Mid-Season Report Card: Sydney Kings

With the Hungry Jack's NBL26 competition currently on a time-out due to FIBA Break, NBL Media has decided to assess each of the 10 teams and give them a mid-season report card.

During this series, one expert on NBL Now will evaluate the team's progress through the first 10 rounds, while also naming their most improved and MVPs.

Finally, they will each give the team a grade and predicted finishing spot.

The next cab off the ranks, after the Perth Wildcats, Illawarra Hawks, Adelaide 36ers, Tasmania JackJumpers, Cairns Taipans and Brisbane Bullets, are the Sydney Kings, with the team's performance analysed by former NBL champion, Damon Lowery.

Report card score: C-

As of right now… I’ve got to give them a C minus.They’re that kid that walks into class and you can see all the potential, but he might show up to class a little bit late. And you know he's a smart kid, but then he's sitting in the back of the class cracking jokes, disrupting the rest of the classroom, and you just wish he would live up to his full potential every single day.

What you like: Their best is as good as any

I like their upside. I like Sydney Kings, their potential. When they're at their best… is their best good enough to win the whole thing? I say yes.

Their defensive ability on the perimeter … this is a three-point shooting era … a lot of switching. Sydney Kings have the most switchable dudes on defence with Jaylin Galloway, (Makuach) Maluach. They have that much depth. On their day, they have the potential to be the best defensive team in the league. They’ve shown it. When they've been at their best, that’s really what's been keeping them in a lot of games.

What needs to change: Finding the balance

The back court between Matthew Dellavedova, Kendric Davis; they've got to work out the timing. When is it Kendric's time? When is it time to run more structure? When is it time to slow the ball down? Kendric has so much plutonium scoring power in him … it's hard to contain. There's times where he goes into one-on-one Kendric mode and it's not the right time.

Bul Kuol … we cannot have a bad defensive game from Bul. He's the head of that defensive snake. If they get off to a bad start with him on defence, that hurts them.

They’ve got to make sure they keep Xavier Cooks at his position. As long as Tim Soares can be on the court, that leaves Xavier to play his natural four-man position, which now we see the best of him.

Most improved player: Jaylin Galloway

He's still got way more to give, because there’s a FIBA Galloway and there’s a Sydney Kings Galloway … we like the FIBA Galloway better. I still feel he is that guy on that team that is under-appreciated. Jaylen Galloway has stepped up to a degree, but I feel like he's got so much firepower around him it's hard for him to really hit his straps.

Team MVP: Kendric Davis

The guy can just score from all over the place. He's the one guy that can get you a bucket when the offence breaks down. He can go for 30, 40 points … I wouldn't doubt if he got one before it's over with. Kendric is the one that makes everything go.

Who needs to step up: Xavier Cooks & Bul Kuol

Xavier's s got to make sure he stays emotionally engaged. He went off the rails in Tassie and that was an aberration … that is not a regular occurrence from Z. He's got to always make sure he injects himself into the game. His teammates have a propensity to forget about him. Z’s got to get a rebound and go coast to coast, initiate some offence … I still feel he is an international mismatch.

Bul Kuol … what he did with Bryce Cotton was a thing of absolute beauty. Need that more on a regular basis. Bul Kuol can get up for certain guys … maybe he gets a little bit slack against players he feels aren’t to that level.

Finishing prediction: Top four

I feel like the Sydney Kings will finish in the top four. Even though they are sitting seven and six, they beat the two best teams on the road. They’ve just got to maintain their defensive integrity and work out the kinks in the back court. The league is so tough up the top … but Sydney has already beat Melbourne United and Adelaide.