The last thing Xavier Cooks wants to do is to make the Sydney Kings reaching another NBL Championship Series about him and with Brian Goorjian, Matthew Dellavedova and Makuach Maluach to pump up, that's an easy task.

Cooks is fully aware that the way his season ended last year meant NBL26 has been somewhat of a redemption arc for him, and even after he had some early season hiccups or was struggled at the foul line, he's just got down to work.

Now in the Kings' two Playoffs wins over the Perth Wildcats, he went 6/7 at the free-throw line after going 43/96 at 45 per cent until Sydney's current 13-game winning streak started.

The two-time championship winning captain, Championship Series MVP and league MVP has ended up having a standout season. He was named to the All-Second Team and even though it's not about himself, he is proud of the work he puts in.

"I made a big mistake last year and I've been working my tail off to make up for it and I'm grateful to be in this position," Cooks said after the Kings won in Perth on Saturday night to advance to the Championship Series.

"I'm just happy the two went in tonight and helped us get the win, and I think it's my job as a basketball player to get better at things I've got to work on and I'm definitely in the lab all season on my free throws.

"It's such a big mental thing and I've got some good confidence right now from these last couple of games and hopefully I can bring it to the Grand Final."

As much as Cooks played a key role in Sydney advancing to what will be his and the team's fourth Championship Series in the past seven seasons, he was focused on how lucky he felt to be surrounded by who he was.

That included a man who has been part of the past two losing Championship Series with Melbourne Untied and NBA champion, Dellavedova, and Cooks can't help but be inspired by the four-time Olympian.

When Kristian Doolittle was looking unstoppable for the Wildcats in the third quarter back in Game 1, Dellavedova spent the rest of the game hounding him and making his life as tough as possible.

He then did similarly for a lot of Game 2 on Saturday night and was a key reason why Doolittle ended up shooting 3/15 for 15 points and couldn't ever really find any flow.

"I absolutely love it (having him as a teammate) and just watching him work his absolute tail off there for all the minutes he played and to ask for a sub because he's trying so hard," Cooks said.

"His physicality he brings and the wear down factor, to keep Doolittle to 3/15 who's an All-NBL elite level player, I think it's a wear down effect that Delly does and he just plays his arse off every single game.

"We're lucky to have him."

The addition of Torrey Craig has obviously been significant, but a big reason the Kings have kept flying after losing Bul Kuol is the way Maluach has grabbed his chances.

Initially that was making a defensive impact, but now his offensive game is flowing highlighted by his career-best 23 points with eight rebounds in Game 2 triumph.

"He just makes winning plays and I even go back to the last game and that block he had on JLA (Jo Lual-Acuil Jr), I think that won us the game with the momentum we had from that," Cooks said.

"Then tonight, he made huge plays down the stretch with little mid-range pull ups, he plays his tail off and he's guarding the best player and has a huge role on offence now.

"There's no better person for it, he's the nicest guy and he's worked his absolute tail off to get here."

It's not just his Kings teammates that Cooks can't speak highly of, but what's most impressed him about coach Goorjian is the way he continues to adapt himself to lead a team to an NBL Championship Series for the first time in 17 years.

"It's unbelievable and I think coaching goes so much further than the X's and O's, it's about knowing your players and the relationships, and reading the room and things like that," Cooks said.

"He's just an elite coach like that and with the way we started this year and changed our identity, and how he rallied the boys together, and the love that this team has for this man is unbelievable.

"I keep saying this, but we're so lucky to have him as well and he's just such a great coach."

Chris Pike

Cooks thankful for Kings teammates, coach