Olgs' Notebook: The star import who is taking being benched in his stride

Every week, ESPN's Olgun Uluc runs through what's catching his eye across the NBL, and takes you inside the conversations trickling around the Australian basketball ecosystem.

'No complaints': Star import takes benching in stride

Cam Oliver entered uncharted waters in the Sydney Kings' win over the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Friday.

He finished the contest with zero points, in just over 10 minutes of action. It was the lowest number of minutes the big-man had ever played in an NBL game - over his three seasons in the league - and the first time he'd been held scoreless.

The performance comes amid up-and-down minutes over the course of the 2024-25 season with the Kings, as head coach Brian Goorjian continues to tinker with different rotations and combinations.

Goorjian - a six-time NBL champion and six-time NBL Coach of the Year - has been admirably honest in press conferences over the course of his first season back with the Kings, and he spoke candidly after his team's win on Friday about why Oliver's minutes were limited.

"I've, with all of them, put some guidelines that need to get done to play," Goorjian said.

"If those aren't met, it's time I take the reins here. This, this, and this has to be done, or you're over there [on the bench]. I'm not talking about Cam Oliver; I'm talking about as a group."

"A lot of them, I sat on tonight, and he was one of them."

Goorjian described his conversations with Oliver as "good and straightforward", but that he wasn't meeting certain expectations - those "guidelines", as he put it - to warrant him remaining on the floor.

Prior to the game against the Phoenix, there was optimism that things were trending in the right direction; Oliver played 29 minutes against Melbourne United, then just under 20 minutes in a blowout win over the Tasmania JackJumpers. Friday could feel like a one-step-forward-two-steps-back moment for both parties, but there's a sense Oliver is acutely aware of what's expected of him from his head coach.

"Literally, it's just energy," Oliver told ESPN, on what he feels he needs to do to re-earn consistent minutes.

"Bringing complete energy. I don't think it's anything like: being in a certain spot, or being in a dunker's spot, or being on the perimeter. It's just: bring energy, be me, talk, and I think, at times, I'm not showing that as much in certain spurts when we need it. That's probably where things get a little bit difficult.

"Besides that, I'm really embracing my role as best as I possibly can. In this day and age of basketball right now, it's all about playing a role and playing it to a T. My role is literally just to have energy and, when I'm playing with energy and I'm everywhere on the floor - I'm talking, I'm sliding on defence, making good shots, attacking the basket with a lot of enthusiasm and effort - I think that's what's gonna keep me on the floor. There are times where I'm probably not showing that, or maybe it hasn't kicked in until it was needed for the team. That's probably where it gets a bit difficult. Besides that, I'm just embracing my role and bringing energy as best as I possibly can.

Oliver entered this NBL season with relatively high expectations. The last time we saw him in Australia, he was averaging 17.3 points and 10.0 rebounds per game as a 25-year-old with the Cairns Taipans.

While that has many around the league puzzled with Oliver's volatile minutes spread, there hasn't been any notable tension from either the player or the team. The Kings are currently sitting on a 7-5 record ahead of their final game before the November FIBA window, so that winning record - while achieved with performances that haven't been entirely convincing - alleviates any pressure for any serious soul-searching from either party.

"There are no complaints from me," Oliver, a native of Oakland, California, said.

"I don't complain about anything. I've got tough skin, and I'm gonna do everything I can to contribute for the team.

"I've got really tough skin. I really do. Where I'm from, and the circumstances I've been through in my life, I've got really tough skin. I've been in a lot of places where you have to play certain roles. I've been in the NBA, shoot, all over the world, China; like I said, in this day of age, you have to play a role. I know what type of role I play for this squad, both on and off the court. I just wanna keep doing that, excelling in that at a very, very high rate.

"There's no complaints out of me, man. I don't need to. We're a very talented team, and everybody's capable of doing a lot of things... Hopefully it's a domino effect to everybody else embracing their role too."

For some of the inconsistencies and injuries the Kings have played through, they have a winning record and are currently the best defensive team in the NBL.

Defence was the thing many assumed the Kings would hold their hat on - considering the make-up of the roster, with Goorjian at the helm - and, so far, they have the league's best Defensive Rating (105.4). The Kings hold opposing teams to the lowest effective field goal percentage in the NBL (47%), which includes limiting their opposition to just 30.5% from beyond the three-point percentage, which is also a league-best.

Oliver admits the team's defence is still a work in progress, but can see its ceiling on the horizon.

"It's day by day, we're still figuring out more and more about what we can do," Oliver said.

"We're right there. It's like, we're realising we're monsters on the defensive end. On defence, you can have little mental lapses in a game, and have miscommunications, so that's probably where we still need to work, but, besides that... we had a game in Tasmania, and I think we held them to their lowest points ever scored. So, it's like, okay, we can really lock in on defence. So, seeing that, and progressing in those areas... that's looking pretty scary. Sky's the limit, honestly."

The Kings' next game is the next edition of the 'Freeway Series rivalry'; a matchup against the Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong on Saturday.

What's changed in South East Melbourne?

The South East Melbourne Phoenix look like a completely different team to the one that started the season.

That's obviously the case literally, with the franchise moving on from Mike Kelly in order to bring in Josh King, while we've also seen some lineup changes that have seemingly improved the balance of the group on both ends.

Those are considerable, material changes, and it's led to an almost immediate impact on the team's performance, particularly on the defensive end. King has spoken consistently about what he's called an "unbelievable buy-in" with regard to his defensive principles, and the numbers demonstrate that.

All of a sudden - after an 0-5 start to the season - the Phoenix are 5-7, and have the second-best defence in the NBL, allowing 107.0 points per 100 possessions, which is around six points above the current league average.

Over their first five games, the Phoenix were a bottom-three defensive team, with a Defensive Rating of 115.0. In the seven games since the firing of Kelly, the Phoenix's Defensive Rating is 99.5; the first three games were under Sam Mackinnon, while the rest were under King. That number improves to 94.8 in the games with King at the helm.

"It's a simple thing to do," King said of his team's defence.

"It's simple to say, 'hey, we wanna pressure and get after the other team', but it's difficult to do. It takes a lot of energy, and it takes a lot of focus and a lot of concentration. I'm really happy with the buy in from these guys, because I've only been here for about two weeks, and they're all two feet in.

"Hustle. Extreme hustle. Concentration. Attention to detail. You've got to do those things to be a good defensive team."

And another thing... let's talk about Angus Glover's creation

The hamstring injury to Phoenix guard Derrick Walton Jr. was an obvious blow for the team, but it provided an opportunity for King to mix up who receives the initiating reps.

Thus far, a revelation has been Angus Glover, whose minutes have dramatically increased since Walton Jr.'s injury - and since King joined the team - and that's meant more opportunities at the point for the 26-year-old.

In the Phoenix's first game after Kelly's firing, Glover had seven points and a career-high eight assists in a win over Melbourne United, dipping his toe into being more of a creator under then-interim coach Sam Mackinnon. Over his last seven games, Glover is averaging 2.9 assists per game, regularly coming off on-balls, getting two feet in the paint, and finding cutters or shooters.

Glover currently has an assist percentage of 18.6, which is his highest over six seasons in the NBL, and also has the highest usage (20.5%) of his professional career.

With Walton Jr. easing his way into his regular minutes, there'll be less need for other ball-carriers moving forward, but Glover's emergence as a really effective initiator could help keep Nathan Sobey's efficiency in check when the American point guard sits. Bulk on-ball reps for Sobey isn't a recipe for success in South East Melbourne - he's more effective off-ball, as a secondary playmaker - so Glover being able to step in and play possessions at the point, while still being an elite shooter, which allows him to also continue playing on the wing, is a useful development for the Phoenix.

My favourite plays of the week

Before Chris Goulding's explosion against the Perth Wildcats on Saturday, he was extremely effective against the Brisbane Bullets on Thursday. That's where he showed off something not many guys in the NBL can pull off: the no-dip three. This is just an unbelievably tough shot.