Ben Madgen trying to get past the defence. Photo: Tim Hunter. Source: Tim Hunter / News Corp Australia
SYDNEY Kings co-captain Ben Madgen says his troops want to prove that their home court is a tough place for travelling teams to play at when they host the Townsville Crocodiles on Friday.
The Kings won five of their opening seven home games, but two double-digit defeats to New Zealand and Melbourne has seen cracks form in Sydney's bid to make the Kingdome a fortress this season.
A major factor in the back-to-back home defeats has been slow starts in the first half, allowing New Zealand and Melbourne to break out to early double-digit leads, and Madgen says the Kings will try to eradicate that problem against a Townsville outfit that has only won one of 10 road games this season.
Ben Madgen trying to get past the defence. Photo: Tim Hunter. Source: News Corp Australia
"It's very important to start well and we always try to get off to a good start," Madgen said.
"The team takes a lot of pride in protecting our home court.
"We can't afford to lose too many at home and we've dropped two in a row so we will make a stand."
Despite four consecutive defeats, Madgen says he and the rest of playing squad still have confidence in the game plan.
The group was given a harsh lesson about throwing away the game plan against Melbourne when their normal style of play brought them back into the game, only for them steer away from their plans at the offensive end to score 11 points in the final quarter.
"Our morale is still up even though we've lost a couple of games," Madgen said.
"If we execute down the stretch better we should be fine.
"We've got to stick to the game plan. We went away from it for some reason and we can't allow it to happen again.
"We know we've got some really good plans."
Ben Madgen in action. Source: News Corp Australia
Although Josh Childress is back, the Kings still have injury matters to deal with as starting centre Angus Brandt is uncertain to make a return tonight.
Brandt will again be given to the last minute to prove he is fit enough to play after he was withdrawn just before last Friday's loss against Melbourne.
Losing Brandt will be a big blow for the Kings, but Madgen said he has a lot of faith in Josh Duinker, who pulled down seven boards in his first start for the Kings.
Sydney's big men will need to step up to contain Crocodiles forward Brian Conklin, who been in great form and played a big part in Townsville's two wins against the Kings this season, and former NBA centre Mickell Gladness.
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