Sydney Kings coach Andrew Gaze shoulders blame for clunky offence
SYDNEY Kings coach Andrew Gaze has leapt to the defence of import forward David Wear amid a growing belief he isn’t a good fit for the franchise.
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SYDNEY Kings coach Andrew Gaze has defended import forward David Wear amid rising criticism he isn’t a good fit for the franchise.
Wear struggled in Monday night’s loss to Melbourne, missing his first four shots and only scoring six points in his limited 13 minutes on the floor.
This subpar performance has prompted suggestions the Kings require a more athletic import forward such as Adelaide’s Jacob Wiley.
Sydney has a strong tradition when it comes to imports and it’s believed Wear isn’t up to the standard required for the Kings to go deep this season.
Gaze shouldered responsibility for the team’s clunky offence when asked if he needed to look at the power forward position after Monday’s defeat.
“It is very hard to look at individuals right now because I don’t think we are doing a good job of exploiting the talent that we have,” Gaze said.
“Just to roll the balls out and say ‘go do your thing’, it can be hard for some individuals.
“Their skillsets are saying, ‘well if you do this’, then you can exploit it and they become really, really good players.
“And that is on us as coaches. It is on the guys to have the discipline to make sure that we have our systems in place to give everyone the best chance to see where they can provide some help for us.
“Right now in a few of our positions I think some judgements are being made that are a little unfair.
“And the onus is probably more on me because I’m unable to get the guys to put them in those positions the right way.
“I think right now it is more of a collective and more of an understanding of getting everyone on the same page.”
Wear will have a chance to redeem himself when Sydney takes on the 36ers in Adelaide on Saturday night.
The Kings have lost 11 straight matches against Joey Wright’s men – the second longest losing stretch in franchise history.
Sydney’s longest losing sequence is 16 games against Perth between December 2010 and December 2014.
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Originally published as Sydney Kings coach Andrew Gaze shoulders blame for clunky offence
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