79-74 @ Qudos Bank Arena
Hawks defeated Adelaide 36ers 81-71 @ Adelaide Entertainment Centre
KEY MATCHUP
Jarell Martin vs. Duop Reath
Another member of the historic Olympic medal-winning Australian Boomers team comes to Qudos Bank Arena. Duop Reath was a bit player for the green and gold in Tokyo, but he’s already showed that he will be a force to be reckoned with in the NBL season with an 18-point, nine rebound outing for the Hawks in Round One. Blessed with great size and strength plus a soft touch from the perimeter, Reath is a tough matchup for any opposing big with his ability to score the ball inside and out. His immediate matchup is likely to be Jarell Martin, who opened his NBL22 campaign with a solid performance against United. The big power forward has many of the same traits as Reath and those two will go hard at it on Saturday night.
THE QUESTIONS
Can the Kings slow down Tyler Harvey?
Will Wollongong boys Xavier Cooks and Angus Glover stick it to their hometown team?
HISTORY
All-time Head-to-Head
102 games played; Kings lead 56-46
In Sydney
49 games played; Kings lead 28-21
At Qudos Bank Arena
13 games played; Hawks lead 7-6
DID YOU KNOW?
The majority of Sydney Kings Head Coaches have done well in their debut for the club. There have been 15 Kings’ head coaches in the history of the franchise, including the incumbent Chase Buford, and all but four have won their first game in charge as the sideline leader. The unsuccessful four were Tim Hudson, who coached just the one game in Perth in the 2011/12 season, Joe Connelly, Andrew Gaze and Adam Forde. Of the 11 head coaches who have won their opening game for the Kings, the biggest win belongs to Bill Tomlinson, who led the purple and gold on debut to a 123-96 victory over the Canberra Cannons at the old AIS Arena in Canberra; Round One of the 1998 season. Of note in that game – Shane ‘The Hammer’ Heal tied the all-time single game franchise record of 16 assists, first set by Melvin Thomas in the 1996 season.
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