R8 Preview: Sydney Kings vs Brisbane Bullets

Sunday, January 23, 2022

Nathan Sobey and Jason Cadee powered the Bullets past Sydney on Friday, can Jaylen Adams and Xavier Cooks turn the tables at Qudos Bank Arena?

When: 1pm (AEDT), Sunday 23 January 2022

Where: Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

Broadcast: Fox Sports; Kayo; 10 Peach; 10 Play; ESPN (delayed); Sky Sports NZ

Who won last time?
Brisbane 96 (Sobey 30, Cadee 18, Franks 16, Patterson 16) d Sydney 87 (Adams 33, Vasiljevic 21, Martin 18) - Round 8, Nissan Arena, Brisbane

Jaylen Adams caught fire early, scoring 13 points in the opening 12 minutes to put Sydney 18 in front in the opening term. The visitors still led by 13 late in the third period, but back-to-back last-minute buckets from Nathan Sobey and Lamar Patterson turned the tide before the break, that pair adding 15 final-quarter points to put the result beyond doubt.

What happened last start?

While Brisbane’s comeback was impressive, they got lucky. The turning point was Xavier Cooks’ ejection, and in reality uniform grabs – intentional or otherwise – occur regularly in basketball games. Cooks’ momentary attachment to Tyrell Harrison’s shorts just happened to be spotted, and the Bullets now face a fresh and fired-up X-man in the return bout.

While Sydney could linger on that decision, they’ve got bigger fish to fry. The final-quarter fadeouts have delivered them to Violet Crumble territory, and no doubt their long absentee list is leaving their stars fatigued down the stretch. How can coach Buford alter his rotations to ensure aggressive late-game possessions at both ends, rather than tired efforts?

Who’s in form?

Jaylen Adams – In Adams’ first three NBL games he scored a total of 39 points on 5/21 from deep. On Friday night he dropped 33 points on 7/14 from the arc, while also scoring 12 from ‘ones and twos’ and dishing 6 assists. He was the beneficiary of Sydney’s aggressive mindset early, and as his team slowed as the game wore on, so did Adams.

Jason Cadee – The Bullets are now +57 in four wins with JC on the floor, their savvy veteran draining 11/22 from outside and dishing 21 assists to four turnovers. In three Brisbane losses he is -30, shooting 0/8 from deep with just eight dimes and six cough-ups. Cadee brought brilliant energy on Friday, and Sydney’s backcourt need to make him a defensive priority.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Beautiful basketball caps off a tremendous final quarter from the Bullets ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> live on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/S2OuYvWwp1">pic.twitter.com/S2OuYvWwp1</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1484472742686511108?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who needs to be?

Xavier Cooks – In 10:34, Cooks racked up five rebounds and five dimes to spark his struggling team, lodging a ridiculous +17 as he shut Robert Franks down. The Kings were -26 in the remaining 29:26. The highly-competitive but fair Cooks will feel slighted by his departure from Nissan Arena, and he needs to take that grudge out on Franks and the Bullets.

Robert Franks – When Cooks took his long walk, Franks had two points and two rebounds – all with X-man seated – and the Bullets were 15 points down. Franks can’t let Cooks dominate him again, and he also needs to be smarter down the stretch. The import let two early triple attempts fly in the final two minutes, nearly letting Sydney back in the game.

Who’s statting up?

- The Kings were 3/13 from the arc in Friday’s final quarter and scored six points from ‘ones and twos’. In the opening three quarters they were 12/26 from deep and scored 36 from ‘ones and twos’

- In the past three games, Jaylen Adams has averaged 15.7 points and 5.7 assists across the opening three quarters, but just 3.3 points and 0.3 assists in the final stanza

- In four Bullets wins, Nathan Sobey is 26/29 from the free-throw line. In three losses he has managed just 8/10

- Brisbane were beaten in second chance points, points from turnovers and points from triples, but outscored the Kings 60-42 from ‘ones and twos’ as their starters shot 18/28 from two-point range and 19/22 from the foul line

Who’s matching up?

Jaylen Adams v Nathan Sobey – After nailing just 6/30 from outside in four games after the season-opener, Sobes has dropped 5/12 in his past two games, and perhaps most importantly gone 19/21 from the charity stripe. Sobey’s ability to damage the D inside and out is crucial for Brisbane, and his 5 two-point makes were the most since the win in Perth.

Adams showed on Friday that he is best attacking after ball movement. However, so far in fourth quarters the Kings’ primary action has been Adams off the ball-screen, allowing the set defence to shut down the roller and choose which shooter to leave open. His connection with Jarell Martin shows he can be very creative once the defence has been forced to shift.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jaylen Adams and Jarell Martin just connected on a half-court alley-oop and it was BEAUTIFUL ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> live on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/j2pih6c080">pic.twitter.com/j2pih6c080</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1484463808991039488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s talking the talk?

Leading into Friday’s clash at Nissan Arena, much of the talk was about frontcourt stars like Lamar Patterson, Robert Franks, Xavier Cooks and Jarell Martin.

The guards didn’t get that memo, however, and it was Nathan Sobey, Jason Cadee, DJ Vasiljevic and Jaylen Adams putting on a show.

Brisbane’s backcourt tandem combined for 48 points on 8/17 from the arc and seven assists. Remarkably, 29 of those points and six dimes came after half-time as the Bullets piled in 61 points to chase down the Kings.

Sobey nailing 3/7 from deep and 11/12 from the foul line was an ominous sign for all NBL opponents, but particularly the Kings ahead of Sunday’s rematch.

“Nathan Sobey was just being Nathan Sobey,” Vasiljevic said.

“He’s First-Team All-NBL last year and he’s still playing like he is. He’s got a lot of confidence now so we've got to stop him next game.”

While Sobey was the front man, Cadee was the architect, his +24 streaks ahead of anyone else on court.

“(He’s) very calming, very assured of himself, putting guys in the right place, very positive with the group, understanding what we’re trying to do,” coach Duncan said.

“He got it rolling offensively and he was locking in defensively, which is huge for us. Everybody knows what Jase can do and we’re going to need something similar for Sunday.”

That duo didn’t have it all their own way though, Adams and Vasiljevic putting up 54 points on 12/24 from deep.

Adams in particular made a statement, unguardable for the opening three quarters.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Things <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a> fans love to see: Jaylen Adams on ? early ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> live on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/16tvlUEqDt">pic.twitter.com/16tvlUEqDt</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1484446575170490370?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Jaylen and I had some talks this week, but this was the kid we expected to sign, I hope to see a lot more of that going forward,” coach Buford said.

If Adams is still finding his feet after an injury lay-off, it will take longer for DJ to get back to full fitness after his Achilles injury, but his 11 points at 80 per cent in the opening 14 minutes showed what he’s capable of.

“I still feel a little rusty, each game I'm getting better but I'm not worried about myself, I'm trying to help this team win in any way possible,” Vasiljevic said.

While the Kings’ late scoring issues have been well-publicised, DJ and Co know it’s difficult to flow into offence when you’re taking the ball out of the net time after time.

“Obviously we can get better shots at the end of the game, we were trying to do it on our own a little bit, but more importantly it’s two games in a row we've given up 30 points in the fourth quarter,” Buford said.

“Offence of not, we pride ourselves on being a defensive team and getting stops, and to give up 31 in the fourth and 61 for a half is not good enough.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">SCENES IN BRISBANE!<br><br>The Bullets score the first 8 points of the final quarter and take the lead ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> live on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/bJLNeqNka4">pic.twitter.com/bJLNeqNka4</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1484467014550753281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Bullets coach Duncan constantly talks about playing the right way, and he articulated exactly what that means coming into the rematch.

“It’s something we've been talking about for the pre-season and the regular season – sitting down and playing defence, diving on the ground for loose balls, being the first player on the floor, playing the right way, moving the ball and someone’s going to have an opportunity to put the ball in the basket,” he said.

“Sydney’s going to come back probably stronger, playing at home, but I keep on saying this is about us, how we approach and our standard, and our standard needs to go up for Sunday’s game.”

Duncan knows the Kings are without Jordy Hunter, RJ Hunter, Makur Maker and Biwali Bayles. That leads to tired legs down the stretch, so expect Brisbane to be challenging them to defend over and over again.

“Throughout the whole season we've concentrated on getting on the rim and making plays around the basket,” Duncan said.

“We did a better job especially in the second half and we were able to actually knock down some free throws this game. We’re going to plug away and continue to do what we do.”