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SYDNEY Kings should swallow their stupid pride and make a long-term commitment to hiring Rob Beveridge as Adam Forde's successor in the Harbour City.

Forde and the Kings today made public which privately has been speculated for some time, that he would not be continuing in their NBL head coach role beyond the rest of this season.

Forde cited "family circumstances" and there's no real reason to suspect otherwise, coaching taking its toll on many, especially in Sydney, where expectations can be unusually high. Just ask Andrew Gaze.

Before the Kings changed management, Beveridge, arguably the best Australian coach available who's NOT in the NBL,  was highly sought by the club to continue there after his time at Illawarra concluded.

But new management came in and, not unexpectedly wanting to plant its own imprimatur on the Kings, instead appointed Will Weaver.

Weaver's unexpected premature departure led to Forde's elevation from the assistant's seat.

Now Sydney is back to the drawing board and, if it wants its fans to truly believe it is serious about chasing a title dominated by Perth, New Zealand and Melbourne for much of this century, signing Beveridge is a no-brainer.

   ROUND 18 (Part 2)

WILL Will Magnay's return to Brisbane today as a member of the champion Wildcats be one of triumph or despair? Perth rarely loses twice in a row but the Bullets have plenty to play for and many firing weapons to challenge the Wildcats defensively. Brisbane also has sufficient big bodies to send at Perth so Bullets fans would be smart to check the odds and take a punt on their home team. There's no way Perth doesn't start favourite though.

AT home again, this falls into a long line of Illawarra "must wins" when it hosts New Zealand, the Breakers so close now to heading back acroiss the Tasman they can almost feel it. At their best, which we only have seen fleetingly, the Breakers are as good as most anyone in the league. (See "games against Perth"). But the difference here just could be the level of desperation because the Hawks need this for their playoff campaign to stay viable. New Zealand doesn't.

IT'S Throwdown #Whatever (no-one outside Victoria gives a toss, let's be honest) and it pits together a United team coming home from a rare road win at Perth against a South East Melbourne team basking in its rout of Cairns. Chris Goulding post-win at The Jungle, rallied his troops at centre-court and reminded them that "this win doesn't mean anything if we lose on Sunday." In other words, let's enjoy this for the moment, we still have the regular season championship and homecourt through the finals to cement.

DOES Sydney rally around Coach Forde in its home game against Adelaide or do the 36ers grow in  stature, well-aware last week they recovered from a 16-point deficit to beat the Kings, going away? Conner Henry is still preaching the Final Four fantasy to his 13-17 Sixers and if they buy in, there's no telling what they could produce. Xavier Cooks though wasn't a factor last round and he could prove the X-factor on a team in transition this time around. So many variables and two coaches with substitution-mania. In truth, this is a coin toss.

THERE would be a Royal Commission inquiry if Cairns, even at home, could summon an upset against defending champion Perth. The Taipans simply do not have the manpower to compete successfully for the duration. Yes, the Orange have played with some heart, though it was stuttering at SEM, and maybe they can cause the Wildcats a few mild issues. But as Perth continues to settle Will Magnay into its rotation, the best Taipans fans can hope for is more NBA highlights with Cam Oliver throwing down dunks for Houston.

Safest Bet of the Round: We're nearing the end of the season so you know you soon won't have to put up with those God-awful repeat after repeat after repeat same ads that help pay for the television coverage.