Last season’s NBL MVP Corey ‘Homicide’ Williams became a free agent over the weekend. Is it time for the Sydney Kings to make a move on one of the most exciting point guards the league has seen?
It’s been a few weeks since the Sydney Kings were re-introduced in to the NBL. While other teams are well on their way to filling their rosters, Sydney has signed nobody.
This is their biggest chance to secure a player that is not only going to produce results on the court, but off the court as well.
Homicide is the NBL’s most marketable player. He is just what the Kings need to kick off their campaign. Williams loves the media, loves the hype and loves to get involved with the fans.
Isn’t this exactly what the Kings need?
The Kings need players who want to be in the media. Basketball fell off the side of the planet due to the sport not being marketed well. You could say that it wasn’t even marketed, it was that poorly executed.
It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for the Kings to sign a player like Williams.
In the past, Sydney has signed some of the best imports to hit our shores. Chris Williams, Ebi Ere and Chris Carrawell, just to name a few. However, all three of these players never really had an impact in the media. The Kings could not make them their focal point because they never wanted to be interviewed or attend functions with the sponsors.
I remember Ebi Ere’s first day at training. He walked into Alexandria Basketball Stadium with a white jumpsuit on. When David Stiff, one of the NBL’s most respected players, walked up to introduce himself, Ebi snubbed him.
Eventually Ebi came around and was one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. The problem was he was just too quiet. In his first interview, he didn’t say a word. Ere just nodded his head and said “mmm” as his answer to the questions being asked.
The Kings can’t afford this to happen in their first year back. They need fireworks, they need back page news and most importantly they need Sports Tonight to be talking about them for longer than ten seconds.
There is really no one better in the league for the job than Corey Williams. On the court, he is last season’s MVP. He has carried the Townsville Crocodiles to successive playoff appearances.
Williams has never really had a team good enough to win a championship.
Has this stopped him trying? Definitely not!
He is one of the hardest workers in the competition. Williams is one of the toughest players to stop in the open court, he is an excitement machine!
However, Williams does have his flaws. Homicide is at times a one man show. He has an unreliable jump shot, which became one of the big factors in their season ending before the big dance. The Hawks let him have as much space as he wanted. Williams could have fixed his hair, tied his shoelaces, signed a couple of autographs for the fans and the Hawks still wouldn’t have run at him. It was kind of embarrassing.
There is no doubting that Williams will win the Sydney Kings games. There is no doubting he will draw crowds to the Entertainment Centre. However there is no doubting that Williams will try and be the one man show.
If the Sydney Kings can find a group of players Williams is comfortable with, I think the NBL will see a different Homicide come the next season. I think Williams best years are still to come, and a championship is not too far away.
Here’s to hoping it’s with the Sydney Kings.
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