Kings have a beautiful opportunity: Gaze

Kings coach Andrew Gaze is treating tomorrow’s do-or-die clash with Melbourne United as a ‘beautiful opportunity’.

Sydney Kings coach Andrew Gaze is treating tomorrow’s do-or-die clash with Melbourne United as a “beautiful opportunity” to overcome a horror start to their play-offs.

The Kings are on the brink of elimination from the NBL championship race after a 22-point loss in their semi-final series opener against United.

“In these types of series, it’s a significant setback to lose in the way we have done,” Gaze said following United’s 95-73 victory at Melbourne Arena on Thursday night. “But provided you keep it in perspective and you look at all the body of work that you have done, we say ‘hey, this is a bad one’ and we cop it on the chin but it’s how you respond (that matters).

“These are beautiful opportunities to test yourself, test the group and test your character and I personally love it.

Josh Boone of United (L) and Craig Moller of United block Andrew Bogut of the Kings during game one of the semi-final series. Picture: Getty Images

“It becomes more meaningful based on what we’ve done today to say we’ll turn this around and then you’ve done something extraordinarily significant.” Gaze was clearly disappointed with his side’s offensive woes in the first half, as United piled on 28 points to Sydney’s 11 in the second quarter to swing the match in their favour.

However, he was optimistic they could force a deciding game three in Melbourne on Tuesday.

“How we deal with disappointment is going to go a long way to saying what sort of performance we are going to put out there on Sunday,” he said.

Sydney’s ability to restrict United’s perimeter shooters will go a long way towards levelling the series after Casper Ware and Chris Goulding each landed five three-pointers in game one.

Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman said his squad was refreshed after a break leading into the finals but knows they need to stay engaged as the Kings look to respond.

He said: “We expect a totally different level of play from all of their guys. They’ve got return of serve right now at home and we know it’s going to be a battle.”

AAP