Khazzouh unlikely to return to NBL soon

Sydney Kings coach Andrew Gaze isn't counting on having injured centre Julian Khazzouh back any time soon.Khazzouh has been sidelined for 12 months with a leg injury and was hoping to return before Christmas.But he now appears to be a long shot to make it back this season."It's really a wait and see," Gaze said after Sunday's surprise 88-81 home loss to Melbourne United."A couple of weeks ago I was really confident with the way he was training. But he's had a minor setback and that needs a bit more time to evaluate and make sure that we don't risk any further injury."He's come so far and it's been so long that it's almost to a point you don't want to jeopardise all the work and rehab he's gone through."He'd be a good guy to have back in the group, but with 12 months off it'll take time to get his rhythm back anyway."Despite the loss to last-placed Melbourne, the Kings remain in top spot with a 10-7 record, while Melbourne boosted their record to 7-8."We were the cellar-dwellers this morning," Melbourne star Chris Goulding said."A turning point - who knows? We just have to keep fighting, keep stringing wins together and try and move up this ladder."The lucky thing in this league is that a couple of wins can take you to the top, but the bad thing is a couple of losses can take you to the bottom. It's like snakes and ladders."