Andrew Bogut stars as Sydney Kings beat Adelaide 36ers in overtime to maintain unbeaten NBL record
Andrew Bogut had one foot in the locker room seemingly ejected from the game in the third quarter but came back as the Sydney Kings punted the Adelaide 36ers in overtime.
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Andrew Bogut had walked past the Adelaide bench last night on his way to the dressing room seemingly ejected from the game mid-way through the third quarter.
If only he kept walking. But he didn’t.
The NBL’s reigning MVP was told to come back after what he thought was a second unsportsmanlike foul was in fact on teammate Jae’Sean Tate.
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Bogut then did what he does best - patrolled the paint with two monster blocks on Jerome Randle and a second one-handed jam as the visiting Kings maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 98-96 overtime win at the Entertainment Centre.
Adelaide didn’t get the points but their crowd finally came to life. After two and three-quarter home games at their new venue, the crowd of 8252 - the highest ever for an NBL game in Adelaide - erupted when Daniel Johnson nailed a three over Bogut with two minutes to go.
But Sydney prevailed to leave Adelaide at 3-3 for the season.
“They just made some shots and we missed some coming down to overtime, shots that I would want these guys to take over and over,” said 36ers coach Joey Wright.
“One of the things I told them in the huddle out there was to keep their head up, I thought they played with as much heart as they possibly could.
“There are a few things down the stretch we could have executed better and hopefully in a month or a couple of weeks we’ll be able to win that game.”
Kings coach Will Weaver was delighted with the result.
“The thing that stood out to me at the time was we mostly took what was there for us in overtime and down the stretch in the fourth, particularly on the offensive end,” he said.
“What I love about this team is they showed great composure, they doubled Casper and he throws it through someone’s legs and Bogut gets it and Jae’Sean dives and throws it weak side to Didi and we have the presence of mind to kick it back out and Casper hits another one.”
Here’s our key take-outs from the game.
BOGUT HAS SURPRISED US: WRIGHT
Adelaide has done a reasonable job of containing the Golden State big man last season but he was dominant on Saturday night.
With Sydney trailing 24-12 at the first break, Bogut took over and it started on the defensive end with two rebounds and forcing Adelaide into hurried shots. He made a hookshot and left and right handed lay-ups to drag the Kings right back into the contest as they went on an 11-0 run.
After the ejection confusion in the third quarter Bogut returned and finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
“I thought he was hugely influential,” Wright said.
“You’ve got a No.1 draft pick, he can pass, he can score, I thought all of us probably didn’t anticipate him being as agile and mobile as he was coming into the league and he makes a huge difference.”
RANDLE V WARE II
Last time in Sydney Casper Ware had 10 points and Jerome Randle had 16 but they really negated each other’s influence on the game.
On Saturday night it ebbed and flowed. Randle got going early with six points to Ware’s 0 in the first quarter and was doing it all with steals, jump shots, threes and Euro-steps to the basket.
Ware didn’t hit his first shot until four minutes left in the first half and had three to Randle’s 17 at the long break.
Randle put Adelaide in front with 1:50 to go but Ware hit back to tie scores with 45 seconds remaining.
In overtime Randle was replaced by Obi Kyei in the final minute and Ware did what Randle couldn’t - finished the game with a jump shot to put the Kings up by four.
DJ ALMOST WINS IT
Daniel Johnson was averaging 20.4 points per game going into the game but had just four at three-quarter-time while Bogut dominated.
He then changed the game with a jump shot and back-to-back threes, and a steal that led to a basket to put the Sixers in front to finish with 17 points. But he missed both free throws in overtime which cost the home side in a two-point game.
“He’ll struggle with it, DJ is a perfectionist, but he needs to know we will all take DJ shooting that with anybody in the league, we don’t care if he misses it, we want him to be brave enough to take the shot and if he misses those so what,” Wright said.
“I’ll bet my money on him a thousand times so he just needs to know that and we will talk him through that.”
DRMIC GOING UP
Adelaide’s best three-point shooter only had two shots in the first half when in an ideal world he’s getting multiple open looks. But he has shown he is so much more to the Sixers’ team than a pure shooter.
His willingness to help on the defensive glass - he had 12 defensive boards and 15 in total - was a big reason the Sixers were going with the league’s pacesetter. Drmic then took a charge on Louzada, made an intercept and drew an unsportsmanlike foul on Bogut on the fast break and converted both free throws.
But his biggest moment arrived with one minute to go when he stole the ball from Louzada and drove all the way to put his team up by three.
“That steal at the end of regulation was huge, he’s had a few others this season just like that where he’s up playing and when Drim is just Drim, that’s when he goes out and plays his best and he’s been doing that this year,” said Wright.
“He’s playing so hard, he’s dealing with a lot of asthma stuff that he’s playing so hard he’s out of breath, about to fall over, but we love it and appreciate his effort.”
NEWLEY COME HOME
Brad Newley continues to be a thorn in the side of his old city.
He led Sydney’s scoring with 18 points in their Round 2 win over the 36ers and last season he only had two 20-plus point games and both were against Adelaide.
Newley never quite reached those heights on Saturday night but he made back-to-back three pointers to help drag the Kings back from 12 points down to lead by eight in the blink of an eye in the second quarter and finished with 15 points while Sydney’s imports Didi Louzada and Jae’Sean Tate also had their big moments.
JACK FLASH
Jack McVeigh is fast becoming Adelaide’s most influential sixth man.
Yet to start this season, he is more than paying his way off the bench and on Saturday night he drained a three with his first open look from the corner in the first quarter.
He was 2/2 from long range with his only two shots in the first half and his deft pass inside to a cutting Ramone Moore in the last quarter came at a crucial time.
Wright isn’t afraid to go deep on his bench and after an encouraging opening he had all five starters on the bench but their replacements maintained a double-digit lead going into quarter-time.
FIVE FOULS FOR GRIFFIN
Eric Griffin has been prone to foul trouble this season - he fouled out in nine minutes against the Kings in Round 2.
On Saturday night he had five in the Sydney rematch but was more unlucky than clumsy.
“I didn’t understand the contact tonight so I can’t really comment on his five fouls,” Wright said.
Griffin made a promising start by sending Bogut to the floor on his way to the basket and going up and over Jae’Sean Tate in the paint soon after.
He sat with his third foul mid-way through the second quarter and wasn’t sighted again until five minutes to go in the third when he came on and hit two free throws.
His fourth foul was an offensive call for a hook under the basket just before three-quarter-time.
Originally published as Andrew Bogut stars as Sydney Kings beat Adelaide 36ers in overtime to maintain unbeaten NBL record