Preview: Sydney vs New Zealand - Round 15, NBL24

Friday, January 12, 2024

Can the Kings turn their current poor run of form around against last season's Championship Series rivals?

Sunday, January 14 at 4pm AEDT | Qudos Bank Arena

Watch: Live and free on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, 10 Peach and 10 Play | International viewership details
Box scores: Download the free NBL App

Sydney has lost eight of its last 11 games, and has slumped to fifth in the standings. Should the Kings lose to the Breakers and other results go against them, they could find themselves out of the top six entering Round 16.

Former captain Brad Rosen likened Sydney’s performance against Adelaide to “watching paint dry”, and called on the Kings to find energy and “take a good hard look at themselves” for the rest of the regular season.

The Breakers lost in a heartbreaker to Melbourne on Friday night. Zylan Cheatham’s attempt to call for a timeout while the ball was in play saw United emerge as one-point winners, however Anthony Lamb and Mody Maor both vehemently absolved the import big of any blame in the post-match press conference.

The defeat means the Breakers have lost seven of their 11 games this season by less than 10 points, including their current run of two straight defeats to top-two sides Perth and Melbourne.

Sydney
95-82 loss to Adelaide
93-101 loss to Brisbane
85-101 loss to Melbourne

New Zealand
81-82 loss to Melbourne
108-102 loss to Perth
98-93 win over Tasmania

Zylan Cheatham
Zylan Cheatham was absolutely spectacular against Melbourne United on Friday night, which is why his error in the final seconds of the game was made all the more brutal.

With United up one and just seconds remaining on the clock, Cheatham attempted to call a time out while the ball was in play, not knowing you can’t do that in the NBL. As a result, the clock ticked down and the Breakers failed to put up a potential game-winning shot.

Outside of that Cheatham can leave the clash with his head held high. He played his role in New Zealand’s offence well, and finished the game with an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double.

He also threw up a handful of the incredible highlights he’s become notorious for when he’s been fit this season.

Call it a mistake, call it a learning experience, call it a brain-fart, who cares? What’s happened has happened, and Cheatham is far too good a player to let it affect him for too long.

“I could have made the same mistake, that’s not nearly the play that made the game for us and it’s not what cost us at all. If it was that then we need to become better in every other area because that’s not what you decide a game on, ever. One player is never going to be like ‘it’s his fault’. No shot. We’ll clean up all the other stuff before I say ‘he should have done that better’.” – Anthony Lamb following the defeat to Melbourne.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Zylan Cheatham put-it-back with AUTHORITY ?<br><br>Catch the action live on ESPN via Kayo | Sky Sport in NZ ? <a href="https://t.co/MQ9mYrx1uW">pic.twitter.com/MQ9mYrx1uW</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1745716321667461590?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Kouat Noi
One of the marks against the Kings during their current run of form has been a perceived lack of energy, care factor, and passion. One player who doesn’t lack in any of these departments is Kouat Noi, and although the game was all but over when he put the hammer down against Adelaide, it certainly perked his team up.

The Kings look like they need someone to elevate the team’s level on both ends of the floor and stop them running through the motions, and while the likes of Jaylen Adams and Denzel Valentine may be the players that are looked to first, Noi’s admirable self-belief and desire to consistently prove himself will not be meshing well with Sydney’s current losing run.

Noi has previously said he likes to talk a big game in order to motivate himself to be the best he can be, and although all seems quiet on that front at the moment, he offered a moment of steely determination against Adelaide to show he’s not backing down during this run.

It’s time for King Kouat to step up and push his side’s mentality forward.

“They have got to have a good, hard look at themselves and say ‘right, what are we doing?’ … the energy is not where it needs to be, you can have all the good defence, all the good offence set in place but if you’re not going to play with energy it doesn’t matter.” – Former Sydney captain Brad Rosen on NBL Now.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">That boy Noi ?<br><br>Dunk of the year? ?<br><br>Catch the final moments live on ESPN via Kayo? <a href="https://t.co/8FUe8b6inW">pic.twitter.com/8FUe8b6inW</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1745391564963151882?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Parker Jackson-Cartwright vs Jaylen Adams
Two of the best players in the competition in Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Jaylen Adams are entering this clash under a cloud of negativity – which is a feeling both are unlikely to have experienced in the past.

Jackson-Cartwright’s shot selection has come under fire in recent weeks, while Adams’ effort and energy to get back in transition during Sydney’s loss to Adelaide was questioned by a broadcast team that included ex-professionals Ryan Broekhoff and Peter Hooley.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"He's doing it all and is having an MVP-type season."<br><br>NBL legend Andrew Gaze believes <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZBreakers</a> star Parker Jackson-Cartwright should be in the MVP conversation ?<br><br>Tune in to the Saturday Switch now, live on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/IJG2AssjEt">pic.twitter.com/IJG2AssjEt</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1743555632555335960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

PJC hit seven of 17 shot attempts against Melbourne including two of six threes, which is far from a poor shooting performance. The diminutive guard has been such a spectacle on offence this season, but with the return of offensive weapons Zylan Cheatham and Will McDowell-White, and the continued emergence of Anthony Lamb and Mantas Rubstavicius, the question becomes how many shots should he be taking? Only Mody Maor has the answer.

Defence has never been the biggest weapon in the arsenal of former NBL MVP Adams, but an obvious desire and willingness to get stuck into the less glamourous side of the game will go a long way to not only getting some critics off his case, but also helping pull the Kings out of their current rut.

Regardless of any criticism that might be currently directed their way, Jackson-Cartwright and Adams are exceptionally talented players who have the potential to turn a game on its head in a matter of minutes, and that’s worth the price of admission alone.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jaylen Adams fires from ???????<br><br>Catch the action live on ESPN via Kayo | Sky Sport in NZ <a href="https://t.co/HRR1oTwArP">pic.twitter.com/HRR1oTwArP</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1738111217477054710?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 22, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>