Sydney coach Chase Buford has warned his side can't afford to get dragged into a rugby style match by the super hard Tasmania JackJumpers in the best-of-five NBL grand final series starting Friday.
Buford said Tasmania had earned all the adulation and kudos they had received for their performances in their first season, epitomised by their shock semi-final series win over defending champions 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 hard playing 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.
"I think that's the tempo of the game the pace and the style that they want to play at.
"We're a more free flowing 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 regular season 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 anymore and the last game we played against them probably isn't a true reflection of their team," Buford said.
Sydney guard and league MVP Adams, who celebrated his 26th birthday on Wednesday, will have several family members attending the finals matches.
They will see him play in Australia for the first time rather watching games in the middle of the night back home.
He said Tasmania namesake Josh Adams was a big threat to the Kings.
"He's not alone, they've got a bunch of guys, I think they've got one of the better backcourts in the NBL," Jaylen Adams said.
Kings legend Shane Heal, who played in the club's first NBL championship winning team in 2003, said the current squad was probably the most talented In the club's history.
"They (Sydney) are an exciting team to watch. I think its going to be a sweep," Heal said.
