Vasiljevic ready to hunt Kings?

It’s taken some time, but Round 15 of NBL24 will finally see DJ Vasiljevic lock horns with former side Sydney for the first time, and although the clash will come in Vasiljevic’s new home of Adelaide, Derek Rucker believes the sharpshooter can smell blood in the water.

The 36ers currently sit bottom of the NBL standings but will swoop into their game against the Kings riding a wave of momentum following their surprise four-point win over Melbourne last week.

Vasiljevic starred in the victory over the competition’s top side, and Rucker says the 36ers are rallying around the performances of the Boomers hopeful.

“Whatever animal metaphor you want to use in relation to DJ, whether he's a shark, or a wolf, or whatever he is, I guarantee you he senses weak prey, and that prey is the Sydney Kings,” Rucker said on NBL Now.

“I think that group is rallying somewhat, whether it’s around the new coach or whether it’s around DJ himself who’s taken on a big leadership role. I really anticipate Adelaide making a lot of noise.

“We know what went down in the off-season, DJ had a huge game – 30 points – the other night in beating Melbourne, he’s been tracking up. He’s been getting better and better each game with Adelaide, he’s getting more efficient, he’s starting to be that three-point shooter we know he can be, and he’s the leader of that team, make no doubt about it.

“It's been the way for 30, 40 years, everyone loves to beat the Sydney Kings whether they’re bad or they’re good, you love beating Sydney and rubbing their noses in it, and this would be like three wins for DJ personally.

“This game is so intriguing and I can’t wait to watch it.”

While the 36ers are riding high from their win over Melbourne, a Round 15 slip could see the Kings exit the top six entirely.

Sydney plays both Adelaide and New Zealand this weekend, and a pair of defeats could see them leapfrogged by a number of teams including the Breakers.

NBL legend and former Kings assistant Lanard Copeland asserted the reigning champions have given up on the defensive end, and while Rucker believes Sydney hasn’t reached that point yet, the Kings need to pick themselves up before the season passes them by.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">“They look like they’ve given up, the defence is horrendous.”<br><br>NBL legend Lanard Copeland believes the Sydney Kings&#39; issues start on the defensive end.<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLOvertime?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLOvertime</a> on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/UcwmPKichx">pic.twitter.com/UcwmPKichx</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1744640149852463130?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Effort has always been a problem for this team throughout this season. We’ve seen lapses in focus, we’ve seen lapses in intensity,” Rucker said.

“I guess what Copes is probably alluding to is that point in each game where the rubber hits the road, and how do you respond as a group?

“I mentioned it in the second half against United how they fell apart, we saw it against Brisbane late in the first quarter when that game started to change its tenor and the Bullets took over.

“It was interesting to see Andrew Bogut’s comments saying the consistency lapses are insane, which makes me believe that confusion reigns among the Sydney Kings players and coaching staff. I don’t think they’ve given up; I just think at times they look around to each other and don’t know where to go next.

“That can be sometimes manifested as giving up or not caring. I think they care, I don’t think they’ve totally given up, but they’re knocking on the door of giving up.”

The Kings and 36ers meet on Thursday night at 7:30pm AEDT, live on ESPN via Kayo.