Statement Kings Hammer United

Monday, October 10, 2022

The Sydney Kings arrived at John Cain Arena on Sunday ready to make a statement and the defending champions opened up a 38-point on the way to the eventual 91-71 win against Melbourne United.

The Kings launched a 25-point unanswered run in the second term to bury United, at one point leading by as many as 38 points. They went on to win by 20 points to remain unbeaten in NBL23, and to have now won seven in-a-row dating back to last season. Even more impressive is their 14-game road winning streak.

Last season's Grand Final MVP Xavier Cooks did the majority of the damage with 23 points and nine rebounds - including an early contender for dunk of the year.

Cooks had no right to get the ball to the hoop with ease like he did, well guarded by Isaac Humphries, but slammed home the one-handed dunk and flexed his approval afterward.

In an ominous sign for the rest of the league, star guard Derrick Walton Jr had a quiet afternoon with just a single field goal from seven attempts.

DJ Vasiljevic (15 points, including 3/6 from the three-point line), Justin Simon (12 points, five rebounds) and Tim Soares (12 points, 10 rebounds) all contributed strongly.

Sydney finished the game nailing 13/25 at 52 per cent from beyond the arc to go with pulling down 51 rebounds to 43.

Despite the convincing win, Kings coach Chase Buford was not pleased with the second half the saw the big advantage evaporate.

"It was a tale of two halves. The first half was terrific, we made our shots and the ball went in. Defence in the first half was where the game was won," Buford said.

"The clamps came on and we went stagnant in the second half, it was no fun to watch. Having the game the other night meant we had some tired legs a little bit.

"The bench unit was not as good at closing out as I hoped they would be, but that's OK. We will learn and grow, it is a great observation of what not to do with a lead."

There will be plenty of questions asked of United by coach Dean Vickerman with no player making a significant contribution, especially on the defensive end.

The scoreboard flattered them in the end, with Jordan Caroline (10 points, 10 rebounds) and their last signing Lachlan Barker (10 points, three rebounds) the only players to hit double digits.

Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman labelled the first half effort 'unacceptable' and said the writing was on the wall early.

"I think right from the get-go there was a want from me to call a timeout pretty early in the game. I let it go a couple of possessions when perhaps I shouldn't have," Vickerman said.

"I didn't like our lack of physicality in a couple of buckets we gave them. The ball got stuck in the first half. They had a defensive philosophy to pack the pain and leave some guys open ... they shot the ball really well.

"It's unacceptable from us as an offensive team to not be able to counter it. It's certainly fixable and there's some pieces we're trying to cover right now."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">XAVIER COOKS THAT IS RIDICULOUS ????<br><br>Get that on repeat <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a> fans<br><br>Catch the action on 10 Peach, 10play and Kayo Freebies <a href="https://t.co/Bv0AATP6NW">pic.twitter.com/Bv0AATP6NW</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1578984492907495426?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Chris Goulding had just seven points on 3/10 shooting, Rayjon Tucker five points on 1/11, Xavier Rathan-Mayes six on 2/8 and Humphries four on 2/7 to go with four rebounds and four blocks.

Neither team got going early although the greatest highlight was when the game paused so the crowd, players and officials could applaud retiring Australian Opals legend Lauren Jackson who was at the game as a spectator.

The Melbourne crowd will have plenty more time to appreciate her this WNBL season at the Southside Flyers.

From there, the three-point shots rained down from both ends including a heave from near halfway from Justin Simon that found its target for Sydney.

DJ Vasiljevic splashed a late triple to give Sydney a handy 27-16 quarter time lead after United had threatened a comeback.

Xavier Cooks then exploded in the second quarter with two triples and a dunk that is already a contender for play of the year, dumping a 20-point lead onto the battling United.

Cooks' one-handed jam in the face of Melbourne's Isaac Humphries will be replayed plenty of times this season and was the tipping point in this encounter, the exclamation point on a huge Sydney outburst.

Not even Chris Goulding could blast United back into the match, with the Kings surging to a 57-23 lead at half-time.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mr. Sharp Shooter <br><br>Watch live and free on <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAu</a> 10play and <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> Freebies.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheKings?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheKings</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/3jvasiljevic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@3jvasiljevic</a> <a href="https://t.co/MuxqvjHuAj">pic.twitter.com/MuxqvjHuAj</a></p>— Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1578984117017792512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Jordan Caroline was having a game to forget, missing six of his first seven field goal attempts and suffering a busted nose in the process.

United were showing fight, but were outclassed by the Kings and Cooks in particular.
In the end, the 25-point second quarter run was decisive in opening up the 38-point gap at one point.

Melbourne did get back to within 13 late in the piece and did win the second half, but it mattered little with Sydney making another statement in their title defence.

The Kings now return home to host the Cairns Taipans on Friday night while United make the trip west to take on the Perth Wildcats that same evening.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 2

MELBOURNE UNITED 71 (Barker 10, Caroline 10, Barlow 9, Maluach 9)
SYDNEY KINGS 91 (Cooks 23, Vasiljevic 15, Soares 12, Simon 12)

BOX SCORE