Hoops

Sydney Kings sign Josh Powell

@Perthfan - JvG and Gazey were on the record early on as saying they would have loved Chill back, but the ball was in his court... I think he signed on to that Champions Basketball League that is running next Summer in the States, but really, he would have been out of our budget, surely, with the local talent we've already signed?

I agree that it would have been amazing to see him back and to have a much better team around him this time to make up for the last couple of seasons, take the load off and kept his minutes down a bit compared to having to have the entire team on his shoulders... Chill contributed across the board and could have easily played a more 3/4 role this season, but Whittington does seem to be a similar style player, if definitely not in the same calibre... Happy to give Greg some more time to adjust to the refs and style of play though, as when he's switched on, he's really great to watch...

Not sure how excited I am about this signing, well, I DO know actually, not very... Mainly because I'm not up on anything NBA and the fact that he averaged 3ppg and 2 rpg or whatever over a dozen teams is not impressive... Two rings is great for his trophy case, but I doubt he would have contributed enough to actually get excited about...

If he comes in and fills his role, tough interior D and crashes the boards, then I'm all good... We have enough scoring options that he doesn't need to come in to be King Shit and from what it sounds like, he knows the deal coming in so won't be a Sam Young or Damian James knobhead (hopefully). If he does that, I'm not sure he will be the one suffering when Jules comes back, if Tommy's minutes in our first game is anything to go by...

We don't need a superstar, we just need a good, tough defending big that can rebound... *crosses fingers*

@Benno you moron

They held off signing the last import until they knew more re: Khazzouh... this guy has been brought in because he has experience and fills a need, simple as that. I have no idea how much he has left in the tank, but we need another solid rotation frontcourt guy with Khazzouh still out, and I'd expect Powell to be at least that (and probably more).

Sydney Kings are literally his 23rd stop...yeh thats some awesome staying power.

WOW he was once at a team for 2 years.

Childress has already signed a team in a new minor league in the US.

@perthfan they've got Newley and Whittington

With all seriousness, why sign Powell when someone like Childress who played well for the Kings could have been an option? Or have I missed something and he is already signed somewhere. From an outsiders point of view, Childress did so much good for the Kings. With the others recruited this year, would have been great to see him with some other talent around.

"zzzzzzz to this signing. This guy bounces around teams like a cheap beach ball, never staying anywhere for long. Dust in the wind." 2 titles for the lakers in 2 years...

Andersen played a significant role for Boomers in Rio. Was all star in France Last year I think?

All the other Boomers who played NBL in recent memory are all quality NBL players- Martin, Lisch, Goulding, Motum. That's a very good reason to think Andersen will be too.

Zodiac- I stand corrected. Fiba page is doing funny things.

zzzzzzz to this signing. This guy bounces around teams like a cheap beach ball, never staying anywhere for long. Dust in the wind.

I'm calling it NOW: this guy will be a flat out BUST

I wonder if he is playing tomorrow. The Kings management better get ready from an EAR-BASHING from the Mock about how they run their basketball team.

LV, Powell played in Argentina, Puerto Rico & China last season.

There will always be exceptions and Anderson is an exception. Anderson never had to rely on his speed or athleticism as much as other players, so what he has is still good.

Funny andersen is 36 n played less nba n everyone is like mvp

But powell is too old

Warrick was good.

But he was coming off a decent season in Turkey.

Powell hasn't played in 2.5 years...other than an underwhelming stint in Argentina.

Big difference.

My question is, does this mean Khazzouh is a long way off? Because as soon as he is back, Powell is surplus to requirements. Khazzouh/Maric/Garlepp/Powell/Whittington/Hill is a stacked front court. Presumably their 11th roster spot is a guard.... They still don't have a pass first PG. which Aussies are available?

Yes it is an underwhelming signing. I used to buy straight into the 'former NBA player' hype, but we've been a bit burned by aging former NBA guys before.

Harrington was serviceable but unspectacular. Hakeem Warrick was much the same, relegated to a role player, and was often outshone by Majok. Josh Childress was great. However he was more often injured than on court.

I can't think of any 33 year old EX NBA players who've come to the NBL and really shaken things up off the top of my head.

Maric hasn't shown much, ain't young any more either. Maybe Tis bloke is insurance for Maric and kazzu.

3 days ago the Daily Telegraph ran an article with a quote from Khazzouh, saying he'll only miss the first 3 games.

That's.... Very odd that they go sign a big then?

I think the ABC tourny reminded us of what to expect from Chinese teams. And Powell hardly set the world on fire there...

This smells like the Harrington signing. The guy averaged about 48 points and 19 rebounds a game in China so we thought he'd be great. And, whilst he was decent, not quite the star we expected....

Nationally, 24,148 fans attended the five Round One games, which is almost double the 12,103 that attended the four matches in the opening round last season.

In Sydney alone, 8,533 people packed the Sydney Entertainment Centre (AKA 'The Kingdome') on Saturday night to see the Sydney Kings play their first home game since being readmitted to the competition.

Despite the Kings losing to the New Zealand Breakers, 83-70, the size of the crowd still made the night a winner for Sydney. That attendance figure was the largest at a Kings' regular season game since 11 October 2001.

In Adelaide on Sunday, 5,021 fans flocked to The Dome to see the Adelaide 36ers upset traditional rivals and reigning titleholders Perth, 74-69. That compares favourably with the attendance at the 36ers home opener last season of 4,671.

At 'The Cage' in Melbourne, 3,091 fans turned up to watch the Melbourne Tigers suffer an upset 84-68 loss at the hands of Sydney on Friday night. This was also a strong increase on the attendance at Melbourne's season opener in 2009 of 2,857.

In Townsville, 4,201 fans saw the Townsville Crocodiles win their local derby at 'The Swamp' against Far North Queensland archrivals Cairns, 79-70, on Saturday, and 3,302 fans turned up to watch the Wollongong Hawks defeat the Gold Coast Blaze at 'The Sandpit' on Friday night, 83-77.