Kings coach keen to avoid rugbystyle game v Tasmania
SYDNEY: Sydney coach Chase Buford has warned his side cannot afford to get dragged into a rugbystyle match by the super hard Tasmania JackJumpers in the bestoffive NBL grand final series starting today
Buford said Tasmania had earned all the adulation and kudos it had received for its performances in its first season, epitomised by its shock semifinal series win over defending champion and minor premiers Melbourne United.
‘‘We’ll have to match every bit of their energy levels to have a chance — they are going to play super hard,’’ Buford said.
‘‘We like to pride ourselves on being a hardplaying bunch as well and think we’ve shown that throughout the year.
‘‘But I also think we can’t come in and try to get locked up in the physicality and the rugby style that we saw with them and Melbourne in the first game . . .
‘‘We’re a more freeflowing offence and we need to play with pace and some of those things so that they can’t crawl up into us and make it a rugby match.’’
JackJumpers assistant coach Jacob Chance said he also acknowledged the importance of the tempo of the game.
‘‘The game is played in transition for them. If we can stop them in the first eight seconds of the shot clock, we’ll put ourselves in a really good spot,’’ Chance said.
‘‘Certainly, if you get up and down with these guys, they’re way too talented and when they’re comfortable, they’re really dangerous.
‘‘It’s a battle of two different styles.’’
The Kings won two of their three regularseason encounters, thrashing the JackJumpers by 20 points in their most recent contest.
Buford emphasised it was hard to draw much from those matches.
‘‘Jaylen [Adams] didn’t play the first game, Will Magnay played the first two — he’s not there any more — and the last game we played against them probably isn’t a true reflection of their team,’’ Buford said.
Kings great Shane Heal, who played in the club’s first NBL championshipwinning team in 2003, said the squad was probably the most talented in the club’s history.
‘‘They [Sydney] are an exciting team to watch. I think it’s going to be a sweep,’’ Heal said. — AAP