R4 Preview: Sydney Kings vs Melbourne United

Sunday, December 26, 2021

Jarell Martin and the Kings were embarrassed in Melbourne in Round 3, but they've notched two wins since and are ready to get vengeance on Chris Goulding and Co.

When: 3pm (AEDT), Sunday 26 December, 2021

Where: Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

Broadcast: Fox Sports; Kayo; 10 Peach; 10 Play; ESPN (delayed); Sky Sport NZ

Who won the last time?
Melbourne 89 (Agada 21, Goulding 13, Lual-Acuil 11) d Sydney 47 (Cooks 12) - Round 3, John Cain Arena, Melbourne

Was this the darkest hour in Sydney Kings’ history? Perhaps. A winless Melbourne team came out breathing fire, and the reactive Kings fired blank after blank from long range as United ran it down their throats the other way. With Sydney in full retreat, Melbourne’s marksmen got plenty of space and downed seven triples en route to a staggering 26-0 start.

What happened last start?

Chris Goulding happened. While Melbourne were mostly in control throughout, the resilient Breakers were hanging close enough to make United fans nervous. That changed quickly when Goulding nailed his fifth triple midway through the final term, sparking his run of three sweet trifectas in just over two minutes that helped turn an eight-point edge into a match-winning 19-point advantage. CG43 hit 6/10 from the arc in the second half.

Sydney also needed a late run to secure their win over the JackJumpers, coming from 13 down thanks to Biwali Bayles, Jarell Martin and Xavier Cooks, who combined for 22 points in the final 14 minutes. While Kings coach Chase Buford would be delighted to see his side pour in 29 points in the fourth term, long droughts against Tassie and United speak of offensive issues that must be addressed with Jaylen Adams and RJ Hunter absent again.

Who’s in form?

Caleb Agada – Fancy doubting Agada, the man who scored 17 on Team USA and ripped Maccabi Tel Aviv for 43 last season. After a couple of NBL games to adjust, the Nigerian dropped 41 points in 50 minutes last round, shooting 50 per cent from inside and outside, showing teams all around the league the Goulding-Agada combo will be a handful.

Jarell Martin – The league already knows ‘Rell is a handful, but after averaging just 11.3 shots across the opening four games, he put the foot down against Tasmania with 24 points on 21 attempts at 47 per cent, scoring 18 points from the foul line or within four feet of the hoop. If he can up his 28 per cent long-range shooting, he’ll be mighty hard to guard.

Who needs to be?

Jack White & Dave Barlow – Martin went 2/11 in Melbourne last round, not making a bucket until the Kings were 33 points down. United’s defence was brutal early, but with this contest in Sydney, they won’t get away with such blatant physicality this time. That means White and Barlow must be on their defensive game to deny Martin quality catches.

Angus Glover & Wani Swaka Lo Buluk – Goulding dropped 10 triples at 48 per cent in his two games back from injury, he and Agada combining for 75 points and Melbourne winning both. Swaka Lo Buluk’s D was brilliant against Tassie, and if he and Glover can slow Melbourne’s dynamic wing duo, it will take the pressure off Sydney’s undermanned offence, while a repeat of Wani’s emphatic poster jam wouldn’t hurt either.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">same <a href="https://twitter.com/NickKyrgios?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NickKyrgios</a>, same <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheKings?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheKings</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/nOOmteSgFr">pic.twitter.com/nOOmteSgFr</a></p>— Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1473596001915228162?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s statting up?

- In the opening seven minutes against United in Round 3, the Kings had just one catch inside the three-point line, and that was with one second left on the shot clock

- In the full game against Melbourne and first three quarters against Tassie, Sydney scored just 101 points

- In Melbourne’s past two games they’ve conceded just 53.5ppg at 27 per cent from the field and 9/58 from the arc

- From 102 opposition field-goal misses the past two games, United allowed just 10 second chance points, winning that category by 18

Who’s matching up?

Xavier Cooks v Jo Lual-Acuil – This is a fascinating match-up, one the Kings need to go at. Cooks has scored in double figures in every game, and dropped below 50 per cent shooting just once. Yet against Melbourne in Round 3, Sydney ignored his speed match-up and didn’t get their star a shot until 0:29 left in the opening term and 29 points in arrears.

Lual-Acuil has had a nice start to the season – 13ppg at 45 per cent, 6.8rpg, 2.5bpg and 2.2apg – and last time against the Kings he had an efficient 11 points, eight rebounds and three dimes. He went 1/2 from deep in that game to be 3/5 on the season, and if he can hit multiple triples to draw Cooks out to the perimeter, Sydney’s interior D weakens.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jo Lual-Acuil helped himself to 5 points in the 26-0 run. <br>Caleb Agada has 10. <br>Cg also has 5. <a href="https://t.co/S0bAxxPZMd">pic.twitter.com/S0bAxxPZMd</a></p>— Melbourne United (@MelbUnitedHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnitedHQ/status/1471402868162793477?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s talking the talk?

When Chase Buford’s attention was turned to the upcoming clash with Melbourne, he made it clear their 42-point hiding down south was still “fresh in our minds”.

“Not a lot needs to be said from our point of view,” he said.

“We've got to come out, I don’t know whether it’s revenge or paying them back, it’s just about pride and showing up, competing and letting them know we’re going to be here for the long haul.”

United opened that game like a tsunami, pushing, checking and generally manhandling the Kings, and doing it in such a brilliantly coordinated fashion they weren’t whistled for a single foul in their opening six minutes as they scored 26 unanswered points.

“They brought the intensity and physicality and we didn’t match it,” Buford said.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Damn Ariel. That was tough. ? <a href="https://t.co/1RlihXyIoR">pic.twitter.com/1RlihXyIoR</a></p>— Melbourne United (@MelbUnitedHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnitedHQ/status/1471417082126352384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“I thought we got, I don’t want to say selfish, but we were trying to do it all on our own. We just ran early pick-and-rolls all night long when I was begging to get into some more actions, make them guard us a little bit. We never really figured it out how to do that.”

While much of the focus was on Sydney’s scoreless seven minutes to open the game, them allowing Melbourne 26 points in six minutes was just as damning.

“Our defence was below average, we gave them too many looks from three,” Buford added.

In two wins since, however, the Kings have allowed just 72ppg at 36 per cent, including a miserly 42 per cent inside the arc.

While those numbers are impressive, they pale in comparison to Melbourne past two defensive efforts, where Sydney and New Zealand combined have barely past the century mark.

“Our defence can be really good with this group, we've got so many guys that are committed to it,” coach Dean Vickerman said.

“The rim protection is something might be the best I've had in while, you see we had nine blocked shots tonight.

“Jo set a club record the other day with seven, and with Ariel (Hukporti) and Jack White we can continue to guard three-point line like we have been and have total belief that if people get downhill and get to the rim they have to get through a wall of guys.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Shea Ili: Very good at defense<br>Caleb Agada: Still not missing <a href="https://t.co/3P5nf66LMQ">pic.twitter.com/3P5nf66LMQ</a></p>— Melbourne United (@MelbUnitedHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnitedHQ/status/1471419864040427522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It sets up a series of classic match-ups, and neutral fans will be hoping this clash is the tight encounter many expect it to be.

The Kings must find a way to slow Goulding, no easy task at the best of times, and even tougher with Matthew Dellavedova feeding him the rock and Caleb Agada also demanding attention.

“That’s who he is, he is a true scorer and he’s shown it on a number of different levels around the world,” Vickerman said of Agada.

“He’s so coachable, really has improved on his defence and now I think we saw a better shot selection from him tonight, to go 4/5 from three gives us that extra weapon from the perimeter we really needed.”

The Kings need their perimeter crew testing Agada and Goulding’s defence to get into the lane, and they need their bigs to hit from outside to get Melbourne’s shotblockers out of the way.

United were leaving Xavier Cooks alone on the three-point line, and coach Buford hopes they do it again.

“I've recognised that people are doing that to X, but we feel comfortable when X is taking those shots. I think those are good shots for our offence, we feel good with him shooting them,” Buford said.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">OH MY GOODNESS JARELL MARTIN, HAVE A GAME WHY DON'T YOU. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheKings?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheKings</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/VsW7JpLvPi">pic.twitter.com/VsW7JpLvPi</a></p>— Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1473589653160660994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Kings also need a big night from Jarell Martin, who was starved of possession last time in Melbourne. But Buford is confident if Martin can get the ball he can score, even against the defensive might of Jack White and Dave Barlow.

“I told Jarell earlier today we need you to be aggressive, go and look to make things happen,” Buford said after his big import torched Tassie for 24.

“I think almost every big guy who guards Jarell Martin in this league is a mismatch, he’s either quicker or stronger than a lot of them and he can really do some things.

“I think Rell would be the first to tell you he can play better and shoot it better, but that aggressiveness from him we need more often.”