Cooks Powers League-Leading Kings Over Wildcats

Sunday, January 8, 2023

Fierce competition with a cast of talent. Ultimately though, the Sydney Kings proved too much for a Perth Wildcats team unveiling Tai Webster to maintain their hold on top spot with the commanding 108-87 Saturday night home win.

Fierce competition with a cast of talent. Ultimately though, the Sydney Kings proved too much for a Perth Wildcats team unveiling Tai Webster to maintain their hold on top spot with the commanding 108-87 Saturday night home win.

The NBL20 Grand Final replay meant a lot to both teams and judging by the play they were both aware.

For the Kings, a win meant the chance to make it four wins on the trot and move to 15-5 with just eight games remaining before finals. With 10 wins from 19 games the Wildcats find themselves clinging by their paws to a top six spot.

The Kings led throughout and did not take their foot off the gas and with the victory they not only protected home court but cemented a top-two spot.

Leading by 13 points after the first quarter they would extend the lead as each break passed extending it to 18 points at half-time and in the end winning by 21 points.

The showdown was the first of three clashes between the two league powerhouses on the run to the finals and stood as a bleak preview for the remainder of the season for the Wildcats.

Clear standout performance was once again the MVP frontrunner Xavier Cooks getting to work early leading his squad around the court as is the norm every time.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Xavier Cooks couldn't resist - he pulls out the ???????? for the big finish ?<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> live on ESPN via Kayo Sports + Foxtel ? <a href="https://t.co/sRmzMlAKST">pic.twitter.com/sRmzMlAKST</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1611675901317771267?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

He would finish with 24 points along with 77 per cent shooting from the two for the Kings and sinking his only shot from deep. Along with his personal bank of points he rode the boards with 11 rebounds.

The game highlighted the depth of the Kings side offering a potent unit from the bench that can be brought on to pile on more points and demolish their opponent. The bench contributed 44 points compared to eight from the Wildcats bench.

The bench players of Jordan Hunter (eight points, five rebounds), Angus Glover (13 points), Shaun Bruce (six points, three rebounds, four assists) and Kouat Noi (12 points, six rebounds) along with Jaylin Galloway contributed strongly.

They also act like a substitute starting five that would be capable to slip into any other side in the league and perform as starters.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">What a way to welcome yourself back to the NBL, Tai Webster! ?<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> live on ESPN via Kayo Sports + Foxtel ? <a href="https://t.co/4plxKHARD4">pic.twitter.com/4plxKHARD4</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1611651867960041472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Kings ability to shoot was open with a pure lack of defence as a unit from the Wildcats and it showed for the entire 40 minutes, an example of this was the shooting range from Cooks.

Kings coach Chase Buford was happy afterwards with the pace they played at offensively and the defensive job on Cotton.

"We recognise that they are struggling defensively but still making us run and pick the pace up to keep up the offense," Buford said.

"We just knew we had to put bodies on Bryce we tried to do that every time we had the opportunity."

In another worrying sign for the Wildcats the result showed the responsibility and workload placed on the 21-year-old Luke Travers, who had been ruled out of clash due to illness.

With Travers averaging 8.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game his return will be greatly needed if this pack is to get their extra option of shooting attack on the floor back.

Brady Manek came into the third quarter and sank eight points in 90 seconds showing the intent and the obvious rally that coach John Rillie would have provided during the break.

Tai Webster played his first minutes for the Wildcats after signing with them last week and was thrown into the starting five for his debut. He sank nine quick points but didn’t add to that in his 23 minutes where he did finish with six rebounds and three assists.

Older brother Corey finished with 22 points in another strong showing for Perth with Bryce Cotton adding 22 points and five assists.

Wildcats coach John Rillie felt his team learned a lot from the first match up with the Kings for the season and feels they could have done better with Travers available and if fresher.

"The pace they play at is fast and it’s never not just through one guy. They play very fast and tonight we didn’t have the required urgency," Rillie said.

"We have patches where we are very good but we are just not consistent against quality teams. If Luke Travers is in that team tonight, he would have some form of impact on that game. To say what he would have brought to that game, I don’t know but I know he would have had some level of impact.

"They are the champions – I remember being in Darwin for the Blitz an everybody was talking about who is the best. Until somebody beats the Kings they are the champions and they kicked our butt tonight plain and simple."

The Kings took that win against South East Melbourne earlier in the week that saw Dejan Vasiljevic explode for 42 points with 10 threes. The Wildcats were able to keep him quiet for the first quarter but after the first break he came back and showed that he is more than just a point scorer.

He has that natural ability to bring his teammates into the game and get the best out of every individual. Kings star point guard Derrick Walton Jr returned and he delivered an important 16 points and three assists.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">How did Jordi Hunter make that shot?? ?<br><br>OVER THE BACKBOARD IF YOU DON'T MIND ?<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> live on ESPN via Kayo Sports + Foxtel ? <a href="https://t.co/ygHMfqr0lA">pic.twitter.com/ygHMfqr0lA</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1611670185689354240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

With three rounds remaining the Kings have a decent fixture with those two road trips to Perth, Brisbane, Tasmania, and Adelaide along with hosting the Hawks, South East Melbourne and the Breakers.

The Wildcats host Breakers, Adelaide, the Kings twice, Hawks, Taipans, along with road games to South East Melbourne and Tasmania.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 14

SYDNEY KINGS 108 (Cooks 24, Walton Jr 16, Glover 13)

PERTH WILDCATS 87 (C Webster 22, Cotton 22, Thomas 16)

BOX SCORE