"Kings still haven't settled imo, so I’m going SEM a few in what should be a cracker." Would think that (Sydney) Kings should have been far more settled than (Josh) King and his 2-minutes-old SEM.

On my eye test kings have been all over the place, ever since Kelly got the bullet SEM have looked a lot in tune, even as you say Josh King has been there two minutes. Yes kings have a roster that could explode but I'm liking SEM. Who you punting on and why.

I can't disagree with your pick nor do I want to. Just thought the analogy was cute. Yeah, Josh King has landed with a bang and right now could take on anyone.

Think Sydney if Adams is healthy. SEM if not.

Sydney have been up and down like a bride's nightgown, but picking them by 6.

SEM have had their one good Sobey game for the season, they ain’t getting another.

That's a huge starting 5 from Sydney

SEM going very nicely early. Glover on fire

I can't understand why Robertson is getting minutes. He doesn't seem to offer anything at either end. Foxwell is brushing past him at a jog

Robertson over Bruce is bad coaching, it's shake head stuff. Score line flatters the kings. SEM by 8. Hunter two fouls though which won’t help.

I thought I was missing something but a glance at his shooting stats says enough... 26% for threes and 35% from the field!! And on top of that can't defend. Horrid

I'd be giving the DP’s minutes over Robertson

A very enjoyable game despite both sides making some silly mistakes. Both sides missing free throws, Hurt shooting not up to normal standard though kings D fairly good. Josh King certainly looks a good coaching pick up. Anyones game.

Goorj looking not happy with Oliver, getting a lot splinters.

Leafa might have the worst shot selection in the NBL, worse than Sobey at this point! Just looks selfish

Am I the only one that has no understanding of the obsession with Cookes?.

Yes re Cooks obsession.
Hurt had a shocker and Cooks hasn't been that good. Disgusting foul call on Hunter, never got near Cooks. Tough tight contest and both sides look anxious, I’m liking it greatly.

I thought Oliver had 3-4 possessions in the first half where he should have had the ball and it didn't find him, then he gets like 3 mins this third Q and doesn't get a single touch in the half court before getting yanked again. Strange.

Kings sticking around but I don't see us ever getting over the hump, no chemistry on offense and we've been lucky that Hurt hasn't knocked down the ones he usually does.

How are the Kings sucking this much?

Kings resigning Adams is management malpractice.

What is going on? 7.27 to go and Kings have what both teams had at half time last night.

Bit home cooking happening.

SEM choking behind a very noisy crowd

Now, 21 points in 5 minutes.

Alright proved me wrong here in the 4th Adams.

goodnight Phoenix

Adams to good, Sobey chucking up rubbish in the last.

God only knows why SEM chose not to foul at the end, lol

Well, we'll take that one I guess.

Hurt and Wieskamp ordinary when they needed to stand up. Sobey 1-11 from three, Hurt 0-8 from three, Sobey 5-19 , Hurt 3-16. Glover, Hunter and Lewis good, Foxwell really starting to show a bit. Kings got solid contributions from Noi, Cooks, Bruce, Leafa and Adams very good. SEM still chucked it but the kings crowd really got behind them.

Good ole Sobey.

Stating the obvious, but very much looked a game between two mid (at best) teams.

Interesting Kenyon not getting minutes. Thought he would have been in favour under Josh King with his D.

Hurt's 0-8 was the big difference IMO. A number of those were really good looks, too.

The old Goorj is now back, Oliver and others not doing what's required on D and sitting.

Sobey single-handedly lost that for SEM. Bench player at best now.

God only knows why SEM chose not to foul at the end, lol

When is Walton back?

Exactly, coach King said was no point fouling a 90% free throw shooter and making % worse. Considering most leagues don't use % as a deciding factor, he’s on top of his game already.

It was a 5 point game with 22 seconds remaining - that is 2 possessions. You are absolutely still a chance. You foul, Sydney may go 1 of 2 from the stripe which still makes it a 2 possession game. Phoenix go down hit a 3 - it's a 1 possession game with 10 seconds remaining. Kings call timeout, advance the ball, can't inbound it as has often been the case in NBL25 and now it's Phoenix ball down 3 with 10 seconds to tie the game. That was a terrible tactical decision by SEM.

Lot ifs and maybes there. Adams had the ball, he is a 90% free throw shooter.

Gold Vibes Only, a bit like "If pigs had wings...", don't you think?

I agree with Gold Vibes, crazier things have happened, and a 2 point percentage change at this stage in the season is close to meaningless.

Obviously there are ifs and maybes but what the heck are we doing here if we're not trying to win the damn game!? If it was a 7 point margin then yeah sure go down that path. But you actually still have a chance to put an extra W in your wins column at this point. As for Adams having the ball - he was actually the 4th Kings player to touch the ball once it was inbounded from the baseline - Cooks passed to Kuol, who passed back to Cooks, who passed to Le’Afa, who then passed to Adams. So I would say if you fouled Cooks (with 18 seconds on the clock) that would be a relatively high percentage play in the scheme of things.

If you listen to the press conference he mentions they missed the opportunity to foul the poor free throw shooter so once they missed that opportunity they decided not to foul. Le'Afa although he has only taken 5 free throws this year hasn’t missed from the stripe so once Cooks got rid of the ball they pulled the pin

Apart from Noi and Adams towards the later part of the game the Kings were terrible at both ends. Goorj and his staff had no clue how to fix the defensive issues. Only SEM's bricking of so many wide open shots and missed layups allowed the Kings to hang around.

At the other end they have very few sets other than hoping Adams or Cooks create off the dribble.

Lucky the majority of Kings fans probably know more about the people in the "celebrity" seats than they do about basketball so they will probably believe the hype that the greatest NBL coach ever had a hand in that win.

I didn't think either side were that good defensively, there were some easy drives to the bucket. Wieskamp has shown glimpses of very good play but outweighed by some horrid D and shooting. Kings should make playoffs, SEM total border line, certainly if Sobey and Hurt can’t make a bucket.

Sebastian, if you watched the game you would realise what a ridiculous statement that is from the coach. Neither Kuol or Le'Afa had shot a free throw all night and despite Dunkman citing Adams being a career 90% free throw shooter, he was actually 4/8 for the game. Adams is clearly playing hampered by injury so citing a career shooting statistic on a night where he is actually 50% from the line shows no feel for the situation in that particular game. Horrendous tactics. End of story.