Kings relish Tassie heartbreak

Sydney Owner Paul Smith says breaking the hearts of Tasmanian fans was the “best part” of the Kings’ Game 2 victory.

“We are bringing the brooms out,” Smith said on 2DayFM.

The Kings will be looking to sweep the JackJumpers after taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the Grand Final series following a nail-biting 90-86 win at MyState Bank Arena.

The sound of the final buzzer was drowned out by loud boos from the Tasmanian faithful, much to the delight of the celebrating Kings.

When asked on radio if Sydney enjoyed breaking the hearts of JackJumper fans, Smith said, “that was the best part of it”.

Smith added more fuel to the fire after the game on Twitter writing, “At some point the Cinderella story mob might shut up and simply acknowledge superior talent. No one cares about your whining.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ONE TO GO <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a>. <br>At some point The Cinderella Story mob might shut up and simply acknowledge superior talent. No one cares about your whining. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/scoreboard?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#scoreboard</a></p>&mdash; Paul Smith (@psmithtse) <a href="https://twitter.com/psmithtse/status/1523208147472551936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sydney's owner has doubled down on his comments, telling Newscorp he is sick of fans turning his club into the villains.

“This jazz that is coming out of Tasmania that our guys are badly behaved is out of line – they (the fans) need to grow the hell up,” Smith fired.

“We’ve been cast as the villains in this because it is the story, and I get it and I’ve got no dramas with that.

“But their fans, the mob, need to acknowledge when there is great play and DJ did something incredible.

“Instead, they’ve got to twist that and turn us into the villains – I’m over it.

“We’ve played along nicely and it’s not our fault the JackJumpers made it through to the grand final, and we will play what is in front of us and play how we normally play.

“The Tassie fans need to realise this is first grade now and pro sport and if you want to play on the big stage, it is vigorous and willing.

“Now to top it all off, they are making vile comments towards our players. Please.”

Kings’ coach Chase Buford also gave the JackJumpers a backhander in his post-match media conference.

“It was a hell of a game,” he said.

“Honestly, I thought the atmosphere was more intense last round (against the Hawks), maybe because it’s a rivalry or whatever.

“Sometimes they drown out the crowd here (at MyState Bank Arena) with the PA announcer and the music. But it was a good atmosphere and our guys relished it. It was a fun game to play in.”

The Kings have the chance to win their first championship since 2005 on Wednesday night at Qudos Bank Arena.

Game 3 tips-off at 7:30pm AEST and will be broadcast live on ESPN via Kayo Freebies.