ANDREW Gaze says the Kings need two things to be any chance of NBL success — a solid start and a dominant home record.
The NBL released its 2016/17 season draw on Thursday and instead of falling into cliches about taking time to rebuild last year’s wooden spooners, Gaze challenged his new-look side to signal its title intentions from the opening game against the returning Brisbane Bullets on October 8.
“Home games are vital and with a new team coming together we better get our act together pretty quickly,” Gaze told The Daily Telegraph.
“If you drop some of those home games early on, it’s going to be tough for the rest of the season.
“Brisbane plays their first game against Perth a couple of nights before, whereas it will be our first game.
“There is going to be a lot of fanfare and excitement about a new venue, team and a whole new setup, so early on it would be good to get away to a good start.
“When you’ve got a new group and you’re trying to establish roles and get everyone on the same page, it can be difficult.
“But it would be good to get everyone’s confidence going from the outset.”
As far as draws go, Gaze was relatively happy with the Kings’ run.
He couldn’t complain about the placement of the team’s 14 home games, 11 of those to be played at family-friendly times on the weekend.
But as Gaze knows though, success will ultimately come down to a combination of luck, injuries and consistency.
