Tom Garlepp believes the Sydney Kings stand their best chance of winning more games than not – something they haven't achieved in five seasons since their return to the NBL in 2010-11 – if they can start well against the Cairns Taipans at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on Saturday.
In the last five years the Kings' winning record stands at 31 per cent and in not one of those seasons did they have a superior win-loss record.
A lack of depth in the roster is one plausible explanation for the under-achieving record, but co-captain Garlepp, who has been at the club for four of those five disappointing seasons, is adamant the Kings can rediscover the style of play they produced in 2007-08 when they won 31 of 38 games.
"I think we've got a chance to get back in the finals," Garlepp said. "In my four years at this club, it's probably the best chance to have a winning record above 500 (50 per cent) or up. That's something I'm pretty excited about."
It's a statement which holds more merit now than before any other season in the eyes of many hoops fans. The Kings have recruited "what we need", according to coach Damian Cotter and are excited by a first-up clash against last year's grand finalists Cairns. While impressed at the roster the Kings have put together, Garlepp also credited the Cairns' recruitment over the off-season which includes one big name from Melbourne in Mark Worthington.
"He [Worthington] is a good all-round player," Garlepp said. "There's certain things you can't really negate from him. We have to make sure we don't let him destruct what we want to do. They're a really good team; they're probably only improved from the point of their roster, so I think they're going to be tough again. They'll be one of the favourites I think. I think with 10 fit guys [for us] and they've got 10 fully fit guys it will be a really good game. They all know each other pretty well and they can predict each other's movements and I think that goes a long way in this competition; being able to keep the core together for a while."
Last season Cairns beat Sydney, Sydney then exacted revenge, before the Queensland side won the remaining two games between the clubs. If history is anything to go by, the Kings and Cairns game should be a close one – in Sydney's last four starts to the season, the average margin has been four points. Garlepp said it had been an extremely physically pre-season, punctuated by the NBL's Blitz pre-season tournament in Townsville where the Kings lost their three matches, but was hopeful of improving his captaincy credentials by leading from the front on Saturday.
"That first game is always pretty crucial," Garlepp said. "I think we did a good job last year getting a good win against Wollongong and it generates just a little bit of buzz that you kind of need to get a few big crowds. We've got a very talented team; it will just be for us if we can play with some intensity and take it one day at a time – that will be the key for us."
