Kings’ bench repays Goorjian’s faith

Brian Goorjian admits he would have kept Andrew Carr out there longer had he known he was nearing a record rebounding night, during Thursday’s win over Illawarra.

Carr was a key part of the Kings’ bench group that repaid Goorjian’s faith to secure the club’s fifth win of the Hungry Jack’s NBL27 Season.

To date, the Kings’ bench has been one of their biggest barometers. In their five wins this season, the bench group has averaged 36.6 points a game, to just 13 in the franchise’s two losses.

The low point of that was the bench’s four-point output during the Harbour City side’s loss to New Zealand in Canberra.

As such, Goorjian felt he rode his starters into the ground that game, but since then, the seven-time Coach of the Year appreciates the change in his side’s mindset.

“There’s been an active mindset by the whole staff that we have to open this up and we have to throw caution to the wind and play these guys, and let’s go,” Goorjian said.

“That came right in the face that it was on me in that New Zealand game.

“They were great, but my role in that was a factor, so coming back from that, since we’ve gone deeper into the bench, are using the bench more, and it’s what we’re trying to do and a conscious effort to get that done.

“I thought tonight the game was tight early, but we got great contribution from the main guys and from the bench.

“That was defensively, on the glass and just continual ball pressure, and I just thought the pace and the depth is what got it.”

Carr’s career night saw him finish with 16 points and 20 rebounds in just 24 minutes of court time.

The Kings were +24 with him out there, and his 20 boards were the most ever by a Kings player off the bench and were just two shy of the 40-minute eraNBL record.

“He got smacked in the face and had a fat eye, so it felt like I had left him out there too long, and had I known what you’re saying now, I would have thought about it,” Goorjian said.

“But when the game was going on, I had no idea until I got into the locker room.

“I knew he had 11 at half-time because we made a point of that. We’re doing a great job walling up and AC a great job on the glass, but I had no idea he had 20 or that it was close to a record.

“If a guy has an opportunity to do that, I’ll try to throw a little fertiliser on it, but I had no idea.”

The Kings now travel to Melbourne on Sunday to face United at John Cain Arena from 5pm AEDT, live on ESPN.