Can The Sydney Kings Regroup To Make A Push For A Top Two Seed?

The most talented roster in NBL History. Stacked from 1-11. Nailed their imports. Best coach in NBL history returning. Championship is theirs to lose.

These were many of the statements from our pre-season pundits both from those that get paid to make the predictions and represent the NBL brand plus the every day Jack and Jill at the pub making their own predictions prior to the season.

Enter season 2024/25 and for the Sydney Kings it’s been nothing but a bumpy road full of ups, downs and everything in between.

It’s firstly been the ‘great problem to have’ that many talk about. Having so much talent on your team to fit into just 40 minutes of basketball and ensuring all individuals stay happy. A tough ask for anyone to accomplish.

Cracks were already starting to show early in the season, as former Taipans and now Kings star import Cam Oliver faced reduced playing time, dropping from 31 minutes per game to 22. This adjustment meant he often wasn't on the court during clutch moments, adding to the team's mild disharmony.

Tall Blacks recruit Izayah Le’Afa has not really lived up to his high end shooting ability falling 10% in FG, 11% in 2PT and 9% in 3PT from last season's numbers. Coming over from the NZ Breakers via the Wellington Saints NZNBL, Le'Afa was a major part of the Breakers run to a Grand Final series in 2023.

Falling into this same category is a returning 3/4 man who last year had his best season in the NBL and we’re talking about Jaylin Galloway. With all the talent on this team, Galloway has also gone backwards in his trajectory to be averaging half the points and assists, -7% in field goal, -9% in three point shooting. His form mirroring the teams up and down inconsistencies.

Lastly there is the Keli Leaupepe experiment, starting as the 5 man for this storied franchise at the beginning of the season despite being a fresh out of college graduate, which raised many questions. He undoubtedly has so much potential. His frame is so unique to the NBL and would possibly be more recognisable as an NRL player such is his strong stature but playing all but one game of the season to date is a big gamble of Coach Goorjian that is still yet to play out as to if it’s the right move.

It’s not to say there haven’t been positive stories with Alex Toohey very much in the frame for an NBA lottery selection come July and Xavier Cooks not missing a beat either, matching or putting up better numbers than his MVP season in 2022.

With almost two thirds of the season done, the Kings have sneakily climbed to third in the standings as we all focus on the league leaders in Melbourne and challengers Illawarra. There is also plenty of chat about Bryce Cotton and the unfathomable three game heater he is on, then of course it’s the fall of New Zealand that is taking up a lot of basketball talk.

It’s not to say there’s no discussion of Sydney but they now find themselves in a position where even with all of drops in expectations of performance of Le’Afa, Oliver, and Galloway just to name a few they have an opportunity to launch the back third of the season to prime themselves for a top 2 finish.

Can the master coach in Brian Goorjian work his magic yet again and turn Sydney into Kings once again?! We wait to see. "