Sydney Kings coach Brian Goorjian admits the biggest challenge to their NBL title defence is keeping the hunger as the team goes from the hunter to the hunted this season.
Yet a slew of recruits are ensuring the Kings stay fresh and firing on their quest for back-to-back titles.
Joining forces at the Kings with established stars including former NBA champion Matthew Dellavedova, newcomers Will Johnston, Jayden Stone and Harry Wessels all picked up valuable minutes in the team's opening-round 21-point thumping of Cairns.
"The people that we've brought here really haven't done anything yet in the league, and there's a hunger, a desire (with them)," Goorjian told media.
"The guys that came back, a lot of them sacrificed money or opportunity to stay (at the Kings) because they enjoyed it and they wanted to do it again.
"What I felt about the group was a lot of youth, a lot of energy, and that's hard to do after you've won one (championship)."
The Kings went back-to-back in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 campaigns and are looking to replicate the feat and truly cement their dynasty.
There were other challenges to their preparation, with championship series MVP Kendric Davis missing the pre-season over passport issues.
Days after stepping off the plane back to Australia, the American shone against the Taipans with a team-leading 26 points.
Kings owner Luc Longley says there will be "no excuses'' for any Sydney basketball team finishing outside the top four, with a state-of-the-art training facility slated to open by the end of the year.
"You should have a word to us if we drop out of the top four," he only half-joked to the media.
The Kings will look to continue their winning ways this Sunday when they host the Hawks, who were only one win off the play-in game last season.
Goorjian knows the Kings have no easy-beats this season because every team is ready to compete, touting the league's parity as a strength.
"The hardest thing for everybody now is to say who are the bottom four," the Kings coach said.
"Our schedule is brutal, and we addressed that before we started the season.
"This is why we have the depth, and then there's not one game that is, you know, ours. You're in a fistfight (every week)."
