'Cut's deep': Goorjian admits Kings in 'dog fight'

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The Sydney Kings have their backs to the wall, they're in a hole, there's light at the end of the tunnel but it's a train carrying seven of the next eight games on the road.

"Really hard to talk right now, hard to take it all in," head coach Brian Goorjian said after watching the Kings blow a fourth quarter led against the Tasmania JackJumpers 90-89 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney in Round 6 of NBL26.

"Called the timeout, got the ball to our best foul shooter to ice the game — neither one of them went in," Goorjian lamented.

"And no timeouts left, with the ball out from the side, we had the right guy taking the ball out of bounds and the right guy we were throwing the ball to … and the next thing I know, they’re laying it in. So, uh, hard one — real hard one to swallow. But I like the way we played."

Kings talisman Kouat Noi missed a pair of free throws with 14 seconds that led to the JackJumpers 16-point comeback. The Kings led by one with Xavier Cooks the in-bounder on the baseline but a steal by Boomers teammate Will Magnay, outlet to Ben Ayre and a cross court pass on the break gave Nick Marshall a lane to the rim.

Game. The Kings fell to 3-5 despite a +17 points differential in their first eight games of NBL26.

"You know, worked really hard," Goorjian added.

"This game was really big for us and we addressed a lot of things, and I thought the guys did a great job. I’ve said this all along — I love the team.

"I thought we played a great game of basketball."

Seven of the next eight Kings games are on the road including two against 9-0 Melbourne United.

• Saturday, November 1: Brisbane Bullets @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre (Away)
• Monday, November 3: Melbourne United @ John Cain Arena (Away)
• Sunday, November 9: New Zealand Breakers @ Qudos Bank Arena (Home)
• Sunday, November 16: Illawarra Hawks @ WIN Entertainment Centre (Away)
• Sunday, November 23: Tasmania JackJumpers @ MyState Bank Arena (Away)
• Wednesday, December 3: New Zealand Breakers @ TBC (Away)
• Friday, December 12: Perth Wildcats @ RAC Arena (Away)
• Sunday, December 14: Melbourne United @ John Cain Arena (Away)

"Oh, we’re in a real dogfight now," Goorjian admitted.

"Lost to Cairns at home, lost this one, had a good win against Adelaide that kind of balanced the Cairns situation — but now we’re in a dogfight all the way through.

"I like going to battle with these guys. I come in and I just feel like they’re gonna do themselves proud. That’s a really good basketball team — a team that has a chance to win it — and we were right there with them the whole game.‍

"One of the things we’ve talked about all year is: you’re gonna take punches — it’s about how we respond. And right now, so early in the year, there’s already pressure the rest of the way.

"I just feel comfortable that these guys are gonna come out, take a deep breath, and go there again. If we play like we did tonight and continue to grow, we’ve got a chance in every game we play."

Sydney Kings Roster

Head Coach: Brian Goorjian. Assistant coaches: Billy Tomlinson and Andrew Bogut

• ‍PG: Matthew Dellavedova | Shaun Bruce‍
• SG: Kendric Davis (IP) | Tyler Robertson‍
• SF: Bul Kuol | Jaylin Galloway | Makuach Maluach‍
• PF: Xavier Cooks | Kouat Noi‍
• C: Tim Soares (IP)

Injured: Keli Leaupepe (Knee I season); and Jason Spurgin (Foot I late season)

Sydney hasn't signed a third import and are shallow in the frontcourt after 211cm centre Tim Soares. The 28-year-old American-Brazilian is emerging as a true two-way centre, shooting 61% FG and 78% FT — highly efficient anchor — and 7.6 rebounds, an assist and a block. But his back-up Jason Spurgin isn't expected back until late season.

Six-time NBL champion and six-time NBL Coach of the Year Goorjian, 72, did secure his dream backcourt in the off-season, though, bringing in NBA champion Matthew Dellavedova from Melbourne United and All-NBL First Team point guard Kendric Davis from the Adelaide 36ers to complement Australian Boomers forward and 2023 NBL MVP Xavier Cooks as a potential Big 3.

Goorjian, arguably the greatest coach NBL history, simply wouldn't be drawn into speculation about a third import or the role they needed to fill.

"I’ve really taken the approach this season of just coaching the team," Goorjian said.

"Make sure the day-to-day is great, make sure we’re moving forward. And it just seems like you keep taking hits — losing Kelly, losing Spurge, and now the situation you’re talking about.

"My mindset is: how do you shuffle the pieces? I think Perth’s in a similar situation right now — you’re in a battle every night. And we’re not having this conversation if we just do the right thing at the end of that game. It kind of puts everything on pause.

"But every night, I sit here after the game — I just know coming here we’re in a battle. We’ve gotta play really good basketball to win, and we have. Tonight was probably the best team game at both ends of the floor we’ve played.

"They were hurting us in certain situations on the offensive end, and I thought the adjustments were good, the guys executed them well. It wasn’t until the last four minutes where we were kind of protecting — they ran the ball, we were on our heels, and they just let it fly.

"I just personally can’t go into that box. I know the team isn’t, but we’re in a battle."

Import guard Davis, 26, has made no secret of his desire to make an NBA roster, citing it as the reason he decided to sign with the Kings.

Davis is a ball dominant scorer and creator and is directly contributing to about one-third of the Kings’ total offensive output through either scoring or assists — a dominant rate for an NBL point guard, underscoring his centrality to Sydney’s half-court and transition offense.

But he's not the best guard in the league, nor second best to start NBL26 based on True Shooting or box scores. His replacement in Adelaide, Bryce Cotton is, and on-a-tear South East Melbourne Phoenix guard Nathan Sobey, second.

Davis is shooting an anaemic 24% from three on 4.6 attempts per game and 42% overall on almost 19 attempts per game. Five-time NBL MVP Cotton is taking almost exactly the same amount of shots but averaging 6.9 more points per game.

1. Bryce Cotton (Adelaide 36ers)

Stats: 29.4 PPG │ 18.9 FGA │ 51% FG │ 45% 3P │ 94% FT │ 6.0 APG │ 3.0 TPG
Advanced*:

• TS%: 67.8%
• PPS: 1.56
• A/T: 2.00

Summary: Cotton’s elite efficiency and shot-making volume are unmatched — 68% true shooting on nearly 19 attempts per game is world-class. He combines scoring bursts with playmaking and takes care of the ball under heavy defensive pressure. Clear MVP frontrunner among guards.

2. Nathan Sobey (South East Melbourne Phoenix)

Stats: 21.7 PPG │ 16.4 FGA │ 45% FG │ 40% 3P │ 76% FT │ 4.6 APG │ 2.3 TPG
Advanced:

• TS%: 60.5%
• PPS: 1.32
• A/T: 2.00

Summary: Sobey’s balanced shot profile and solid playmaking efficiency place him ahead of most guards. He maintains good spacing value with 40% from three and generates scoring in rhythm. His offensive control and consistent efficiency make him Brisbane’s anchor.

3. Kendric Davis (Sydney Kings)

Stats: 22.5 PPG │ 18.8 FGA │ 42% FG │ 24% 3P │ 73% FT │ 3.6 APG │ 1.8 TPG
Advanced:

• TS%: 53.0%
• PPS: 1.20
• A/T: 2.00

Summary: Davis drives Sydney’s offense — his 32–33% scoring involvement shows massive usage. He’s elite at getting to the line but less efficient from deep, keeping his TS% modest. His creation and rim pressure, however, remain elite — and turnover control (1.8 TPG) is excellent for his usage.

4. Tyler Harvey (Illawarra Hawks)

Stats: 20.0 PPG │ 16.7 FGA │ 41% FG │ 36% 3P │ 92% FT │ 5.8 APG │ 3.3 TPG
Advanced:

• TS%: 58.4%
• PPS: 1.20
• A/T: 1.76

Summary: Harvey’s shooting touch remains world-class from the line and perimeter, but inconsistency and turnovers hurt him. When hot, he’s unstoppable — yet his streaky play makes him less reliable compared to Cotton, Sobey, or Davis.

Coupled with Davis' high usage and without a true back-up centre, the Kings rotations relied heavily on Cooks playing multiple positions against Tasmania.

• Starters played heavy minutes, with Cooks and Davis closing both halves.
• Soares–Cooks platoon: they alternated every 3–5 minutes depending on matchups.
• Kuol’s minutes were cut by Galloway’s early spark.
• Noi closed the game as stretch-4 after Soares fouled out.
• Delly/Davis shared the backcourt effectively, splitting primary handling duties.

The 203cm forward finished with five points on 2-from-7, eight rebounds, two assists and a block in 26 minutes. He shot just 1-of-4 from the free throw line.

He threw the stolen inbounds pass that led to Marshall's game-winner.

I think the whole team — and myself — everyone’s, it cuts real deep," Goorjian said.

"But the other games are coming, and I love the way we played tonight. I love our group.

"Again, how (Cooks) feels and what you’re saying — you could point to a lot of situations down that last two or three minutes that would have iced the game, and all of them didn’t happen.

"He’s down, but no more than the rest of the group when you walk into that locker room."

The Kings hope that light at the end of the tunnel is not a train that will run them down but pick them up.

Advanced Metrics Explained

• TS% (True Shooting %) = Adjusts FG% for 3s and free throws (formula: PTS ÷ [2 × (FGA + 0.44 × FTA)])
• PPS (Points per Shot) = PTS ÷ FGA
• A/T (Assist-to-Turnover Ratio) = AST ÷ TO