Sydney coach Andrew Gaze is trying to find the right formula for his star-studded lineup to overcome his NBL bogey side Adelaide in their first two games.
The Kings season opener against the 36ers in Sydney on Saturday will mark the NBL debut of former NBA star Andrew Bogut, while fellow Boomers big man Daniel Kickert will also have his first competition hitout for the club.
Sydney have lost their last nine and 13 of their past 14 games to the 36ers, and haven't beaten them since November 2015.
Adelaide are the only side Gaze hasn't had an NBL win against since taking over Sydney's coaching reins before the 2016-7 season.
"Their brand of basketball is tough to beat," Gaze told AAP.
"It's up and down, it's attack on the rim, They are a very good defensive team with some of the stuff they do.
"We haven't found the formula to beat them over the last couple of seasons, so it's going to be a tough assignment for us to go back-to-back against them.
"Two games against them and then off to play in New Zealand, so its a tough start to the season we've got.
"We've got to come out of the gates as good as we possibly can and hopefully we can start the season off the right way and build some momentum early."
Adelaide maintained their stranglehold over Sydney with a 98-91 win over the Kings in the pre-season Blitz tournament, in which the 36ers took a staggering 45 free-throws.
"I don't think it was necessarily a true indication of how a regular season would go mainly because of the (amount of) fouls in that game," Gaze said.
Bogut and star guards Jerome Randle and Kevin Lisch all fouled out of that game, which Kickert missed through injury.
