The Sydney Kings produced their most impressive offensive outing of the preseason Friday night in Terrigal with a 111-77 win over the Steve Carfino All Stars in front of a sellout crowd at Bridgecoast Stadium.
Despite coming into the game on the back of a gruelling camp held for the past three days on the Central Coast, Sydney dominated from start to finish against an All Stars team which included eight members of the Waratah ABA champions Manly Warringah and ex-King BJ Carter.
“It’s been a long three days”, Sydney Kings Coach Ian Robilliard said.
“We’ve done a lot of stuff both on and off the court, and the guys have really made a commitment to what this team is going to be all about. I think you’ll see the intensity really show on the floor from here on in”.
Sydney’s offensive explosion was a welcome sight for Kings’ fans given the team had struggled at times to put points on the board in the opening three games of the preseason, and Coach Robilliard admitted it was a focus during the team’s camp.
“We’ve spent a fair bit of time this week putting in our offensive structures, and it showed tonight”, he said.
“We were a lot more efficient and I think there were a lot of good signs to come out of the game”.
With Taj McCullough ailing due to a migraine, Graeme Dann got the start alongside Luke Martin, Ben Madgen, Rod Grizzard and Julian Khazzouh, and that five powered the Kings to a quick 9-2 lead in the opening five minutes.
Coach Robilliard rotated his players early and often, and Damien Ryan made his debut in a Kings’ uniform, immediately showing his skills from the perimeter as he knocked down back to back three pointers to extend the Sydney lead to double figures.
The All Stars hung tough however thanks to guard Ben Arkell, whose 10 first quarter points kept his team close at the end of the opening period as they went to the first break down 28-20.
Luke Martin was the story early in the second quarter. The dynamic Sydney point guard got hot from the outside as he swished a pair of long range bombs to help the Kings blow out the lead to 17 with eight minutes left.
But Arkell was unstoppable, hitting shots from everywhere on the floor as part of an exceptional 15 point haul in the period. By intermission he had more than half his team’s points as he blasted 25 in the first twenty minutes, and was the sole reason the Carfino All Stars went into the change rooms down just 14, 54-40.
The coaching staff had one key message at halftime – shut down Arkell.
And the team followed their instructions to the letter as they worked hard to contain the big guard, double teaming him and taking the ball out of his hands wherever possible.
The defensive strategy paid off as Arkell scored his first basket of the second half with just two minutes left in the third period, and despite a halfcourt shot thrown in by the All Stars’ Lachlan Kirwan at the buzzer, Sydney still held a comfortable 76-62 lead with one period remaining.
Coach Robilliard began the fourth with a line-up comprised of the three Kings’ development players – Ben Hollis, Jarrad Weeks and Kevin White – plus Khazzouh and backup guard Luke Cooper, and they came out the gates hard with an 11-0 run to put the game out of reach.
Hollis was a terror on the offensive glass, Cooper’s speed was causing the opposition problems and White showed some nice touch from the outside as Sydney began to pull away.
Grizzard came on to produce a quick ten points to extend the margin even further, and the Kings saluted the appreciative crowd with a big victory.
Sydney nailed an impressive 16 three pointers at close to 50% efficiency for the game and 12 players got on the scoresheet. Coach Ian Robilliard ran all 13 players in the game and rotated his squad frequently to give everyone quality minutes, and for the most part each individual contributed well to the effort.
Grizzard continued his excellent offensive form with a team-high 20 for the Kings, while Martin hit five threes as part of his 17 point haul and Khazzouh was his usual dominant self in the paint with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Thanks to an improved defensive effort in the second half, Arkell was restricted to just six points after halftime and finished with 31 points for the All Stars, while Dan Hobin had 11 and Miles Pearce worked hard for his 10 points and six rebounds.
And a pleasing sight after the game was the sight of Sydney players being mobbed by the many kids in attendance. The team spent plenty of time signing autographs and having their photo taken with the fans in yet another indication of their absolute focus on community engagement.
The Kings will now travel to Perth for the Friendship Games tournament next weekend with a pair of games against powerhouse Chinese club teams Shanghai Sharks and Beijing Ducks and an important matchup with the defending National Basketball League champions the Perth Wildcats.
