Back-To-Back Titles Crucial to Kings' Dynasty

Former NBL champion Damon Lowery has praised the ability of the Kings to present a genuine back-to-back title push in NBL23 – and has cited his own experiences in the competition as a barometer for how hard it actually is to win two straight championships.

Lowery was a member of the 2001 Hawks side that beat the odds to defeat the Townsville Crocodiles in a three-game series from fourth on the ladder.

The Hawks followed up their success with another fourth-place finish in the 2002 campaign, but suffered immediate defeat at the hands of the eventual champion 36ers in the first round of the Finals. 

Only seven teams have managed to win back-to-back titles in the history of the competition, while only Sydney and New Zealand have managed to pull off three-peats.

“Everybody loves an underdog,” Lowery said on The Huddle. “I was an underdog; the 2001 Hawks were underdogs – everybody loves that story.

“I don’t have a dog in this fight, a horse in this race. Whoever deserves to win it will win it, so I’d like to acknowledge the fact that I was in a position to go try and repeat and fell miserably short. It’s hard to do.

“You’ve got the MVP of the league, a candidate for Coach of the Year … it’s hard to try and build a dynasty and the Kings and Chase Buford, they’re trying to build a dynasty.”

If the Kings want to replicate that success of the early 2000’s though, they’ll have to run through the Breakers.

Stylistically, the Breakers are the antithesis of everything the Kings love to do on the court. While the Kings are ranked first in the competition for pace over the season, the Breakers are dead last.

With such a difference in offensive styles between the two sides, Lowery believes whichever team can enforce its preferred pace on the game will win.

“Styles make fights,” he said. “These two teams will slug it out.

“One team might be able to break free if they can play five minutes of their brand. If the Kings can get out of the gates for five minutes in the fourth with Cooks pushing it and DJ Vasiljevic hitting threes, all of a sudden I can them taking it.

“I can also see the Breakers on the other hand slowing it right down, next thing you know there’s a wall up the other end.

“It’s going to be interesting to see who can execute the best when it matters most.”

Game 1 of the NBL23 Championship Series tips off on Friday, March 3 – live and free on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, 10 Peach and 10 play.