'No team like us': Craig on Sydney’s edge

He may not have stepped on an NBL court since the 2016-17 season, but time away has only elevated Torrey Craig's game.

Through his first four games with the Sydney Kings, the 538-game NBA veteran is averaging 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks, while helping the Harbour City side to a 4-0 record.

The versatile forward puts his seamless transition back to the NBL down to the similarities between the NBA and NBL.

“The NBA is the best league in the world, so when you compete with some of the best players in the world, hold your own and have a lot of success at that level, you know you can play anywhere [around the world],” Craig said.

“The way the NBL game is played now is kind of similar to the NBA, with the faster pace, lots of possessions and higher scoring.

“When you get in a similar environment, it's easy to adapt because you're familiar with the style of play.

“[While I’m still learning parts of the system offensively] on the fly, my adjustment has been easier by the team keeping it simple for me. A lot of the time I’m just playing off instinct.

“Everyone has been great at helping me catch up with video and on court, and thankfully, we’ve been winning some games.”

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As Craig alludes to, the Kings are on a seven-game win streak, and a big part of that has been head coach Brian Goorjian.

“Goorj is a player's coach. He's been around for a long time and knows the ins and outs [of the league],” Craig said.

“He knows what the team needs, and he knows what it takes to win basketball games.

“He does a great job of focusing on the details to help us edge out ball games.”

The other element is his Harbour City squad, which he thinks has few ‘weaknesses’.

“I don’t think our team has a lot of weaknesses,” the 35-year-old said.

“We have guys that can shoot the ball. We have guys who can playmake. We have guys who can make plays down the stretch in the clutch. We have defenders. We have size. We have length.

“Position for position, player for player, I don't think there's any team in the NBL that has what we have, and that's the advantage that we have.”

A key piece of that player for player advantage is superstar guard Kendric Davis, who the former Cairns Taipan and Brisbane Bullet believes is this season’s MVP.

“He's a competitor and just wants to win,” Craig said.

“He's definitely the MVP this year, just from what he's done and how consistent he's been. Through injuries, through adversity, you name it. He's shown up and proven why he should be the MVP.

“He has this team sitting in a great position, and I can’t speak highly enough about his work ethic [which wears off onto the other players].”

Next up for Craig and his Kings is a heavyweight battle with fellow championship contender South East Melbourne, who have defeated Sydney on both occasions this season.

“We’re looking at how we lost the previous two games, seeing what we can do better and correcting those mistakes,” he said.

“They're obviously a talented team. They play fast, they shoot a lot of threes, and they have a lot of great shooters.

“We have to lock in, focus on the game plan and try to minimise what they do best.”

Sunday’s Round 20 fixture at John Cain Arena tips off at 2.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN and Channel 10.