\u2018DESERVES A REAL SHOT\u2019: FORMER IMPORT\u2019S HUGE PRAISE FOR 36ERS STAR<\/p>\n
Former South East Melbourne Phoenix big man Alan \u201cBig Sauce\u201d Williams has heaped praise on Adelaide 36ers forward Zylan Cheatham, describing him as \u201clike family\u201d – and going as far as to say he should already be in the NBA.<\/p>\n
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Appearing on the debut episode of NBL: Alumni, where former imports reflect on their time in Australia and share updates on their careers, Williams spoke passionately about his close relationship with Cheatham – with both players hailing from Phoenix, Arizona.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s like family – my little brother, for real,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe grew up maybe five or ten minutes away from each other, played in the same club system, and had a lot of the same coaches coming up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a few years older, but for the longest time I wanted him to come to my high school. We won state championships, and he was that younger kid who was super athletic and really raw. We felt like we could help him reach that next level – and he definitely did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams shared that the two have remained close throughout their careers, continuing to train together in the offseason.<\/p>\n
Wildcats win despite Cotton’s 23-PT’s | 01:11<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was extremely successful in high school – just a straight beast – and we stayed in contact all through college,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, we even have the same professional trainer. In the offseason, we\u2019re in the gym together two or three times a week. That\u2019s my guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
While acknowledging his bias, Williams said his admiration for Cheatham goes beyond friendship – it\u2019s rooted in respect for his work ethic and basketball IQ.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an extremely cerebral player and a heck of a teammate,\u201d Williams explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat mic\u2019d-up session the NBL did with him this season was a perfect example of who he is – not just as a competitor, but as a person.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s supportive, vocal, and works his butt off. He\u2019s had different situations throughout his career, but I think being in Adelaide is the best thing for him. It\u2019s giving him and everyone else a real chance to see what he can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams closed by saying he firmly believes Cheatham has what it takes to make the leap back to the NBA<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping the next step is the NBA for him,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no reason – in my opinion or my eyes – that he shouldn\u2019t be playing in the NBA right now. Hopefully, he keeps pushing, keeps working, and gets that opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe deserves a real shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hawks travel to beat Taipans in Cairns | 01:03<\/p>\n
HOW THE SYDNEY KINGS TURNED IT AROUND AFTER BEING \u201cKICKED IN THE FACE\u201d<\/p>\n
Sydney Kings head coach Brian Goorjian admits \u201cthat\u2019s as bad a loss as I can remember in the domestic competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Kings have won their previous three games, but it was their devastating loss to the Tasmania JackJumpers that became the fire starter for change.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was on the sideline in the middle of the fourth thinking we\u2019d won this, like felt comfortable about it,\u201d Goorjian said on Sky Sports Radio\u2019s Big Sports Breakfast.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt turned into an instant and diabolical finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goorjian has seen it all in professional basketball. <\/p>\n
With over 700 games of NBL experience as a coach, Olympic experience as the head coach of the Boomers and his playing career in the NBL, Goorjian has been in many situations. But this loss was one that shocked him.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have the game won\u2026 and then it turned so dramatically was difficult,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Goorjian mentioned the importance of addressing the loss directly with his players, stating: \u201cWhat I got from that was opportunity to build trust with my players.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent a lot of time in one-on-one meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGee drops 37-PTS in Hawks upset | 01:21<\/p>\n
After that loss, the Kings fell to 3-5 on the season, and with games against the Brisbane Bullets, Melbourne United and the New Zealand Breakers, this stretch was always going to be one that made or broke the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe practice sessions kind of went to another level of competitiveness,\u201d Goorjian admitted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really liked where the team went after that kick in the face.\u201d<\/p>\n
With that loss in the background, the task turned to an up-and-down but solid Brisbane Bullets team \u2013 the result, a dominant Sydney Kings win.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a great weekend going up and beating Brisbane, a good team up there by over 30.\u201d<\/p>\n
From there it was against the then-undefeated Melbourne United. United have been the benchmark for the competition all season long and, with the game in Melbourne and the up-and-down nature of the Kings, it was seen as one United would win. The result was different. A locked-in Kings lineup, led by their big three in Kendric Davis, Matthew Dellavedova and Xavier Cooks, took care of business to make it two wins in a row.<\/p>\n
Kings conquer United! End nine-game run | 01:38<\/p>\n
The New Zealand Breakers clash followed, after two straight games away from home,\u201d Goorjian continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came back after the road trip, little prep time, and went into just a game that was gritty and grindy and kind of tough.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just found a way to win\u2026 defensively really locked them down, holding them to 72 points.\u201d<\/p>\n
The game didn\u2019t go all smooth, with Goorjian reflecting: \u201cWe were 13 down, didn\u2019t really have anything going and just found a way to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goorjian has been under enormous pressure this season with the club not performing to external expectations.<\/p>\n
But after three consecutive wins, he admitted: \u201cI felt good about us after that week, after that disappointment, because it\u2019s one of the best weeks I\u2019ve had in my time at the Kings.\u201d<\/p>\n
With state rival Illawarra Hawks now standing in the way of win number four in a row \u2013 and five straight away games looming \u2013 the lessons and message for the team remain the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just no let up, bringing your bag each day for practice and making sure that we\u2019re on the improve every single day as we come down this backstretch.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing about our league right now is top to bottom, there\u2019s not a weak team.\u201d<\/p>\n
The biggest challenge with the Hawks is clear \u2013 JaVale McGee \u2013 and he\u2019s firmly a focus in Goorjian\u2019s mind heading into this game.<\/p>\n
\u201cMcGee, NBA, seven foot, long, is getting himself in shape and is starting to dominate the competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoing whatever we can to stop him, but also trying to put him in situations that is going to be tough for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the Kings, it has been a soul-searching start to the season. With so many big names and egos, it was always going to take time. The question now is: is this the real Kings, or just a good run?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A former import has heaped huge praise on an Adelaide 36ers star. Plus Brian Goorjian has opened up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[160626,2095,5888,64,63,689,726,68071,160629,160622,160627,160628,160625,160635,97423,160634,160637,5330,160641,68078,647,160624,160640,2041,2067,677,29169,160639,160632,160623,143475,160633,160630,16694,160638,61895,10134,160636,85,2614,660,160631,39979],"class_list":["post-276952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-alan-big-sauce-williams","tag-america","tag-arizona","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-basketball","tag-brian-goorjian","tag-club-system","tag-debut-episode","tag-deserves-a-real-shot","tag-devastating-loss","tag-domestic-competition","tag-epic-rise","tag-game-won","tag-games-looming","tag-hawks-travel","tag-head-coach","tag-joshua-higgins","tag-kendric-davis","tag-melbourne","tag-micd-up-session","tag-mind-heading","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-oceania","tag-phoenix","tag-point-display","tag-practice-sessions-kind","tag-prep-time","tag-professional-basketball","tag-professional-trainer","tag-quarter-display","tag-real-chance","tag-real-shot","tag-road-trip","tag-single-day","tag-soul-searching-start","tag-sports","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-victoria","tag-win-number","tag-xavier-cooks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}