Sydney co-captain Tom Garlepp has backed embattled coach Damian Cotter after sacrificing his starting spot to help the Kings turn their ailing NBL season around.
Forward Garlepp said he put his hand up to move to the bench for the Kings' last game in Adelaide, with new import and former NBA star Al Harrington coming into the starting lineup.
Harrington scored an equal team-high 18 points in his first start after coming off the bench in his first three games, while Garlepp still had an offensive impact, scoring 16.
"I feel like it worked," Garlepp told AAP.
"Sometimes when you are on bit of a losing streak, you've got to take gambles or maybe sacrifice."
The Kings blew an 18-point three-quarter time lead against the 36ers but will get a quick chance for revenge in a home match on Thursday.
With the Kings languishing last on the ladder with a 2-7 record, speculation has started about the position of second-season head coach Cotter.
"The world can be pretty savage now as far as people have access to directly communicate to people, it's all right in front of you," Garlepp said.
"None of the crap you hear from people really matters."
Garlepp recognised Sydney couldn't afford to leak points and losses if they wanted to stay in the race for the finals.
"Every game is a must-win it's as simple as that for us," Garlepp said.
Injury to Garlepp's co-captain Josh Childress and a lingering virus to veteran point guard Steve Markovic have deprived the Kings of two of their star players and compounded the poor results.
A major recurring problem is the Kings defence, with Sydney conceding 90 or more points in five of their games.
Garlepp attributed part of the problem to the changes the Kings have made due to injury.
"One thing is having a new player come in here, missing a player there, has probably contributed to it," Garlepp said.
"And effort. We just need to keep looking at that side of it, on the defensive end. That's really how you defend, is effort."
Share
