No backing down: Sydney meets fire with fire

Brian Goorjian believed the South East Melbourne Phoenix had outmuscled and worn down his Sydney Kings across their earlier meetings this season. So the message ahead of Sunday was simple: flip the script. His team did exactly that.

Even the second-quarter verbal altercation between Goorjian and Phoenix point guard Owen Foxwell, now the league’s hottest talking point, was a stark reflection of Sydney’s mindset entering the clash for second spot at John Cain Arena.

>> “Uncalled for”: King hits out at Goorjian, veteran coach fires back

South East Melbourne had beaten the Kings by a combined 236-212 across their first two encounters, with Goorjian walking away from both convinced his side couldn’t match the Phoenix physically for a full 40 minutes.

Determined not to let history repeat, Goorjian made physicality a non-negotiable. His players delivered emphatically, storming to a 114-88 win, highlighted by a dominant 59-34 second half.

When the teams last met on January 5, Torrey Craig was yet to arrive, Bul Kuol had just ruptured his ACL, and Goorjian felt his group was far better equipped this time around.

"They scored 122 (124) against us last time and how the first quarter went, it went the whole game and I just thought we did a better job of slowing them down and controlling their pace," Goorjian said.

"Our defensive schemes held up, but a big factor in all that is the wear out factor that they do with their depth."

Goorjian pointed to how the Kings’ rotation has evolved since their last meeting, allowing Sydney to absorb pressure rather than fade under it.

"I think this process from when we played them the last time, now I've got more guys that I can put in the game that are comfortable playing, guys like Tyler Robertson and (Shaun) Bruce for a minute, three minutes or four minutes there.

"Then the addition of Torrey Craig, those 20-25 minutes and the last time we played them in just thought they wore us out, but tonight we could do that and bring guys off the bench who could go and control.

"As the game wore on, they didn’t move away from us and we controlled them defensively."

With John Brown III setting the tone and the Phoenix committed to a physical, full-court pressure defence, Goorjian knew Sydney couldn’t afford to lose the physical battle again. This time, they didn’t.

That edge was set early, with Xavier Cooks taking the fight straight to Brown in a bruising power forward battle. Goorjian’s message to his group was clear: no backward steps.

"The last time we played them, and I showed them what took place in the game, there was a lot of stuff there physically where we said this time don't take a backward step," Goorjian said.

"If they pop you, pop them back and I have total respect for them, but I just thought we took a little bit of a backward step last time we played them on the physicality side."

The directive was firm but controlled.

"So the message was to stay composed and don't throw a punch, you can't get ejected, but no backward steps."