“Tough decisions” loom for Kings

The Sydney Kings' season is over after defeat in the Play-In Qualifier, a disappointing result for what many touted as a leading championship contender in September.  

With all eyes on their off-season, 2001 NBL champion Damon Lowery believes there will be some interesting movement in Brian Goorjian’s team.

“They have to retool…they have to make some tough decisions,” Lowery said on NBL Now.

“Not a total blow up, but some miniature explosions have to take place.” 

After being down by double digits at half-time of their Play-In Qualifier against Adelaide, the Kings burst out the gates in the third quarter to take the lead with 10 minutes remaining. 

Unfortunately, they couldn’t hold on and their season ended with a seven-point loss on their home floor.

“I’m not surprised,” Lowery said about the Kings being eliminated. 

“This team had flaws…so I’m not surprised that the chickens finally came home to roost.

“I feel like at the very beginning of this season, they were too small.”

While there is no questioning how talented this Kings roster was, it just never clicked for a team that was constantly looking for an identity throughout, which ultimately led to an early exit for the second consecutive year. 

“I thought the balance was off as well as the X’s and O’s…in this era of basketball, you just can’t roll the balls out, spread the floor and hope for the best,” Lowery said.

“It’s a two-way street, players have to buy what the coach is selling and the coach has to be able to sell something that the players want to buy.”