Buford “proud” of Kings’ Harvey stopper

Saturday, April 30, 2022

Sydney coach Chase Buford has praised the performance of Wani Swaka Lo Buluk in the Kings’ 89-79 victory over the Illawarra Hawks in game one of the Semi-Finals.

Sydney coach Chase Buford has praised the performance of Wani Swaka Lo Buluk in the Kings’ 89-79 victory over the Illawarra Hawks in game one of the semi finals.

Swaka Lo Buluk was tasked with stopping Hawks superstar Tyler Harvey and did a tremendous job, as the Illawarra sharpshooter recorded just 10 points on 4/12 shooting.

“I was proud of Swaks. Wani did a great job just hustling and harassing him (Harvey), trying to make his life tough as best he could, and I think he did a good job,” Buford said.

The Kings’ defence was suffocating in the second quarter, as it limited the Hawks to just nine points.

Illawarra charged home, cutting a 19-point deficit to three late in the final period, before Sydney stepped up yet again on the defensive end.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Chase Buford and Ian Clark speak after the <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a> took a 1-0 lead in their Semi-Final Series against Illawarra <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLFinals?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLFinals</a> <a href="https://t.co/hs9uSPr8AY">pic.twitter.com/hs9uSPr8AY</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1520005214656294912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“I'm proud of the guys. I think we got some huge rebounds when it mattered, and some big stops,” Buford said.

“I thought our defence in the first half, especially that second quarter, was probably the best it was all game. When it mattered down the stretch, we got a couple of big ones (stops).”

The series now shifts to Sydney for game two on Sunday, where the Kings will hope to qualify for the Grand Final in front of its home crowd, while the Hawks aim to force a decisive Game 3 next Tuesday.

Tip-off on Sunday is 3:00pm AEST at Qudos Bank Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN via Foxtel and Kayo Freebies, and 10 Peach.