The Sydney Kings have a chance to erase their 2020 grand final series "nightmare" in a classic David vs Goliath sporting contest, despite the Tasmania JackJumpers unit boasting more NBL championship-winning experience.
The Kings, who have gone 17 years without a title since winning their first three in consecutive seasons, are warm favourites for the best-of-five game series starting in Sydney on Friday evening.
The JackJumpers -- who are striving to become only the second Tasmanian team to win the competition after Launceston in 1981 -- have exceeded all expectations in their debut season.
"The Sydney Kings come with that expectation, obviously Tassie are the new guys on the block that no one picked to be anywhere near the finals, so it makes for a David and Goliath type scenario and that's exciting," Kings guard Shaun Bruce told AAP.
Sydney will be contesting their seventh grand final series, two years after they withdrew from their showdown with the Perth Wildcats after three games because of COVID-19 concerns.
Captain and forward Xavier Cooks and Bruce, who will make his 250th NBL appearance in Game 1, are the only remaining Kings players from thier previous grand final.
"I think that 2020 year gives everyone who was a part of that nightmares, a little bit," Bruce said.
"It was an extremely tough decision to make by the club and I'd be lying If I said there wasn't times when I was wondering whether I'd get back there (to the grand final series) at all.
"I know how special it is to get here and how hard it is to get here."
Brucealso played in a losing grand final series for the Cairns Taipans in 2015.
The JackJumpers have a larger contingent of successful grand final series personnel among their ranks than Sydney.
Captain Clint Steindl won two championships with Perth and coach Scott Roth and his lead assistant Jacob Chance were part of the Wildcats staff for one of those, while Sam McDaniel was part of Melbourne United's title-winning team last year.
None of Sydney's roster have played in an NBL championship-winning team, though assistant coach Kevin Lisch was part of Perth's 2010 successful side and Ian Clark won an NBA title with Golden State Warriors.
McDaniel is the only Tasmanian-born player on the JackJumpers senior roster.
"I was lucky enough to win one last year but to do it back-to-back with different teams and to do it in the state I was born would be incredible," McDaniel said.
"For the team and for the state in general it would be a very proud moment."
The series looms as a clash of styles with Sydney playing an up-tempo style and the hard-nosed JackJumpers trying to use their trademark physicality to slow things down.
"We have nothing to lose, the experts say we're not supposed to be here," JackJumpers' guard Josh Adams said.
"We've earned it every step of the way, our confidence is sky-high because of our body of work."
Roth said Sydney, who have Clark and league MVP Jaylen Adams in their ranks, oozed with talent yet Bruce was not accepting that was enough to guarantee success.
"There's a lot of talk about our talent but I think we work as hard as anybody," Bruce said.
