Know your role: NBL champion urges Kings' clarity

After back-to-back double doubles, Cam Oliver registered his first ever scoreless NBL game in just 10 minutes of court time on Friday night, again raising questions about the Kings' rotation. 

It’s been a common theme throughout the first eight rounds of this season and it’s a concern that Lanard Copeland believes needs to be addressed.

Sydney has an incredible raft of talent, but it seems they can't quite work out the right mix of managing their stars' minutes. 

“I still don’t think that Cam Oliver and Brian Goorjian relationship is great,” Copeland said on NBL Now. 

“Yes, he (Oliver) came in and played great in the first half, but then the second half you see nothing.

“You see a little, that his body language isn’t great, because he feels like he can do more for the team.”

With one round left before the FIBA break, Copeland believes that it’s the perfect opportunity for the Kings to address these issues.

“If I’m Brian Goorjian, and I can’t tell him what to do, but during the break I’m sitting down with every player and telling them ‘you have a role to play here,” he said.

“Not necessarily on the floor ... there might be games when you don’t play, I just need you to cheer the guys that are on the floor on.”

While Sydney have seven wins through their first 12 games, that challenge of balancing enviable roster depth and how that can be best utilised to maximise the potential of this team is an ongoing challenge. 

“Brian feels like I got all these choices to pick from. It’s like an apple tree. I got all these apples to choose, I can pick whichever one I want,” Copeland said.

“I think he needs to sit down with every player and give them their role and what he expects from them.”

The Kings take on New South Wales rivals Illawarra at WIN Entertainment Centre on Saturday night, live on ESPN from 8pm AEDT.