Simon's 'intensity' key to Sydney's success

Justin Simon has taken all the plaudits for his game two performance against the New Zealand Breakers – which has led some viewers to question where that style of performance was in game one.

Simon led the charge in Sydney’s unlikely victory over the Breakers in the absence of key creative duo Xavier Cooks and Derrick Walton Jr.

In addition to his incredible six steals – three of which came in a period in the third quarter where the game was in the balance – along with 12 points and five rebounds.

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It’s not the first time we’ve seen the Sydney stopper pull out a performance of this magnitude.

In game three of the Playoff Series against Cairns, he was immense in limiting the impact All-NBL Second Team selection DJ Hogg had on proceedings.

“I’m not putting game one on Justin at all, but the difference he had on the ball was like the game we had against Cairns,” Sydney head coach Chase Buford told ESPN.

“He can take a guy out of a game. We may need him to do that a couple more times to come away with the championship.

“Part of it was the film. Film is a great tool, it doesn’t lie.

“Again, it wasn’t necessarily Justin’s mistakes or anything, but there was an intensity he played with that more matched game three of the last series.

“When he’s at that level he’s a difference maker, as we saw. He can be a difference-maker every night if he goes to that level. He makes a huge difference for us.”

If Simon can maintain that level of defensive prowess over the remainder of the series – and Cooks and Walton Jr can return fully fit for game three and beyond – the Breakers are going to have a mountain to climb if they want to prevent the Kings from winning back-to-back championships.

After Walton Jr played just four minutes in game two due to cramp, and Cooks only managing nine courtesy of corkies, Buford believes his star pair will be back in the team with little to no remnants of their respective injuries.

“Derrick is going to be ready to go, or better,” he said.

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“Everybody is 80 per cent at best at this time of year, but I think he’ll get to that threshold by Friday and be ready to give us some [impact].

“We’ll see with Xavier. He’s a warrior. He’d play on a crutch if you let him, but part of this might be us needing to be smart with him with what he’s got lined up.

“He’ll kill me if I don’t let him give it a go though.”

Buford’s Kings will play back in front of their home crowd at Qudos Bank Arena for Friday night’s game three, with tickets to the 7.15pm fixture still available here.