Snakes plan royal send-off for Kings
Squad rebuilds trust after shock Perth loss
AFTER two-from-two wins on the road and a defeat at home, the Taipans aim to find their form and regain some confidence and finesse when they take on the Sydney Kings on Friday night.
It will be a battle of epic proportions, with the Kings placed second on the league ladder with three wins, compared with the third-placed Snakes.
But Taipans head coach Adam Forde possesses a leviathan confidence in the team, who went in as underdogs to slaughter the JackJumpers in Tasmania at the start of the season.
There’s no doubt he has faith his players have the ability to cause an upset.
Not the least because he was assistant coach to the Kings in 2019/20 and head coach in 2020/21 ahead of moving to FNQ in mid-2021.
Games between the two teams have always been close with around a 10-point difference, usually in Sydney’s favour.
The last time the Taipans won against the Kings was in March 2021, 96 to 92.
Their last head-to-head match-up, the Taipans lost 77 to 87.
Forde said after the shock loss to the Perth Wildcats, the squad had done some finetuning and soul-searching.
“The quick turnaround out of Perth showed our vulnerability in the sense of preparation,” he said.
“Perth came in and rattled our cage in the second quarter, the reality check is they really tested our character.”
But Forde said the Friday night game against his former team would be one of the “best initiations to the league” for his newer players.
“In our focus on Sydney, we have been able to build the trust back in the group,” he said.
“I have patience and they need to have confidence in themselves, what we do now to move forward.
“Sydney will be another good test and we have them again in two weeks’ time and in between that we will play Melbourne United.”
Forde said it was imperative that the Taipans proved they could regroup under pressure.
“We are locking in our Agame,” he said.
“This is testing our adversity, we will get on with the game plan.”