Really surprised they haven't tried to replace Blake. Seems they need a backup combo guard who doesn't need to score to be happy. Surely options around.

AngusH, I'm pretty sure Josh Powell was signed as cover for Khazzouh, was he not?

Yes, I believe Powell was signed for the hole created by Khazzouh's absence in the frontcourt.

I agree that a backup combo guard is what the Kings need. Someone to carry the ball in the event of injury and spell the starters. Given the lack of Aussie options, I'm surprised that a low cost import hasn't been brought in yet. Will we see one in the next week whilst time is still on the Kings' side?

Now you can all stop talking about Sydney and daylight, that prediction was predicated on Sydney having a full roster. Since they don't have a back up guard, and now won't have Khazzouh either, they're basically 2 men down for depth compared to most other teams. Prewster, Moller, Hill are weaker than the players most teams have in those positions on the depth chart. Sydney better be hoping they don't get struck with more injuries.

This season is far too close for anyone to be talking about daylight (outside of an open topped stadium!!)

Sorry LV, the Sydney then daylight comment was completely wrong long before Blake left.

Just like your daylight then Illawarra comment, which is working out just as well for you I notice.

Your Adelaide are clearly the worst defensive team in the comp comment is looking pretty shaky as well.

Are you watching this NBL season via satellite feed from New York, because all your comments seem to be on a serious delay ;-).

Jerome Kendle anyone?

Feel bad for the guy.

Is this the same injury, did he re-injure?

I have said for weeks, Kings need import PG and Centre/Power Forward. Otherwise it's bye bye season.

If the Kings are going to bring anyone in, it has to be within the next two games. It's really too late at this point.

Paul- I made it clear at the time that my daylight comment was under the assumption of a full Kings team.

I never said it was Illawarra and then daylight. After Illawarra's first 7 games, I predicted they definitely wouldn't make the top 4 due to their defensive woes. That was after picking them for 4th spot in my pre season predictions, so it's good to see them now looking like a group that will fulfil my original prediction. I bet on Illawarra to make the 4, then cashed it out for a good profit after 2 or 3 rounds of the season.

I never said Adelaide were clearly the worst defensive team, I said they were the easily the worst defensive team to date in terms of Opposition ppg. (Which is still the case, hence history suggests they won't be champs despite their current 7 game streak and Team to beat status. I was making a comment based on that history, so I'm happy to stay with my comments there). I actually predicted Adelaide for last in my pre season picks, made multiple different bets on the same, and then cashed out my bet for some handy profits at their lowest point before they started winning.

Many of my predictions have actually been pretty good considered in their totality. But it's early days. I'm enjoying this season immensely, it's a shame that the busyness of life has prevented me from following as closely in the past few weeks as I was over the first couple of months.

I was wrong in that sense that I no longer think it would've been Sydney and then daylight, even with a full team

But fact remains that my prediction was based on assumption of a full squad

The other thing I got wrong was incorrectly assessing Steve Blake's contribution (as pretty much everyone else did). I made (or perhaps repeated) those daylight predictions after Blake's first game, where a strong first half after just getting off a plane and not playing since Feb made him appear a future NBL star. In the end, off court issues got to him, or maybe he just didnt gel with Lisch who returned the next game.

But, in fairness to me, I doubt any of us would've predicted that had Blake departed that he wouldnt have been replaced. I still find that odd, it leaves them very underhanded in the guard spot. With another talented guard who complements their group, I still believe they'd be the best of the bunch, although probably not by daylight.

Sorry that was meant to say "strong *second* half"

He couldn't hit a shot first half, but came good in the second

The Kings will be fine.
I've liked seeing Newley used in the 2, giving Moller & Hill opportunities in the rotation & they WILL come good!

Gazey is a smart dude & he's realised he's overplayed his stars & shoulda given the younger dudes more of a crack (did you hear his last press conference?) so I reckon he'll do this from here on out.

Even though Cadee seems to have a lock as a starter, I'd LOVE to see the Kings play-

Lisch
Newley
Whittington
Powell
Maric

As their core 5, Cadee as their back up guard, Moller as their back up 3 (behind Whittington & Newley) & Garlepp & Hill as back up 4-5s. With all of the Kings bigs slow of foot & prone to fouls there'll be plenty of time for each of them to go hard for shorter stints & win the banging & boards every game!

No real need for a 10th or 11th man, except maybe as a pest defender for short stints here & there - AKA Prewster.

Partly. Gaze is my biggest basketball idol, always has been. I was wearing number 10 in the 90's as a junior when everyone else wanted #23, 32, 33, or 34 etc.

And just partly because they've assembled a talented roster and so I'm interested to see how they go. I put a bet on them to win 18 games fairly early on. Obviously that bet is pretty much dead now (But thankfully I have plenty of other bets to steady it up, like Cairns is basically guaranteed to win 10+), so that was another reason for my recent interest

Thought Powell would be more of a contributor. Maric can't score unless it's a dunk and is foul prone. 5 is a weakness for them.

Air Delay, problem with benching Cadee is the ball sticks so much when Lisch is running the show. When Cadee's out there the offence flows a lot more and that makes others more effective.

It's quite amazing that in the 175 minutes Cadee has been on the bench the Kings have been outscored by 78 points. That's equivalent to an 18-point loss over 40 minutes.

He has the league's best +- by quite a margin. Cadee is +117, Rob Loe is +83, Chris Goulding +73, Greg Whittington +65, Nick Kay + 63 and no one else above 50, although Casper Ware is closing in fast.

Yep, because they definitely need another forward!!!

Yeah Garrett Jackson looks likely to be signed by the Kings. So that means Gaze going to persist with the Lisch, Cadee & Newley backcourt rotation. Also means that the Moller/Prewster experiment probably going to come to an end with Jackson filling the role that Gaze had assigned to those two previously.

Could be a case of third time lucky. Jackson may turn out to be a better offensive option than Bryson or Blake. He seems quite capable of knocking down the open three, an area Moller was struggling with and was exploited in the last two games by Adelaide.

Cheers Paul - yeah, I'm amazed with Cadee's +/- as I swear when watching the games he's one of the defensive weak links?

I don't mind the ball being in Lisch's hands all the time, but he does need lots of knock down 3 options (like he had at Illawarra) to complement his A game.

Is Cedric Jackson an option? Or is he playing somewhere else?

LV i can't understand how you made a good profit with Illawarra with a negative record after 3 rounds.I'm not sure of there record after 3 rounds but i do know they beat Adelaide in 1st game and lost to Kings,Perth and Melb U in the early rounds and were 2-5 at one stage.

LV i can't understand how you made a good profit with Illawarra with a negative record after 3 rounds.I'm not sure of there record after 3 rounds but i do know they beat Adelaide in 1st game and lost to Kings,Perth and Melb U in the early rounds and were 2-5 at one stage.

LV i can't understand how you made a good profit with Illawarra with a negative record after 3 rounds.I'm not sure of there record after 3 rounds but i do know they beat Adelaide in 1st game and lost to Kings,Perth and Melb U in the early rounds and were 2-5 at one stage.

"paul, beware of using plus/minus as a strict judge of players' contributions"

I'm very wary of that, but when someone is the clear standout in the league, and their team is pummeled when they're not on the court it's best to pay attention and watch to see why.

Johnson the Hawks were $3 to make the 4 at start of the season. They smashed Adelaide by 34 to start. I can't remember exactly when I cashed it out, maybe it was later on, but I made a profit of roughly 50%. .. Also bet on Kings to win the title at $4 and then cashed it out when they got into $2.70. I've cashed out most of my bets this season, except the win targets which you can't cash out

Those are interesting +- Paul, thanks for posting. Where did you get them from?

+/-

https://crunchtimeshots.com/2016/11/09/nbl-onoff-court-numbers/

Thx JMc