Goorjian on Kings' rocky build-up: "It made things extremely difficult"

Sydney Kings coach Brian Goorjian wasn’t too comfortable with his team's interrupted preparation as they began their NBL championship defence. Still, he couldn’t have been more pleasantly surprised by their first-up showing on Sunday.

Goorjian found plenty of reasons to be nervous ahead of the Kings opening their championship defence at Afterpay Arena on Sunday night beginning a run of six straight home matches.

While that's a nice luxury, it also creates pressure not to waste the opportunity to capitalise with a fast start. Then there was the late arrival of championship stars Kendric Davis and Torrey Craig.

But the result did plenty to ease those concerns, with the seven-time championship-winning coach's Kings putting together a strong performance to beat the Cairns Taipans 111-90.

"I just thought that we were in probably one of the more disturbed [situations] coming in and you look at the starting lineup, and we probably had Kendric for two practice sessions," Goorjian said.

"Torrey [Craig] just got in too and it's no excuses, everyone's going through injuries and change, but we've added a lot of youth which everybody's talked about.

"We're on the right page, but we have a long way to go, and during the process we have this home stand that you can't get back.

"When you're unsettled you're nervous coming into this game because you're behind the eight-ball and playing at home, so it made things extremely difficult.

"There were concerns but I liked the way we handled ourselves and I liked the camaraderie amongst the group."

Another aspect Goorjian saw as a great unknown was the impact of the championship celebration ceremony before the game.

That saw the Kings raise the championship banner and hand out rings to the players who were in the building, including Shaun Bruce, who is now a Taipans player again as of NBL27.

But Goorjian liked how the Kings handled the big moment in front of a strong crowd of 13,632.

"I've never done that before where you've waited and gotten the ring on the night (to start the next season) and I wanted those guys to enjoy it because it moves so quick," Goorjian said.

"You finish and guys are playing in Puerto Rico or going home, so tonight to get that ring and have a hug and put a lid on it was a really nice moment."