Andrew Bogut could cost Sydney Kings the NBL championship: Corey ‘Homicide’ Williams says
Andrew Bogut’s most vocal critic says the Sydney Kings are “scared” to address an issue with their star player and it threatens to derail their NBL championship campaign.
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Andrew Bogut has a chance to silence his most vocal critic Corey ‘Homicide’ Williams when he takes on Melbourne United centre Shawn Long in the battle of the NBL’s best big man on Saturday.
According to Williams, Bogut could cost the Sydney Kings the NBL championship if he doesn’t improve his defence on the pick-and-roll.
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The former league MVP believes the Kings star let his team down in consecutive losses to Perth and Cairns over the weekend by sitting back in defence covering the basket and allowing opposition guards more time and space to shoot.
Wildcats star Bryce Cotton capitalised to score 27 points in the victory over Sydney while Cairns guard DJ Newbill also took advantage to register 31 points in their win.
Williams believes Bogut must improve his defence to ensure the Kings claim the title.
“That is the kryptonite for the Sydney Kings,” Williams said about Bogut, who was named in the top five most tweeted Australian athletes in 2019 on Tuesday.
“If he (Andrew) doesn’t step up on those picks, I don’t think they are winning the championship. And I don’t think he is going to step up.
“Andrew sits with his head underneath the basket, which gives that offensive player the ability to turn the corner and get a free basket.
“Yeah a guard who is a good defender that is aggressive might get over the top a couple of times.
“But four quarters of free hits to your left and right rib cage – c’mon man.
“He is not stepping up outside of the paint and the two guards he played against last weekend are creative and savvy enough to hit the mid-range jump shot.
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“He is looking around saying we are not playing defence – it is you that isn’t playing defence.”
Despite Bogut’s defensive issues, Williams still thinks Sydney will win this year’s championship.
“I’m not getting off their bandwagon,” he said.
“But I just know there is an elephant in the room that a lot of people are scared to address.”