The Sydney Kings

[josh11223344]

that would have to be the biggest signing in the NBL wouldn't it?

 

[snowman]

yeh probably.
the kings did have stephen jackson of the bobcats back in the day as well

 

[josh11223344]

get shaq down here I reckon for a couple of last seasons

 

[deano the p]

i would get a season ticket, was quite a fan of A.I

I would to if I didn't live so far away.

 

[sharks4ever]

I'm not really a basketball fan but even I know he is good

 

[Mr Wright]

Iverson would be 38 when his Turkish contract is up. Wouldn't even be able to drop 30 in the NBL at that age.

 

[snowman]

my guess is the turkish team wont want him next season.
they arent to impressed with atm

 

[dier]

Why is A.I out of the NBA? I am not a basketball fan, I had a mate who was and raved about him. Just an age thing or attitude?

 

[snowman]

health as well, plus he was on the downward spiral in his career

 

[Mr Wright]

Attitude and Age. He wanted to be a starter no matter what on an NBA team. Thing is he isn't good enough to start in the NBA anymore and every one knows this, except for Allen Iverson himself.

 

[snowman]

his health played a part as well, i was in philly for 10 days in 2009 and the press were saying he would play then couldnt train for 2 days after, despite being crap and wanting to start

 

[Mr Wright]

his health played a part as well, i was in philly for 10 days in 2009 and the press were saying he would play then couldnt train for 2 days after, despite being crap and wanting to start

Yeah that too. His calf and thigh muscles cramp up intensely after a good workout from the reports.

 

[SharkLabelSociety]

My heroes growing up were Preston Campbell, Jason Williams and A.I. If there is some way...any way in hell that this happens...well, I'd say I'd buy season tickets but I'd probably go into a coma upon the announcement.

the kings did have stephen jackson of the bobcats back in the day as well

Before he made the NBA, though.

 

[snowman]

yeh he was 16 or 17 i think

 

[Sharky Pete]

Sydney roars home at the Kingdome to beat Hawks
January 21, 2011, 11:08 PM AEST
By: Matt McQuade

It’s over. The worst losing streak in the proud 23 year history of the Sydney Kings has finally ended as the purple and gold gave their fantastic – and very patient – supporters at the Kingdome something to really cheer about for the first time this season with a gritty 81-71 victory over the Wollongong Hawks on Friday night.

The Kings had been putting in a tremendous amount of work at training with a particular focus on the kind of lockdown defence that characterised both the Brian Goorjian teams and the early Sydney teams which featured the current Kings’ head coach Ian ‘Moose’ Robilliard, and that came to the fore in front of an incredibly loud and passionate crowd as the Kings put forth their best defensive performance of the season.

Every Kings’ fan in the building had been waiting to release months of pent up frustration, and the team celebrated as though they had won the championship – you couldn’t blame them after enduring the nightmare of 14 consecutive losses.

“I’m so delighted for our guys, and words cannot describe the feeling in our change rooms after what we’ve gone through”, an elated and relieved Coach Robilliard said afterwards.

“All credit to the players. They stuck together and played some great basketball tonight”.

Ben Madgen, who was spectacular and further enhanced his status as one of the best rookies in the league, echoed his coach’s words.

“We’ve got a great bunch of guys in this team and no egos or anything like that”, he said.

“Everyone stuck together, no one blamed anyone else for what was going on, and that was big for us, because this losing streak has been as hard as anything we have gone through".

Wollongong were playing without starters Larry Davidson and Glen Saville and had other players playing hurt, but Hawks’ coach Gordie McLeod refused to use injuries as an excuse for his team’s sixth straight defeat.

“When you are on the road you have to do three things – shoot the ball well, rebound the ball and protect the basketball, and we only ticked one of those boxes”, he said afterwards.

“We did a good job to hang in there, but we’re just struggling at the moment to find our rhythm and our fluency, and the fact is we need guys to step up and play the way they are capable”.

“The Kings are tough to play here, they’ve been in every game and once they started to make some shots and got some confidence up they were able to go on with it”.

Right from the start it was obvious Sydney were playing with a great deal of intensity, as they forced the Hawks into poor shots and were able to capitalise down the other end with new starters Madgen and Graeme Dann particularly aggressive.

Wollongong starting centre Tim Behrendorff picked up two quick fouls and had to sit early and Sydney took full advantage of a smaller Hawk frontline, attacking the middle at every opportunity and jumping to a 16-10 lead midway through the first period.

The Hawks responded through Gary Ervin and bench players Tyson Demos and Daniel Jackson, but the Kings held firm, and a jumper in the lane from Trey Gilder gave the home team a 26-22 lead as the crowd rose to its feet to acknowledge a great Sydney effort in the opening ten minutes.

Wollongong’s offence was being stymied by the Kings’ tactic of putting the much bigger Gilder on their floor leader Ervin, and when Mark Dickel buried a trey, Sydney had a 7-1 run and a solid 35-27 advantage as the fans roared.

Again Wollongong fought back behind some solid inside play from Behrendorff and David Gruber, but the Kings were dominating the glass at both ends, and Madgen continued his relentless play with a couple of strong baskets as the Kings stayed in control, up 39-33 with three minutes left in the half, despite being on the wrong end of a few 50-50 calls.

However, Oscar Forman drained a pair of threes, the Hawks went on a 10-2 run as the Kings began to cool down from the outside, and although Gilder ignited the fans with a putback slam, a pair of free throws from Ervin in the final couple of seconds gave the visitors a 43-41 halftime lead.

The Kings dominated the rebound count in the first two quarters, grabbing 31 rebounds to Wollongong’s 14, but their 11 turnovers and inability to once again get to the Wollongong perimeter shooters cost them dearly when they should have been up by a big margin at the main break.

Madgen was everywhere in the first half and he was again prominent as we got the third underway with a pair of baskets helping Sydney to a 52-47 lead with four minutes gone.

The Sydney rookie guard nailed a corner trey to keep his run going and Patrick Sanders stepped up with a pair of buckets, but the Hawks answered thanks to Gruber and Ervin and made it a 58-56 ballgame with three minutes left in the quarter.

But the Sydney defence stiffened, the Hawks went stagnant offensively, and a trey from Luke Martin helped the home team to a 63-58 lead with one to play and 5,000 fans hoped and prayed this would finally be the time that the season-long nightmare would come to an end.

Wollongong’s shooting woes continued as we got going in the final period, and the Kings made them pay with another three pointer from a suddenly energised Martin, but Ervin decided he was going to take the game over and his seven straight points pulled the Hawks within three, 68-65, with four minutes gone.

Coach Robilliard went back to his starters after a time out, and Madgen stepped up heroically yet again with a monster three to extend the Kings’ lead to six as the fans sensed the momentum going with the purple and gold.

Dickel splashed a long range three and Dann banked one in from fifteen feet, and suddenly the Kings led 76-69 with two minutes remaining.

With the entire crowd raising the roof, Sanders viciously rejected a three from Demos, and then Ervin fouled Madgen to send him to the line with one minute left and the Kings up six. With ice water in his veins, the outstanding rookie made them both, and with one minute left Sydney led 79-71.

Forman missed a three, Khazzouh went to the foul line and made one of two, and that man Madgen clinched it with a great defensive rebound and another free throw with 30 seconds remaining.

From there, it was all academic as the Kings were able to run the clock out, and the fans stood as one to acknowledge a home victory that had been way too long in coming.

The eye-popping stat to come out of the game was a 62-28 advantage on the boards for the Kings, with a staggering 24 of those on the offensive end for Sydney. That more than anything was the catalyst for a great win, as it helped to offset a 17-3 turnover count in favour of the Hawks, who protected the ball exceptionally well but couldn’t do anything with it.

Madgen won game MVP for his brilliant 19 point, 12 rebound performance, while Sanders finished with 14 points and five boards, Julian Khazzouh had 11 points and 15 rebounds and Dann produced a fine 11 points and nine rebounds.

The Hawks were led by Ervin’s 22 points although he finished a miserable 7 of 24 from the field, while Forman had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Gruber worked hard for his 12 point, four rebounds and two steals.

Sydney now goes on the road to face Melbourne on Australia Day in a special timeslot of 3:00pm - a game broadcast live on Network Ten - before heading to the Gold Coast for a Sunday afternoon matchup with the Blaze.

http://www.nbl.com.au/kings-shortcu...ney-roars-home-at-the-kingdome-to-beat-hawks/

 

[snowman]

will be at the kings v blaze game on the gold coast this weekend, lucky i just got my jersey and hat...

 

[Sharky Pete]

will be at the kings v blaze game on the gold coast this weekend, lucky i just got my jersey and hat...

I got my jersey at the game on Friday night.

Had pretty good seats too.

Behind the ring a few rows from the front.

Sat two rows behind South Sydney players Sam and George Burgess.

 

[snowman]

i hope i sit near scott prince on sunday, he is a blaze fan, wouldnt mind heckling him and wortho

 

[snowman]

what a turn around by the kings, where has this basketball been all year?

he started out as a bum, but has anyone seen how well trey gilder supports jules?

jules is a standout rebounder, but the only solid rebounder on the team, trey comes off the bench and grabs 8-9 boards, he is only a skinny but he is a perfect compliment to this team. i wish he was an aussie as he is a bit of a wasted import spot.

sanders has been amazing these last couple of games, i went to the blaze/kings games on the gold coast and in the warm ups he took about 50 shots, i reckon he hit 49 of them.

once he finds his feet he will be a good import, ebi ere like, i just hope we can keep him for next season.

getting back to the rebounding and supporting jules, i hope this is something Graeme Dann works on in the off season, as well as his consistancy, too many times he has had 10 points in the first quarter only to finish with 12 or 13, not good enough, he has the ability to be a 20 point player but he shy's away from the tough work.

another person to keep on the books, maybe in a coaching capacity is Mark Dickel, our turn around has coincided with his arrival, and i have seen a vast improvement in Luke Martin, a player i have doubted and criticized heavily in the passed.

On the game last night, at one stage, down 18, it was looking like early season kings, but some huge shots by martin and sanders got us back into it.
the thing i loved about sanders was/is his passion, down 6 and he is eyes beaming, fist pumping, revving the boys up.

jules again was outstanding, and if we were in contention for the playoffs no ddoubt he is MVP, however, i think that sheep rooter Kirk Penney will get it.

Heres hoping a few key pieces stay together and the coaching staff pick up some good off contract personnel in the off season, a key recruit and big scalp would be alex loughton even though he is a grub, he is still another scorer we are lacking.

the kings are building up again just like the sharks, and I love it!

 

[El Coconuto]

Sydney's three best performers of the year;

1. Julian Khazzouh
2. Rodney O
3. The Lion

Honorable mention to the Kings fans. Best average fan attendance in the league. Booyah!