Basketball On The Internet.

YOU'VE done it! Congratulations Kings fans. Between us we have successfully selected our version of Sydney's 25th Anniversary NBL team.

For those of you who caught this week's earlier piece regarding the fact the Kings this season (2013-14) will celebrate their 25th season in the big league, you already know we are looking forward to the length and breadth of Sydney's celebrations.

But, just as Perth Wildcats and Townsville Crocodiles (Suns) have done recently to commemorate various milestones in their club histories, selecting an all-time Kings team is no mean feat.

The prevent it being just a random gathering of various imports and Aussies who have worn the Kings' purple-and-gold, the team needed criteria so we used that criteria which exists for the league - eight *locals, two imports. (*Locals can include naturalised players too.)

Sadly, that criteria killed off a lot of your submissions, which is kind of a shame.

And I must admit I was a little disappointed the Kings' No.1 fan, Matt McQuade, did not join in the fun. (I understand that as he is now working for the club, if it does develop its own 25th Anniversary Team concept, he will probably have much to do with it, so a submission from him now might compromise him later. I get it. Doesn't mean I can't be disappointed!)

That said, there were a lot of terrific names thrown in by fans - must admit, Frank Drmic's seasons at Sydney had completely slipped my memory, for example.

But here it is, the team we collectively came up with before I give you a few of the submissions which stand on their own regardless. You might even like one, or more, of them better.

But, going by the criteria, our 25th Anniversary Sydney Kings Team is:

Starters: Shane Heal, Jason Smith, *Dwayne McClain, *Chris Williams, Matt Nielsen.

Bench: CJ Bruton, Ben Madgen, Ian Davies, Mark Dalton, Dean Uthoff.

Coach: Brian Goorjian

(*Imports)

There it is. Probably no coincidence that three of the starters (Heal-Williams-Nielsen) were starters in Sydney's first championship team. And while some may point to Nielsen and say "power forward" NOT "centre", truth is in the NBL, he did much of his best work as the pivot.

Smith won the Larry Sengstock Medal in Sydney's threepeat team and McClain still is spoken about in very reverential terms whenever the talk turns to the league's best imports.

The Madge is the only player from the current roster to crack the lineup but, quickly now, who was the last Kings player to lead the league in scoring? Pretty good argument for the back-up shooting guard spot.

Trust this. That team would beat the living bejeezus out of the 2013-14 NBL ... if we didn't have a salary cap.

It will be interesting to see how our team on June 8 stacks up against the team Kings management eventually (hopefully?) will select as part of honoring the club's rich history.

Some of my favorite submissions follow, the first from David Mitchell.

His team (in no particular order) is: *Leon Trimmingham, *Dwayne McClain, Ian Davies, Damien Keogh, CJ Bruton, Matt Nielsen, Shane Heal, Mark Worthington, Mark Dalton, Brad Dalton.

"If naturalised imports counted, I may have gone for Bruce Bolden and Dean Uthoff too," David wrote. "Jason Smith and Tim Morrissey perhaps unlucky, a team needs good role players like the Daltons.

"Ebi Ere, Chris Williams and Stephen Jackson all amazing but perhaps weren’t around long enough."

Fair enough David, but Chris Williams won a league MVP and a Larry Sengstock Medal. That leapfrogs him over a few others, I would reckon. But nice 10, certainly spectacular.

Darryl Milne submitted: 

C     Matthew Nielsen
PF   *Chris Williams
SF   *Dwayne McClain
SG  *Steve Carfino
PG  Shane Heal

Bench
Mark Dalton
*Leon Trimmingham
CJ Bruton
*Ebi Ere
Damian Keogh

Coach: Brian Goorjian

Yes, you can see the import problem there but in fairness to Darryl, he went outside the criteria and simply chose the Kings' Greatest Line-up.

"I've tried to come up with the best 10 of all time,"Darryl wrote. "Apologies Ken McClary, Dean Uthoff, Isaac Burton and Mario Donaldson."
 

Nathaniel from AndTheFoul.net skipped the criteria altogether too by describing his team as: "you are looking for body of work + tenure with the club & obviously talent..."

That said, his 10 is:

1. *Chris Williams
2. Shane Heal
3. Damian Keogh
4. *Steve Carfino
5. Matthew Nielsen
6. *Dwayne McClain
7. *Marc Ridlan
8. *Leon Trimmingham
9. *Ken McClary
10. *Isaac Burton

Regular reader Neil Stanton decided he would give me his Kings' "Magnificent Seven" and went with: Brad Dalton, *Dwayne McClain, Mark Worthington, Shane Heal, Jason Smith, *Owen Wells, Matt Nielsen.

The only problem with Neil's seven, of course, is the fact the late, great Owen Wells never played for the Kings, suiting in 1983-84 with Sydney Supersonics.

Otherwise? Fun to picture that "main rotation" together, in their prime.

Really enjoyed what Nicholas Way had to say so I will share it with you:

"As someone who has been around the Kings for most of the last quarter-century (and as someone who sits in Mike's stand), I think that I am reasonably qualified to name a best-ever Sydney team.

First, the two-import rule has directly led to the two biggest omissions from my team. In an ideal world, I would have loved to have both Ken McClary and Bruce Bolden squeeze their way onto the team. If we were playing at home, they'd be on the bench! Incidentally, if you wanted an all-time Razorbacks team, Bruce would be among the first players picked.

With all that out of the way, here are my selections and the reasons why:

Starting Five:

Point Guard-Shane Heal. 'Hammer' would be a perfect leader in both public and private for this team. His willingness to speak his mind and draw attention would be a public relations bonanza. He could also play a bit, provide some direction for his teammates and his relationship with the coach would set the standard for everyone around the club.

Off Guard-*Dwayne McClain. This selection sells itself. The Kings have had only a few players who could with a simple act of will take over a game: D-Train was one of those players. His coast-to-coast drive and lay-up to beat Adelaide on Anzac Day in 1992 (sorry!) was reckoned by Mike to be the most exciting finish that he ever saw. His behind the head jump shot was simply unstoppable and defenders would be hard-pressed to decide whether to double-team Heal or D-Train.

Small Forward-Jason Smith. A perfect player for this team as he can swing between front and back courts, score and set up whenever he wanted, while also being a defensive terrier. His leadership of the club during the dark days of the Firepower Era was inspirational and he remains (for me, at least) one of the most fondly cherished players ever to wear the purple and gold.

Power Forward-Chris Williams. For a guy a year or two removed from playing college ball at Virginia, Chris Williams' interior game was that of a full-grown man. While the back court would provide the flash and razzle-dazzle, Williams would simply bring you 20 and 15 every night with a superb array of low-post moves that would be almost Mark Davis-like.

Centre-Dean Uthoff. My reading of the history of the Kings suggests that the club has not been blessed with too many outstanding centres. Uthoff would provide a real presence in the middle as he was simply so big that he would force offences to change their minds about how to attack the basket. If you're wondering, Uthoff gets in as he had become naturalised in 1991, prior to his arrival in the Emerald City. Finally, his jocular manner would be very useful in the building of team spirit.

Bench

Point Guard-Damien Keogh. Could play either at the point or off guard position and for almost a decade was Phil Smyth's understudy with the Boomers. A devastating three-point threat on his best day (see Kings vs. Perth in Perth, April 1992) Keogh would provide stability and veteran leadership when the 'Hammer' sat down for a little rest. In late-game situations could be trusted to slow the game down.

Off Guard-C.J. Bruton. Probably wouldn't like coming off the bench but in this company I don't see how he could refuse! Another guard who could easily play in both back court positions, Bruton would keep up the scoring power when D-Train rests while also drawing you a few fouls along the way. And, most importantly, Bruton is simply one of the best clutch players the NBL has ever seen: when I watched him play, I would always be bubbling with laughter knowing that C.J. would at some point hit an impossible shot when the defence dropped off him for a second; it always happened!

Small Forward-Mark Dalton. I have seen few players as tough as 'Tang' in my days of fandom. Considering that for much of that time his knees were in various states of degradation, his willingess to muck in and do the tough stuff inside would be of huge benefit inside. Mark's ability to lay on defensive pressure would drive opponents mad (though despite what Brian Kerle once said, I never thought the Kings were as bad as the original 'Bad Boys': Mark was never a Bill Laimbeer!)

Power Forward-Matthew Nielsen. Although arguably he played more time as a centre during the championship era, I feel that Nielsen would be better suited to the four spot on my team; a sort of Dave Cowens clone. Who would have imagined that after such petulant acts as getting ejected from the first Kings-Razors derby in 1998 (arguably costing Sydney the game) he would become such a beloved and respected leader of the purple and gold?

Centre-Brad Dalton. The choice here was simple. You either had to have both Daltons or none at all. His recent nomination to BNSW's Hall of Fame is testimony to his superb play over a number of seasons. If he hadn't blown out his knee in 1991, the history of the club might have been very different (for example, no Cory Reader!)

Coach:

Brian Goorjian. Six years, five grand finals, three titles. And his masterpiece: the 2007-08 season when with the club imploding around him he fashioned a team that lost only three games in the regular season and came within a half of winning a fourth title. With all the Spectres and Melbourne East products in the team, Brian would feel right at home!

Other Staff Members

Owner-Mike, of course

General Manager-Lorraine Landon

Assistant Coaches-Ian Robillard and Bill Tomlinson (someone has to keep the stats!)

Team Manager-Laurie Watterson."

Thank you for all that Nicholas. Truly appreciate the effort as, I am sure, readers have as well.

jason @knightjj tweeted me: Starters - Heal, CJ, *McClain, Neilsen, Uthoff. Bench: Worthington, *Carfino, Keogh, Morrissey, Dalton : Gorj as coach.

Thanks for that. Just wasn't sure which Dalton brother so, for the hell of it, I gave Karen a vote.

Steve Mitchell @SteveMitch2500 tweeted: Starters - Heal, CJ Bruton, Mark Worthington, *McClain, *Acie Earl. Bench: Keogh, Phil Smyth, Drmic, Neilsen, Mark Dalton. Coach: Goorjian

Craig Marshall @GoldCoastEel tweeted another good group with his starters: Heal, CJ, *McClain, *Chris Williams, Neilsen. His bench is Uthoff (naturalised) M.Dalton, Worthington, Keogh and Ian Robilliard.

Those were the best of them and, mostly, on point.

Must confess though, my personal favorite Kings' line-up submission  came in a tweet from Big John @XTREEMAU who gave me: Greg Hubbard, Glen Saville, Tim Morrissey, Justin Withers, Melvin Thomas ... I am sure the Hawkeyes among you will figure out why Big John liked that quintet!