Sydney Kings coach ejected and Kouat Noi’s nose busted in wild finish to NBL semi-final

Sydney Kings coach Chase Buford has escaped suspension for the NBL grand final qualification decider against Cairns on Sunday following a bloody, foul-mouthed end to their semi-final on Friday.

For the entire NBL season, the Kings have been the team to beat and an almost unbackable favourite to go back-to-back after claiming the 2021/22 NBL crown.

Now one moment of madness has thrown all of that in jeopardy, with two key players injured and the coach on his last warning with the NBL.

Buford continued his spray against the officials as he left the court following his ejection in Cairns on Friday night

Cairns forced a third and deciding game in their semi-final series with an upset 93-82 win in far north Queensland and the tension all spilled over with about two minutes left to play.

As Cairns import DJ Hogg was attacking with the ball, Kings player Kouat Noi reached in and there was a clash of heads, leaving Koi prone on the floor and bleeding from the nose.

Instead of calling the foul on the reach in, referee Chris Reid declared that Noi had flopped or faked the collision.

That resulted in Kings coach Chase Buford storming onto the court to abuse the official. 

‘Let me talk to you for a moment. How the f** was that a flop warning? He’s bleeding. You missed it. Admit it, admit it. I’ll walk away when you … you f**ed it up’

Buford then stormed to the sideline to talk to his players and check on the welfare of Noi, but his brain explosion was not over yet.

 Again, he pulled the officials over and continued his foul-mouthed spray: ‘He’s got a broken f***ing nose now and a flop warning’.

Noi falls to the ground after a head clash with Hogg. Referee Chris Reid can be seen signalling a technical foul for a flop

Noi remained on the court, bleeding from the nose and receiving medical attention while his coach remonstrated with the officials

The Buford lost the plot completely and launched an inaudible attack that pushed the referees’ patience too far, resulting in a double technical foul and ejection from the game.

 ‘How long is this going to be allowed to happen?’ commentator Jack Heverin asked.

‘There’s a line, then there’s a line.’

‘He wants to be thrown, he’s been thrown,’ fellow commentator Liam Santamaria said.

Buford also received two code of conduct warnings in the grand final series last season and attended anger management in the off-season.

‘What I said was totally out of line, just an immature and emotional reaction to a play,’ Buford said today.

‘I’ve got to stop getting involved in personal battles with the officials.’

Andrew Gaze, regarded as the greatest Australian basketball player of all time, said the whole situation could have been avoided if the correct call had been made in the first place. 

‘Call the reach in foul then you don’t need to call the flop,’ he said.

‘The left arm (of Noi) comes out, a lot of contact, a clash of the heads. There was the foul.

‘Instead, it explodes into this.’

Sydney Kings player Tim Soares appears to make contact with the head of Cairns Taipans player Sam Waardenburg in their NBL semi-final match in Cairns on Friday night

Xavier Cooks of the Kings sits injured on the bench after leaving the match in the third quarter. He is in major doubt for the third and deciding match in Sydney on Sunday

Noi will now be in doubt for Sunday’s deciding match at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney along with league MVP Xavier Cooks (ankle). To add insult to injury, Cooks also received a $2000 for a breach of the NBL code of conduct.

Later in the match player Tim Soares escalated the incident even further. 

With only two minutes left, Soares copped his fifth foul after off-the-ball contact with Cairns’ Sam Waardenburg in which he appeared to make contact with the head.

‘Credit to Cairns, they kicked our ass,’ Buford said after the match.

‘From the opening tip they played with more juice, they played with a desperation like their season was on the line and we didn’t match them.

‘That’s super disappointing.’