Goorjian: 'Adams is my guy'

Sydney Kings head coach Brian Goorjian has praised NBL22 MVP Jaylen Adams after "everyone around him was better" in the club's first win of the season on Sunday. 

The 28-year-old was at his best in Sydney's 102-94 win over Adelaide, recording 25 points, seven assists and six rebounds, including a red-hot start that saw him score 11 points in the first period. 

Goorjian has seen the best of Adams as an opponent, as the King led his team to a semi-final series victory over Goorjian's Illawarra Hawks in 2022, and now the master coach is happy to have him on his team. 

"When he was on the floor (on Sunday), everybody around him was better," Goorjian said.

"Win, lose, or draw, all year I'll be sitting here saying that's my guy.

"So happy to have him, I was on the other side of the fence and he sent me home, and I know I've got a great basketball player here and a great competitor.

"Guard play makes everybody else go.

"Clutch, he made the big plays and he got everybody involved, in the other aspect he defended like a winner. I knew as soon as I walked into the gym and we started playing that I got a good one."  

Goorjian listed the guard's powerful pool of skills that will help make him a contender to return to the MVP conversation this season. 

"He doesn't just have to rely on the shot, he can post-up, he can dribble penetrate, he can get other people the ball," Goorjian said. 

"He did the things you do to win - he hit big shots, he didn't take bad shots, didn't press and try to impress, he just let the game come to him, anything controllable." 

Adams added, "They went under a couple times, gave me some easy looks and the ball was falling early. I think it just set the tone for the rest of the game". 

He also said he "loves playing in general in this gym", with the Kings at RAC Arena again this Friday night against the Wildcats. 

The Kings will remain in Perth until their clash with the Wildcats on Friday night at 9:30pm AEST. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN.

Jaylen Adams is on FIRE 🔥

11 points in four minutes for the @SydneyKings star.

Live & free on ESPN via Kayo | 10 & 10 Play 📺 pic.twitter.com/2gYwGkaPWt

— NBL (@NBL) September 22, 2024

Each of the Kings' starting five made an impact on Sunday, with the plus/minus index all in the positives. Import Cam Oliver was the only player from the bench to impact the game, leaving Goorjian with the challenge of finding ways for his talent-heavy and deep roster to all find form. 

"The negative is, the strength of the team with our pace and style of play is our depth, and our continuity and rotation. If you look at the plus/minus, if you look at the group, we didn't get contribution from the bench," Goorjian said.

"I have a lot of responsibility here, it falls on me with the talent on how I sub and how I rotate. But then performance on the controllables falls back on them. There's work to do in that area."