How Goorjian’s Kings won on empty

Seven points down with three minutes to go in a low-scoring game, the Sydney Kings had just about everything going against them in Launceston.

Sydney was playing its fourth game in eight days, while the Tasmania JackJumpers hadn’t played since the previous Wednesday. The home crowd wanted nothing more than to see the JackJumpers continue their march at the top of the standings, and the Kings’ shooters hadn’t found their groove all night.

Down 66-59, it was hard to see the reigning champions coming back.

“We didn’t look like winning the game, but we stayed in the game and gave ourselves a chance in the last five minutes,” Kings coach Brian Goorjian said.

Sydney finished the game on a 12-2 run. Offensive rebounds from Xavier Cooks and Torrey Craig gave the Kings extra possessions, and Makuach Maluach hit two threes inside the last two minutes to put them back in front. Tasmania got within one with 5.2 seconds left, but Tyler Robertson made two free throws to seal a 71-68 win.

“Seven up is like 20 up in a game like tonight,” Goorjian said. “So to hang in there and win this one was huge.”

By the final minutes, he said, both teams were running on empty.

“I was looking at [Taran] Armstrong. They were dead on their feet, and so it was last man standing.”

The win took the Kings back to the top of the ladder at 7-3 and ended their road trip: Melbourne, Perth, Melbourne, then Launceston.

Sydney’s offence was a grind on the night. Kendric Davis had 20 points and 9 assists but shot 7/26, and the Kings made just 5/26 from three. Goorjian said the result came from the side of the game his team can control.

“Nothing easy, no layups, no transition baskets, no uncontested shots,” he said. “And from my team, the thing that I’m most proud about is the next play and matching them at what they’re [Tasmania] the best in the competition at.”

Through all the heroics, the play the Kings were talking about afterwards came from Robertson.

Sydney was undersized for much of the night. Andrew Carr was hurt during the game and Harry Wessels was sick, so Robertson was asked to guard the JackJumpers’ bigs and keep them off the glass. He spent time on both Will Magnay and Josh Bannan, who finished with 14 and 11 rebounds respectively.

In a massive moment with the game on the line, Robertson hit the floor at the defensive end to come up with a big loose ball.

“First thing everybody talked about as soon as they walked in the locker room was that exact play,” Goorjian said.

“He [Robertson] guarded the five, he ended up on Magnay, he ended up on Bannan. He got a blockout foul and got to the foul line at the end and made two free throws. The loose ball in the defensive end, and trying to keep those guys off the glass was a huge task tonight.”

For Goorjian, the moment rewarded a player who has spent much of the season waiting for his chance.

“Sometimes it’s a situation where it’s a different matchup and he plays two minutes. He’s been in a game this year where he didn’t play, and then he’s just totally instrumental in this whole weekend,” he said.

“He can carry the ball. He can guard a big. He’s a good decision maker.”

Maluach finished with 8 points and 6 rebounds, and 6 of his points came from those two late threes. Goorjian said the 28-year-old was “priority number one” when the club was re-signing players, and called him the most improved player of his time at the Kings.

“In my three years here, I think he’s the one that has handled disappointment, worked on his craft, and has had the biggest growth and gotten better each year,” he said.

“When you have Kendric Davis, you need shooters around him. And at the end of the game like that, they’re going after Kendric and that gives him space. He’s become a very potent perimeter shooter.”

The Kings now get a week off before hosting the South East Melbourne Phoenix next Sunday.