The Sydney Kings have got off to a slow start so far in the 2015-16 NBL season, losing five of there first seven games.
After losing to Melbourne United on Sunday at Hisense Arena in Melbourne, they slumped to 2-5 and second last on the NBL ladder. This week becomes crucial to keeping their season alive with matches against United (home) and 36ers (away).
Lose both and their season is effectively over.
Crunch time has come early for this team that was regarded as a serious threat before the season.
Losing key player maker Josh Childress obviously hurt their chances early but replacement import Al Harrington will be great for a team that has struggled so far since he arrived.
Childress is at least three weeks away from a return and the reliance on Marcus Thornton and Harrington is overwhelming.
Thornton’s performance on Sunday against United was magnificent and kept the Kings close enough for most of the night after a disastrous first quarter. In the end however 29 points from their star guard still wasn’t enough to get close enough to United to make the contest tight. United eventually winning by 14 points 96-82.
Harrington struggled all night and only scored 9 points while Daniel Kickert won the MVP of the game and dominated offensively all game.
Big centre Julian Khazzouh battled hard and has all season to date, but more is needed to keep the season alive.
Sitting second last after seven games is not a great position to be in but this team is capable of so much more, the talent is there and they need to perform now as their season is teetering on the brink.
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