NBL22 finals: Andrew Bogut to present Jaylen Adams with MVP award

Many hoops fans thought the NBL MVP was a two-horse race — but not Andrew Bogut. The Kings great reveals why Jaylen Adams deserves the award over Bryce Cotton.

Sydney Kings royalty Andrew Bogut will present Kings gun guard Jaylen Adams with his NBL MVP trophy prior to Sunday’s second semi-final against the Illawarra Hawks.

Bogut is the perfect choice to hand deliver Adams his award given he is the last King to win the trophy in 2019.

Adams becomes the Kings’ fourth NBL MVP joining Chris Williams (2003), Matthew Nielsen (2004) and Bogut (19’).

Notably, two of those MVPs came in championship years in 03’ and 04’.

Here is the MVP's acceptance speech. #WeTheKings

Read more here: https://t.co/IuWKIgLNuspic.twitter.com/QoP9jlOYVm

— Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) April 27, 2022

Bogut said Adams was a standout winner of this season’s MVP award.

“Without disrespecting our guys, it showed when he was out of the line-up, we struggled in portions of our game,” Bogut said.

“A test of an MVP is how the side functions without him and how they do when everything is healthy and when he was healthy, we go on one of the biggest winning streaks in recent history.

“He is our motor. It starts and finishes with him.”

Adams led the league in assists this season and averaged over 20 points a game, but Bogut believes Adams’ influence was bigger than statistics.

It’s why he is happy to hail the former Milwaukee Buck the NBL’s premier all-round player.

“Jaylen’s numbers jump off the page, but he does a lot of things the numbers don’t show,” he said.

“Jaylen is pound-for-pound the best two-way player in the NBL.

“It’s why he was a no-brainer against Bryce (Cotton, Perth Wildcats) for MVP. “Bryce is the best scorer, but he does not offer as much on the defensive end.

Andrew Bogut will return to Sydney Kings to honour MVP Jaylen Adams.

“Jaylen is a great scorer, shoots at a great clip but also gets his arse down and guards the best players in the other side.

“It’s no surprise why the guy cramps every game because he has to do everything well at both ends of the floor for us to be successful.”

Kings fans are encouraged to arrive at the game early on Sunday to witness the MVP presentation to Adams.

The doors at Qudos Bank Arena open at 1.30pm and the game starts at 2.45pm.

HAWKS WARNED NOT TO TARGET NBL’S MVP

Attention Illawarra Hawks: target Sydney’s MVP gun guard Jaylen Adams at your own peril.

That’s the emphatic message from Kings coach Chase Buford, who says the Hawks will pay a hefty price if they load up on Adams defensively in Friday’s semi-final in Wollongong.

Buford has fond memories of Sydney’s last trip south in round 20 when the Kings won a classic in overtime.

The Hawks shifted their defensive coverages towards Adams, opening the door for guard Dejan Vasiljevic to drop a career-high 33 points.

DJ'S GOT A 3⃣0⃣ PIECE IN THE 'GONG #WeTheKingspic.twitter.com/dFRTn1yHoz

— Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) April 14, 2022

Buford can see a similar trend happening on Friday if Illawarra opt to go at Adams.

“Yeah, it’s something we will look to take advantage of,” Buford said about Illawarra targeting Adams, who will return from a two-game absence against the Hawks in Game 1.

“If they are going to over-pressure Jaylen that will open up space for other guys to play, whether that be Xavier (Cooks), DJ, Jarell (Martin) or whoever it is.

“We’ve got to be ready to take advantage of that, but if they are pressuring Jaylen and trying to take him out of the game, we also have to get him going and get people involved through him as well.”

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Buford is also relishing the chance to take on the NBL’s most successful and capped coach in Illawarra master mentor Brian Goorjian.

Although he admits he felt embarrassed in front of Goorjian during last Sunday’s loss to the Hawks when he publicly criticised referee Chris Reid and stormed off to the sheds before halftime.

NBL MVP Jaylen Adams drives to the basket.

Buford apologised for his behaviour, vowing to be better in the future.

“It was an amateur thing to do,” Buford conceded.

“I’ve got the ultimate respect for Goorj, and I understand he probably didn’t respect the way I acted the other day.

“I didn’t respect the way I acted, but I’ve got nothing but respect and admiration for what he has accomplished, both this year and throughout his career.

“I’ve got to find a way not to get into a personal battle with the officials or anyone else and just focus on our team.

“That is another growth moment for me and something I’ve been working on to continue to try and get better at.

“I’ve got to take this one on the chin.”

Sydney Kings coach Chase Buford can’t wait for his matchup against Illawarra’s master mentor Brian Goorjian. Photo: Jason McCawley/Getty Images.

The Kings have played the Hawks four times this season, with all the games decided by eight points or less.

Buford believes the series will come down to which team can nail the big moments.

“We’ve played each other twice in the last couple of weeks, so we know each other well and all the games have been pretty close games down to the final few possessions,” he said.

“There are a lot of things to go back and dive into, but it will just come down to who can execute and guard a little bit better.”