R13 Preview: Sydney Kings vs Perth Wildcats

When: 7.30pm (AEDT), Thursday 8 April

Where: Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

Broadcast: ESPN; Sky Sports NZ; SBS On Demand; Twitch

The last time
Perth 95 (Cotton 22, Mooney 20, Blanchfield 18) d Sydney 89 (Ware 27, Martin 25, Moller 12), Round 12, RAC Arena, Perth

Wow! What a game. There were shots fired all over the court by stars like Cotton, Ware, Mooney, Martin and Blanchfield. Then there were some serious artillery shells launched in Sydney’s post-game press conference, as coach Adam Forde explicitly took aim at Perth’s home-court advantage, and somewhat more subtly fired at an old compatriot. The quality of the contest and the post-game comments simply added fuel to what is fast becoming the most-fiery rivalry in the modern-day Hungry Jack’s NBL.


The now
There can be no accusations of cooking for the Cats in this one, and while Forde and Co will be hoping it’s their fans providing the noise of affirmation, the reality is Perth have claimed wins in their past four trips to the Harbour City. They’ve done it in style too, by an average of 13.5 points and with their Bryce Cotton-inspired offence doing much of the damage.

This is the Kings’ seventh home date this year, and they are 4-1 at Qudos Bank Arena against the rest of the league with a +56 points differential, compared to being pantsed by Perth by 24 points in their lone meeting at the modern Kingdome. Sydney are on a four-game winning streak against other opponents, however, averaging 96.8ppg and allowing just 81.8.


The stats

 - In three meetings this season – in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth – the Wildcats have averaged 99ppg on 27.3 free-throw attempts against the Kings

 - Against all other opponents, Sydney have allowed just 83.6ppg on 15.1 trips to the foul line, while Perth have averaged 88.2ppg and 19.2 FTAs against the rest of the NBL

 - The Wildcats have averaged 35.7 long-range attempts against Sydney, compared to 28.3 against all other opponents

 - The Kings are +24 on points in the paint in this season series, but -18 on second chance points and -33 from the foul line


The key men

Bryce Cotton – In Round 12, Casper Ware and Co held Cotton to 6-of-16 from the field with just 4 two-point attempts and 6 free-throw attempts as they walled up and forced him to shoot over hands. He still made the big plays down the stretch to secure yet another W over Sydney, and that has to be disheartening, but given he’d scored 308 points in their previous 10 meetings, this was progress. Expect the Kings to put lots of eggs in the Cotton basket once more, they just can’t rely on Jesse Wagstaff going 1-of-5 from deep again if left open.

Jarell Martin – How about 25 points, 11 rebounds, 4 o-boards, 2-of-4 from long range last Thursday in the Jungle? Add that to his 18 points at 64 per cent in their previous meeting and it’s fair to say Jarell loves playing Perth. The Kings did a far better job getting him the ball in the flow of offence last week, resulting in 19 field-goal attempts and 6 free throws compared to 11 and 2 the week before. The Cats will try to block supply, so the multiple play-making of Ware, Shaun Bruce and DJ Vasiljevic will be crucial to keep the big fella fed.



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A triple at one end, draws the charge at the other. Martin doing it all. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheKings?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheKings</a> <a href="https://t.co/ADktD4IxlZ">pic.twitter.com/ADktD4IxlZ</a></p>&mdash; Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1377578818378997760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


The quotes

Perth got the W last time around, but after three straight Wildcat wins by a total of 46 points to take ownership of this rivalry, Sydney made a statement.

The game will be remembered for some controversial calls and Adam Forde’s response post-game, but both teams know the story of the game was the Kings stepping up royally at the defensive end to finally slow Bryce Cotton – for most of the game anyway.

“I thought they came out pretty strong and physical, we were probably a little bit slower on the step and just our sharpness, we weren’t as sharp as we have been the last couple of weeks,” Perth coach Trevor Gleeson said.

“That’s part of the maturation of us, handling that physicality. We knew that we would respond, they were disappointed for the game in Sydney so we knew they were going to come out focused and they certainly did that, it’s a learning curve for us.

“It's nothing Bryce isn’t used to, and then the last quarter he hit three threes and really got the separation. The best players, the cream rises to the top, that fourth quarter is Bryce’s time, he goes to work.”



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2??2?? points for the MVP! <a href="https://t.co/CtjGy22eKu">pic.twitter.com/CtjGy22eKu</a></p>&mdash; Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1377596010092929027?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


So what do the Kings do differently this time to get over the hump? Not a lot if you believe coach Forde.

“We’ll do the same thing. We got 43 attempts at the rim, compared to their 26,” he said.

“It’s a high-percentage shot. Last time I checked we were still number one effective field-goal (percentage) and that’s a lot to do with our shot selection, so we’ll continue to get on the rim.

“We want to draw the defenders and kick it out to the three-point shooters. The highest-percentage shots in the game are free throws, attempts at the rim, catch-and-shoot threes, and somewhere down the pecking order are those long twos.

“Rebound, shoot the good shot, team basketball.”



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Yep, more of this, please.<br>Louzada takes his tally to 10.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheKings?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheKings</a> <a href="https://t.co/K2X6Iqk4ef">pic.twitter.com/K2X6Iqk4ef</a></p>&mdash; Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1377590928404140036?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Of course, it’s that philosophy of leaving those twos down the pecking order defensively that allowed Cotton and the Cats to dominate Sydney 5-2 in last year’s match-ups, but they have approached things differently this year, and got it right last Thursday.

The Kings forced the MVP to take 75 per cent of his shots from long range, most of them well-contested as he nailed just one up until his game-winning burst late in the piece.

After Cotton had shot 22 two-point attempts in the first two meetings this season – and averaged 13.6 from inside the arc against Sydney last season – he got just 4 this time around.

Have no doubt Sydney will continue their aggressive approach, something Forde is hoping another big Kings crowd will help them achieve relatively foul-free as they did against Brisbane, where they were whistled for just 15 fouls as they forced 13 turnovers.

“That (energy) feeds the crowd too, this was a great crowd tonight,” Forde said.

“It was really cool the way the crowd was pushing the boys.

“There was one you could sense the roof was about to lift off, we got a deflection, we got a steal, we ran it down the other end, there was a drive and there was a kick-out to Didi and it was a great transition three, and the crowd was riding everything.

“I feel like we've got the best fans in the league, they're really smart and they know their basketball.

“They love team basketball and we got that with 27 assists. They love to see Jarell getting rebounds, Craig’s hitting threes and they're loving it, DJ walls up on a fast break and the crowd’s getting geed up and that feeds into our bench and that feeds into our team.”