Skipper ‘should not have played’

SYDNEY Kings skipper Kevin Lisch has been labelled a “dud” after his subpar shooting performance in the side’s seasonopening loss to Adelaide but the veteran guard shouldn’t have played.

Kings coach Andrew Gaze has revealed Lisch hurt his foot in the lead-up to the 36ers’ match and showed significant bravery to play.

As a result, the Boomers veteran battled against Adelaide, finishing with just 5 points on 2-of-9 shooting.

In hindsight, Gaze concedes he should have rested Lisch for the Adelaide clash.

“We made an error in our judgment and we pushed him when he clearly wasn’t right,” Gaze said. “He told me he was good to go and he was ready to play. We weren’t forcing him to play but given the season he had last year with the injuries, he wanted to be a part of it.

“But he wasn’t moving right and that is probably more my fault for putting my faith in him.

“The doctor assessed him and they made a diagnosis where it was one of those injuries where we can ease the pain and do our best to get him ready for the game but he wasn’t right.”

Lisch trained strongly on Monday but was on restricted duties yesterday in a bid to fully recover for Friday’s return bout against the 36ers in Adelaide. The 32-year-old also completed a series of shooting drills as he looked to make amends for Saturday’s poor shooting display.

Not that Lisch is hiding from the criticism of his performance against Adelaide.

“I probably would have put myself on the duds anyway — it is good reading,” he said frankly. “I don’t really care to be honest.

“It is probably a similar situation to when I was down at Illawarra and I was getting booed every time.

“You know what — I probably would have booed myself as well. That stuff doesn’t bother me.

“Throughout this pre-season I’ve been feeling really good and our talent as players doesn’t ride on one game.

“But there is plenty I can get better at and I have no doubt that as far as my shooting goes, I’ll get in a rhythm the more I play.”

The Kings take on the 36ers in Adelaide on Friday night from 7.50pm.

I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE PUT MYSELF ON THE DUDS ANYWAY … YOU KNOW WHAT — I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BOOED MYSELF AS WELL. KEVIN LISCH