We don’t merit No. 1 enemy tag, says Gaze
SYDNEY Kings coach Andrew Gaze says his team’s renewed rivalry with Melbourne United won’t mean a “pinch of shit” if they don’t improve.
Gaze concedes the Kings have been “dominated” by United in recent seasons and they have a long way to go to match the defending champs.
Since United were formed in 2014, they’ve beaten Sydney in 14 of their 16 regular season games, including seven straight wins dating back to 2016.
Gaze says this gap was on display in Thursday night’s trial loss and it’s why he says it’s premature to suggest the Sydney versus Melbourne rivalry is back based on a tense clash in Bendigo.
Sparks ignited in the final minutes of the game when Boomers teammates Andrew Bogut and Chris Goulding came chest- to- chest.
“The rivalry only goes to another level if we can hold up our end of the bargain and play better,” Gaze fired.
“They’ve dominated us for a considerable amount of time, so all the argy, bargy, push and shove and bullshit talk that goes on isn’t worth a pinch of s-- t if you can’t be competitive on the court.
“And right now, we are a long way away from it.”
In a bid to achieve perfection, Gaze stayed up until 1.30am after the Kings’ loss to Melbourne on Thursday cutting up tape with his coaching staff. Sydney players and staff openly critiqued Gaze’s clippings in a frank video session yesterday. “We had a pretty long video review of the game, but it had to be done,” the Kings coach said.
The Kings get another shot at beating Melbourne when they play at the State Basketball Centre at 7pm tonight.