NBL finals: Kings win Game 5 to claim back-to-back NBL titles
The Kings adopted an us-againt-the-world mentality to drive them to back-to-back NBL titles, but who were key players making that dream a reality?
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Sydney’s historic second straight NBL title is a collective middle finger to the army of haters across two countries that has baited and tried to bring down the Kings throughout their stunning season.
It is sweet vengeance to those relentless opposition fans — led by the Red Army in WA — who have piled on a team that has been the benchmark of the NBL for two years.
Last season, the Australian sporting world was rooting for fairytale expansion club Tasmania to win the title.
The Kings played villain and squashed those dreams.
This year, they embraced the hate, adopting a motto of ‘us against the world’ as every Kiwi and Aussie outside of Sydney barracked for their demise.
Wildcats fans, who had a trio of bitter grand final battles with the Breakers over the past decade, were praying for the Kiwis to win.
The polarisation starts at the top with combative owner Paul Smith. He’s a man who marches to his own beat, but has turned basketball in Sydney into a juggernaut.
That feeds down to heart-on-his-sleeve coach Chase Buford and gives confidence to the likes of guard Dejan Vasiljevic and league MVP Xavier Cooks to be frank and fiery, on the court and off it.
Despite his penchant for meltdowns over his two seasons in Sydney, there is no denying Buford is one of the best coaches in the club’s history. He’s got one title and is tracking at nearly 70 per cent in the win-loss stakes. That’s in the universe of a fellow who led the Kings to a three-peat — and coached the Boomers to Tokyo Olympic bronze.
It’s a no-brainer the Kings execute the team option on Buford’s contract — provided he wants to come back. The NBA will always loom for the elite coach who has deep connections to the big league.
It is that brash confidence coupled with a load of talent — that helped the Kings grind out a decisive game five over the feisty Kiwis in front of a second consecutive NBL record crowd of more than 18,000 at Qudos Bank Arena.
If anyone doubted Cooks’ claims to the MVP — and there were plenty — you only had to watch the decider to see one of the gutsiest efforts in NBL history.
Hampered by a corkie, ankle and knee complaints, Cooks was running on fumes in the series, held well below his season averages through the first four games.
But he refused to lose in game five, toughing it out to guide the Kings to victory with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Not even foul trouble could curtail his influence — stuck with four fouls late in the third, Cooks made an enormous bucket that extended the Kings’ lead and then executed a piece of defensive perfection in the last minute that, if he got wrong, would have probably landed him with his fifth foul.
He gets on a plane Thursday, bound for Washington — the Wizards are getting a Warrior.
The Kings turned to series revelation Angus Glover in the last, who could not contain his excitement after the game — “look at this crowd, it’s f***ing rocking,” he let slip on the Kayo Sports broadcast.
Clearly in severe pain, Glover dropped a two-handed hammer, then drained a clutch three that kept the Kings alive in the fourth. He might be the best story of the finals. Having endured a trio of knee reconstructions, Glover has leveraged himself into what will be a big pay rise and a long-term deal.
Justin Simon’s game-changing defence and increased production at the offensive end had many tipping him as the finals MVP, but import guard Derrick Walton Jr swooped in with 21 points and six assists in game five to claim the honour.
The Kings replicated their 2004 and 2005 incarnations as the only teams in NBL history to go back-to-back in series decided over five games — those pesky Wildcats fans will tell you their side did it too, but the reality is, Perth did win back-to-back in 2019 and 2020, but that second series was five in name only — the Wildcats led 2-1 when the Covid crisis reared its ugly head.
Sydney did join the Wildcats in another achievement — they’re the only two clubs to go back-to-back more than once (Perth’s done it three times).
And title No. 5 puts the Kings third all-time, separating them from the beaten Breakers and Adelaide 36ers, now only behind the Wildcats (10) and Melbourne United (formerly Tigers, 6).
For the Breakers, they played their grand final three days earlier when they physically abused the Kings in front of nearly 10,000 fans at Spark Arena — a record attendance for a basketball game in New Zealand.
In defeat, the Kiwis lost no admirers, becoming one of the NBL’s great stories following two seasons of Covid-impacted struggle that forced them to play almost all their games in Australia. That went as you’d expect — they finished on the bottom of the ladder last season. But a stunning turnaround left them just one win away from an NBL title.
History was immediately against them when they squandered the third game of the series. The winner of game three has claimed 11 of the 12 best-of-five championship series. Sydney, back in 2004, was the only team to lose game three and then claim games four and five when they knocked over the West Sydney Razorbacks.
In Mody Maor, they have a coach who has grown into his role and will now have to fight off suitors for the ultra-impressive William McDowell-White as well as try to convince star import trio Jarrell Brantley, Barry Brown Jr and Dererk Pardon to stay.
Before the series, the Kings and Breakers were cordial, owners Paul Smith and Matt Walsh expressing their admiration of each others’ organisation.
By game five, that was out the door as tensions hit fever pitch, both sides slamming the referees — and each other.
Walsh — and the Breakers — hit the Twitterspace to criticise the refs during and after game three making it abundantly clear NZ had lost the foul count in all six of their NBL23 playoff games.
It worked — the Kings lost the foul count — and game four — Buford involved in an altercation with a Breakers official before a press conference where he lashed the refs and then stormed out.
The NBL dished out the fines, it added to the chip on the Kings’ shoulder and might have just been the last little piece of fire they needed to reach the pinnacle again.
The Kings outwardly embrace the negativity that comes their way.
Privately, though, it does grind some in the organisation — but not so much after a monumental night at the Q that, whether you like it or not, makes them the toast of the NBL.
NBL SHAMES NRL OVER SHOCK PRICE-GOUGING MOVE
In the same week NRL fans were left fuming over “ridiculous” price gouging, the Sydney Kings have bucked the ticketing trend, slashing prices by as much as 40 per cent for one of the biggest games in their history.
The Kings, on Wednesday night, will face New Zealand Breakers in a do-or-die game five that will decide the 2023 NBL championship.
Angry South Sydney Rabbitohs fans told News Corp some tickets to Friday night’s clash with Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium had more than doubled in price.
But Sydney Kings owner Paul Smith said the club wanted to reward fans, who had stuck with the team through Covid lockdowns and their rise to last year’s NBL title, for their support by reducing prices to the Qudos Bank Arena decider.
“This approach is a bit counterintuitive to the notion of gouging fans but we respect that folks have supported us enormously,” Smith, whose club, last week, set an all-time NBL record with 18,000 fans packing the arena, said.
“There are a bunch of categories and some are discounted by up to 40 per cent and the average is 25 per cent.”
Coveted gold class tickets have dipped from $95 to $58 for an adult, while a family of four will pay $169, down from $225 in game three.
As a war-of-words over the refereeing and physicality erupted between Sydney coach Chase Buford and Breakers owner Matt Walsh, the Kings are now eyeing a second-consecutive sellout after more than 10,000 tickets were snapped up in the first 24 hours.
“Basketball in Sydney is a thing now,” Smith said.
“Younger fans, 20-30-year-olds, in particular, have really responded.”
Perhaps NRL fans can give Friday night a miss, get their sporting fix earlier in the week, save some cash and be part of a special piece of history.
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