Kings aiming high as Brazilian big man makes NBL return
After two seasons abroad, Brazilian big man Soares has reunited with the Kings on a one-year deal alongside fellow key additions Kendric Davis and Matthew Dellavedova.
Soares, 28, won a title under then Kings coach Chase Buford in his only previous NBL season in 2022/23.
The 211cm centre averaged 10.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 0.9 blocks across 20.9 minutes throughout that campaign, and combined well with MVP Xavier Cooks.
"I was always hopeful I'd get another chance to come back and play in Sydney, so I'm really excited to be given this opportunity again," Soares said.
"Having the chance to join this talented roster, full of young guys and veterans who know the game, and be coached by someone (like) Goorj, was an easy decision to come back to Sydney.
"Not to mention having two talented ball-handlers like Kendric and Delly on the roster will make my job easier as a big man, much like Xav did in our first stint together.
"Xav and I had great chemistry during our championship run together, with me being able to space the floor for him to attack the rim, which in fact benefits the whole team."
Goorjian was thrilled to sign Soares, who has had stints in Puerto Rico and Japan since his championship-winning season with Sydney.
The Kings are aiming high after losing a play-in qualifier last season in legendary coach Goorjian's return to the helm.
"The five-man spot is a really important one for us, and after looking at ways to build on last year, we really needed to bring in someone who can bang with those bigger bodies on the inside," Goorjian said.
"Tim is exactly that, while also being someone who can finish around the rim, protect the paint and also stretch the floor, which is key alongside Xavier."
SYDNEY KINGS' 2025/26 NBL ROSTER:
Shaun Bruce, Xavier Cooks, Kendric Davis, Matthew Dellavedova, Jaylin Galloway, Bul Kuol, Keli Leaupepe, Makuach Maluach, Kouat Noi, Tyler Robertston, Tim Soares, Jason Spurgin.
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The Advertiser
17 hours ago
- The Advertiser
BBL says 'never say never' to Christmas Day game
The BBL's attitude to Christmas Day cricket is "never say never" but demand to play on the biggest public holiday of the year isn't there. Cricket has toyed with the idea of playing on Christmas Day since the BBL started in 2011, even introducing Christmas Eve games in 2019. But they were scrapped in 2023, indicating a move into December 25 is unlikely in the near future. The NBL has played games on Christmas Day since 2022, but remains the only Australian sporting competition to do so. "Never say never," BBL boss Alistair Dobson said, after announcing the fixture for the 2025-26 competition. "It's one of the ones where each year, when we sit down to lay out how the season might look. "Ultimately, the interest and the demand from our key stakeholders probably isn't there right now, whether that's broadcasters or clubs, to push into that particular day. "It's not something that we need to put in there from a fixturing perspective, so it wasn't on the agenda for this year." The upcoming BBL will begin at Perth's Optus Stadium on December 14 when the Scorchers host the Sydney Sixers. Reigning champions Hobart's first match will be at home two nights later in a rematch of last season's final against the Sydney Thunder. The BBL final will be held on January 25, meaning there again will be no cricket played on Australia Day. Last season proved to be a serious return to form for the BBL, backed up by increased crowds and TV ratings. Dobson believes the BBL has the length - 40 matches - spot on. "The momentum we've had both from an attendance and TV perspective the last couple of seasons, suggests that was the right move," Dobson said of the reduction in games three seasons ago. "The fans and our players and our broadcasters are all supporting that." Dobson believes it's the "season we've been waiting for", with the BBL to start during the Ashes, while Australian stars could play significant roles for franchises at the back end of the tournament. International players are likely to use the BBL as a runway into the T20 World Cup, to be played in Sri Lanka and India in February. "It's fair to say we earmarked this season from a while back," Dobson said. "All those things in the mix ... so I'm convinced this is as good a year as we've had almost ever." The BBL's attitude to Christmas Day cricket is "never say never" but demand to play on the biggest public holiday of the year isn't there. Cricket has toyed with the idea of playing on Christmas Day since the BBL started in 2011, even introducing Christmas Eve games in 2019. But they were scrapped in 2023, indicating a move into December 25 is unlikely in the near future. The NBL has played games on Christmas Day since 2022, but remains the only Australian sporting competition to do so. "Never say never," BBL boss Alistair Dobson said, after announcing the fixture for the 2025-26 competition. "It's one of the ones where each year, when we sit down to lay out how the season might look. "Ultimately, the interest and the demand from our key stakeholders probably isn't there right now, whether that's broadcasters or clubs, to push into that particular day. "It's not something that we need to put in there from a fixturing perspective, so it wasn't on the agenda for this year." The upcoming BBL will begin at Perth's Optus Stadium on December 14 when the Scorchers host the Sydney Sixers. Reigning champions Hobart's first match will be at home two nights later in a rematch of last season's final against the Sydney Thunder. The BBL final will be held on January 25, meaning there again will be no cricket played on Australia Day. Last season proved to be a serious return to form for the BBL, backed up by increased crowds and TV ratings. Dobson believes the BBL has the length - 40 matches - spot on. "The momentum we've had both from an attendance and TV perspective the last couple of seasons, suggests that was the right move," Dobson said of the reduction in games three seasons ago. "The fans and our players and our broadcasters are all supporting that." Dobson believes it's the "season we've been waiting for", with the BBL to start during the Ashes, while Australian stars could play significant roles for franchises at the back end of the tournament. International players are likely to use the BBL as a runway into the T20 World Cup, to be played in Sri Lanka and India in February. "It's fair to say we earmarked this season from a while back," Dobson said. "All those things in the mix ... so I'm convinced this is as good a year as we've had almost ever." The BBL's attitude to Christmas Day cricket is "never say never" but demand to play on the biggest public holiday of the year isn't there. 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The Advertiser
17 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Student's Wimbledon fairytale over as ace serves lesson
There are students everywhere at Wimbledon. Serving in the restaurants, watering the plants, helping out in the media centre. It's a much sought-after summer job. Among those working here is Oliver Tarvet from St Albans, an ancient town just north of London, who is back home for the holidays from the University of San Diego. There he is majoring in communications, with a minor in marketing, and he will certainly have a story to tell and sell when he returns to California for his final year. Tarvet, 21, has a different role to most students at Wimbledon. He's actually playing, and on Wednesday he found himself on Centre Court enjoying a fairytale beyond imagination. The world No.733 was given a wildcard into qualifying, unexpectedly parlayed that into a main-draw place, then won his opening-round match against No.117-ranked Leonardo Riedi to earn an encounter with defending champ and world No.2 Carlos Alacaraz on the sport's most famous court. That's where the dream ended, the Spaniard winning 6-1 6-4 6-4. Except it didn't, really. Tarvet winning nine games was some achievement, and one in which every point was roared on by the home crowd. In the first set he forced eight break points, in the second he took one to go up 2-0, repeating the feat to lead 3-2 in the third. Alcaraz, obviously, prevailed in the end, but Tarvet looks to be a name to remember. Next door on No.1 Court on Wednesday there was an upset home win, with former semi-finalist Cameron Norrie stunning American 12th seed Frances Tiafoe. Norrie is now ranked 61, lost in the first round of both his warm-up events, and had never previously beaten a top-20 player at Wimbledon. But that mattered little as the British No.3 came back from losing the first set to win 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-5. "I'm enjoying my tennis more than ever. It was really nice coming up to get into the top 10, but it's just tough, really tough, to stay there," Norrie said. "It's nice to hunt the other guys. I was coming into the match today against Frances being the underdog, playing for free. "It was a lot easier than in the past when I previously played Frances. I was the highest seeded player, the pressure was on me." Norrie now plays Mattia Bellucci after the Italian beat 23rd seed Jiri Lehecka. The Czech had been seen as an outside bet after reaching the Queen's Club final last month, but lost 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 7-5. Elsewhere rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca was overcome with emotion after beating Jenson Brooksby 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-4. The teenager was noisily supported by his compatriots as he became the first Brazilian man to reach the third round since Thomaz Bellucci in 2010. "It's something to be proud of," said Fonseca, who is playing in his fourth tour-level event on grass. "I'm very happy the way that I've developed on this surface, I'm evolving, so I'm happy with it." American fifth seed Taylor Fritz was taken to five sets before overcoming Canadian Gabriel Diallo under the No.1 Court roof. Russian seeds Andrey Rublev (No.14) and Karen Khachanov (No.17) both came back from dropping the opening set to win, defeating South African Lloyd Harris and Japan's Shintaro Mochizuki in four and five sets respectively. There are students everywhere at Wimbledon. Serving in the restaurants, watering the plants, helping out in the media centre. It's a much sought-after summer job. Among those working here is Oliver Tarvet from St Albans, an ancient town just north of London, who is back home for the holidays from the University of San Diego. There he is majoring in communications, with a minor in marketing, and he will certainly have a story to tell and sell when he returns to California for his final year. Tarvet, 21, has a different role to most students at Wimbledon. He's actually playing, and on Wednesday he found himself on Centre Court enjoying a fairytale beyond imagination. The world No.733 was given a wildcard into qualifying, unexpectedly parlayed that into a main-draw place, then won his opening-round match against No.117-ranked Leonardo Riedi to earn an encounter with defending champ and world No.2 Carlos Alacaraz on the sport's most famous court. That's where the dream ended, the Spaniard winning 6-1 6-4 6-4. Except it didn't, really. Tarvet winning nine games was some achievement, and one in which every point was roared on by the home crowd. In the first set he forced eight break points, in the second he took one to go up 2-0, repeating the feat to lead 3-2 in the third. Alcaraz, obviously, prevailed in the end, but Tarvet looks to be a name to remember. Next door on No.1 Court on Wednesday there was an upset home win, with former semi-finalist Cameron Norrie stunning American 12th seed Frances Tiafoe. Norrie is now ranked 61, lost in the first round of both his warm-up events, and had never previously beaten a top-20 player at Wimbledon. But that mattered little as the British No.3 came back from losing the first set to win 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-5. "I'm enjoying my tennis more than ever. It was really nice coming up to get into the top 10, but it's just tough, really tough, to stay there," Norrie said. "It's nice to hunt the other guys. I was coming into the match today against Frances being the underdog, playing for free. "It was a lot easier than in the past when I previously played Frances. I was the highest seeded player, the pressure was on me." Norrie now plays Mattia Bellucci after the Italian beat 23rd seed Jiri Lehecka. The Czech had been seen as an outside bet after reaching the Queen's Club final last month, but lost 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 7-5. Elsewhere rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca was overcome with emotion after beating Jenson Brooksby 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-4. The teenager was noisily supported by his compatriots as he became the first Brazilian man to reach the third round since Thomaz Bellucci in 2010. "It's something to be proud of," said Fonseca, who is playing in his fourth tour-level event on grass. "I'm very happy the way that I've developed on this surface, I'm evolving, so I'm happy with it." American fifth seed Taylor Fritz was taken to five sets before overcoming Canadian Gabriel Diallo under the No.1 Court roof. Russian seeds Andrey Rublev (No.14) and Karen Khachanov (No.17) both came back from dropping the opening set to win, defeating South African Lloyd Harris and Japan's Shintaro Mochizuki in four and five sets respectively. There are students everywhere at Wimbledon. Serving in the restaurants, watering the plants, helping out in the media centre. It's a much sought-after summer job. Among those working here is Oliver Tarvet from St Albans, an ancient town just north of London, who is back home for the holidays from the University of San Diego. There he is majoring in communications, with a minor in marketing, and he will certainly have a story to tell and sell when he returns to California for his final year. Tarvet, 21, has a different role to most students at Wimbledon. He's actually playing, and on Wednesday he found himself on Centre Court enjoying a fairytale beyond imagination. The world No.733 was given a wildcard into qualifying, unexpectedly parlayed that into a main-draw place, then won his opening-round match against No.117-ranked Leonardo Riedi to earn an encounter with defending champ and world No.2 Carlos Alacaraz on the sport's most famous court. That's where the dream ended, the Spaniard winning 6-1 6-4 6-4. Except it didn't, really. Tarvet winning nine games was some achievement, and one in which every point was roared on by the home crowd. In the first set he forced eight break points, in the second he took one to go up 2-0, repeating the feat to lead 3-2 in the third. Alcaraz, obviously, prevailed in the end, but Tarvet looks to be a name to remember. Next door on No.1 Court on Wednesday there was an upset home win, with former semi-finalist Cameron Norrie stunning American 12th seed Frances Tiafoe. Norrie is now ranked 61, lost in the first round of both his warm-up events, and had never previously beaten a top-20 player at Wimbledon. But that mattered little as the British No.3 came back from losing the first set to win 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-5. "I'm enjoying my tennis more than ever. It was really nice coming up to get into the top 10, but it's just tough, really tough, to stay there," Norrie said. "It's nice to hunt the other guys. I was coming into the match today against Frances being the underdog, playing for free. "It was a lot easier than in the past when I previously played Frances. I was the highest seeded player, the pressure was on me." Norrie now plays Mattia Bellucci after the Italian beat 23rd seed Jiri Lehecka. The Czech had been seen as an outside bet after reaching the Queen's Club final last month, but lost 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 7-5. Elsewhere rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca was overcome with emotion after beating Jenson Brooksby 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-4. The teenager was noisily supported by his compatriots as he became the first Brazilian man to reach the third round since Thomaz Bellucci in 2010. "It's something to be proud of," said Fonseca, who is playing in his fourth tour-level event on grass. "I'm very happy the way that I've developed on this surface, I'm evolving, so I'm happy with it." American fifth seed Taylor Fritz was taken to five sets before overcoming Canadian Gabriel Diallo under the No.1 Court roof. Russian seeds Andrey Rublev (No.14) and Karen Khachanov (No.17) both came back from dropping the opening set to win, defeating South African Lloyd Harris and Japan's Shintaro Mochizuki in four and five sets respectively. There are students everywhere at Wimbledon. Serving in the restaurants, watering the plants, helping out in the media centre. It's a much sought-after summer job. Among those working here is Oliver Tarvet from St Albans, an ancient town just north of London, who is back home for the holidays from the University of San Diego. There he is majoring in communications, with a minor in marketing, and he will certainly have a story to tell and sell when he returns to California for his final year. Tarvet, 21, has a different role to most students at Wimbledon. He's actually playing, and on Wednesday he found himself on Centre Court enjoying a fairytale beyond imagination. The world No.733 was given a wildcard into qualifying, unexpectedly parlayed that into a main-draw place, then won his opening-round match against No.117-ranked Leonardo Riedi to earn an encounter with defending champ and world No.2 Carlos Alacaraz on the sport's most famous court. That's where the dream ended, the Spaniard winning 6-1 6-4 6-4. Except it didn't, really. Tarvet winning nine games was some achievement, and one in which every point was roared on by the home crowd. In the first set he forced eight break points, in the second he took one to go up 2-0, repeating the feat to lead 3-2 in the third. Alcaraz, obviously, prevailed in the end, but Tarvet looks to be a name to remember. Next door on No.1 Court on Wednesday there was an upset home win, with former semi-finalist Cameron Norrie stunning American 12th seed Frances Tiafoe. Norrie is now ranked 61, lost in the first round of both his warm-up events, and had never previously beaten a top-20 player at Wimbledon. But that mattered little as the British No.3 came back from losing the first set to win 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-5. "I'm enjoying my tennis more than ever. It was really nice coming up to get into the top 10, but it's just tough, really tough, to stay there," Norrie said. "It's nice to hunt the other guys. I was coming into the match today against Frances being the underdog, playing for free. "It was a lot easier than in the past when I previously played Frances. I was the highest seeded player, the pressure was on me." Norrie now plays Mattia Bellucci after the Italian beat 23rd seed Jiri Lehecka. The Czech had been seen as an outside bet after reaching the Queen's Club final last month, but lost 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 7-5. Elsewhere rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca was overcome with emotion after beating Jenson Brooksby 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-4. The teenager was noisily supported by his compatriots as he became the first Brazilian man to reach the third round since Thomaz Bellucci in 2010. "It's something to be proud of," said Fonseca, who is playing in his fourth tour-level event on grass. "I'm very happy the way that I've developed on this surface, I'm evolving, so I'm happy with it." American fifth seed Taylor Fritz was taken to five sets before overcoming Canadian Gabriel Diallo under the No.1 Court roof. Russian seeds Andrey Rublev (No.14) and Karen Khachanov (No.17) both came back from dropping the opening set to win, defeating South African Lloyd Harris and Japan's Shintaro Mochizuki in four and five sets respectively.
7NEWS
17 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Christmas Day cricket not on the agenda as BBL releases fixture
The BBL's attitude to Christmas Day cricket is 'never say never' but demand to play on the biggest public holiday of the year isn't there. Cricket has toyed with the idea of playing on Christmas Day since the BBL started in 2011, even introducing Christmas Eve games in 2019. But they were scrapped in 2023, indicating a move into December 25 is unlikely in the near future. The NBL has played games on Christmas Day since 2022, but remains the only Australian sporting competition to do so. 'Never say never,' BBL boss Alistair Dobson said, after announcing the fixture for the 2025-26 competition. 'It's one of the ones where each year, when we sit down to lay out how the season might look. 'Ultimately, the interest and the demand from our key stakeholders probably isn't there right now, whether that's broadcasters or clubs, to push into that particular day. 'It's not something that we need to put in there from a fixturing perspective, so it wasn't on the agenda for this year.' The upcoming BBL will begin at Perth's Optus Stadium on December 14 when the Scorchers host the Sydney Sixers. Reigning champions Hobart's first match will be at home two nights later in a rematch of last season's final against the Sydney Thunder. The BBL final will be held on January 25, meaning there again will be no cricket played on Australia Day. Last season proved to be a serious return to form for the BBL, backed up by increased crowds and TV ratings. Dobson believes the BBL has the length - 40 matches - spot on. 'The momentum we've had both from an attendance and TV perspective the last couple of seasons, suggests that was the right move,' Dobson said of the reduction in games three seasons ago. 'The fans and our players and our broadcasters are all supporting that.' Dobson believes it's the 'season we've been waiting for', with the BBL to start during the Ashes, while Australian stars could play significant roles for franchises at the back end of the tournament. International players are likely to use the BBL as a runway into the T20 World Cup, to be played in Sri Lanka and India in February. 'It's fair to say we earmarked this season from a while back,' Dobson said. 'All those things in the mix ... so I'm convinced this is as good a year as we've had almost ever.'
