Here's why Nick Kay is the Australian Boomers' Mr Flex Tape

He does it all.

As the Australian Boomers embark on the quest for a medal in Paris, I will be contributing as an analysis for

The Pick and Roll

on their Podium Podcast series.

During the past two weeks of preparing for this fantastic opportunity, I encountered a player I had never heard of and was instantly blown away by his game.

If you’re all about highlights, stats, and how deep someone's bag is, then the Nick Kay experience isn’t for you.

Appreciating Kay’s game is reserved for the basketball connoisseur, someone who is capable of putting on the tape and watching something other than just the ball, someone who understands it’s chess, not checkers.

America, please allow me to introduce you to Mr. Nick Kay.

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After the Australian Boomers’ warmup game against Serbia, I had my second call with the guys from The Pick and Roll to discuss the Boomers and how the team was shaping up. There were a lot of storylines to get through, but the one I could not wait to talk about surprised the hell out of them: Nick Kay’s importance to this Boomers team. 

For the Americans that don’t know, Nick, this gentleman pictured above with the crisply lined up beard, is Nick Kay. Credit: FIBA

Kay plays with a combination of intelligence, skill, and toughness. I often found myself thinking, this Kay guy is everywhere; he’s plugging up every hole defensively and seeing all the holes in the opposing defense. He consistently created opportunities for himself and his teammates, all while keeping the team’s offense moving on schedule.

His game made me think of the iconic Flex Tape infomercials; when I mentioned them to the guys, they looked at me with utter confusion, almost as if I’d declared Sydney the superior coffee city over Melbourne. For those Australians that have never seen them, the Flex Tape infomercials have a bit of a cult following here in America; this one has 33 million views on YouTube and climaxes when Phil Swift, the maestro of proceedings, saws a steel boat in half, tapes it back together using only Flex Tape, and then takes it out for a joy ride on the lake like it’s brand new!

Flex Tape is a do-it-all tape that covers up any issue, no matter how minuscule or severe, and ensures that everything keeps running. 

Nick Kay is the Boomers’ Flex Tape; he does whatever it takes to keep the Boomers machine running. No task is too big or too small; it doesn’t matter if he’s shutting down Victor Wembanyama or diving on a loose ball for an extra possession. It’s all in a day’s work for the Boomers’ Flex Tape, Nick Kay.

Basketball Intelligence:

If you watch enough of Nick Kay's tape, his basketball intelligence will begin to leap off the screen and smack you in the face.

You’re As Fast As You Can Anticipate

Denver’s director of player development, Ognjen Stojaković, once used this phrase to describe Nikola Jokić’s game. The sentiment is that it doesn’t matter that Jokić isn’t the most athletic player on the court; he’s the smartest, making him faster than everyone else.

This quote has stayed with me as I have watched Nick Kay’s defense on tape for the past two weeks.

Team Defence:

Ball pressure is a top priority for this Boomers team, and you can see it in everything they do defensively, from Dyson Daniels and Danté Exum hounding opposing point guards 94 feet from their basket to the aggressive pick-and-roll coverage Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian has elected to deploy.

The Boomer’s base pick and roll coverage during these Olympic warmup games has been “level” to “hedge.” They bring the screener’s defender up to the level of the screen and have them hedge hard at the ball handler.

It’s an aggressive pick-and-roll coverage that embodies this Boomers team’s identity: tough, assertive, and intelligent. They will be the aggressors when they play in Paris; they will punch the other team in the mouth first, not vice versa. 

If done right, the coverage can create turnovers and take the opposing team entirely off their offensive schedule; if done wrong, it can give up wide-open layups and high-percentage catch-and-shoot threes. It’s a high-risk, high-reward type of coverage. 

Often, this coverage places two defenders on the ball 30 feet away from the basket for longer than a split second. If the ball handler can get the ball out of this situation quickly, it creates a 4v3 opportunity that can devastate the defense. 

The keys to this coverage are:

1. Good ball pressure from both players involved at the level of the pick-and-roll action.

The difference between bad (McVeigh) and good (Kay) ball pressure. Without this initial pressure, the coverage has no chance.

2. Early help from the first help defender, the low man help (LMH). 

Nick Kay is one of the best LMH defenders I’ve seen; his tape pops! He’s the primary reason why Goorjian doesn’t see this coverage as high risk but rather as a moderate risk with a high reward. 

Nick Kay playing as a Low Man Help defender In the Boomers’ “base” pick and roll coverage Level → Hedge. The Wemby possession is a masterclass from Nick Kay (SOUND ON).

Kay is a true defensive quarterback. He reads the play three steps ahead and communicates early with his teammates to ensure everyone sees the same picture. This early communication puts himself and the team in the best possible position to keep the defensive shell together on the backside while the two defenders, at the level of the pick-and-roll, aim to apply maximum pressure to the ball.

Individual defense:

Kay shines in the macro concept of team defense, but this isn’t the only area where he stands out; zoom into more of a micro level, and he’s also a stout primary defender, whether guarding in the post or out on the perimeter. 

Kay is so good as a primary defender because he is rarely out of position when his player gets the ball. He consistently does the work early, which shows up in every aspect of his game.

Kay keenly understands his advantages and where he is most vulnerable against his defensive assignment. He does a superb job of doing his work early (before his player has the ball) with body positioning so as not to get caught in troublesome spots. He also applies constant pressure to his matchup in the areas where he feels he has an advantage.

Kay’s matchup against Victor Wembanyama is a primary example of his macro and micro defensive genius. He leaned into a tactic that I’ve seen used by the best defenders in the world to frustrate and neutralize great post players: leverage.

It’s the most challenging defensive tactic to deploy against the best post players like Wembanyama because the defender must be two plays ahead of the offensive player. It's exceptionally difficult to execute when you’re playing against greatness; it requires an off-the-chart level of basketball intelligence and work rate - both of which Kay has in spades!

Kay was consistently a step ahead of Wembanyama throughout the game. He was the aggressor, consistently hitting first in every action and blowing up Wembanyama’s opportunities early before Wembanyama could get the ball. 

Nick Kay is always reading the play early. He knows when to hit first and when to play cat-and-mouse as a primary defender (SOUND ON).

When Wembanyama did get the ball, Kay immediately took up his airspace, getting his hips under Wembanyama’s and causing him all types of stress as a ball handler. France tried to use Wembanyama to trigger their offensive actions, but Kay’s ball pressure pushed the starting point out so far that it took their offense out of rhythm, time after time. 

He was a one-man wrecking crew, creating opportunities for his teammates to be aggressive defenders behind the ball, consistently leading to bad shots and turnovers.

The Offensive Conduit:

Nick Kay isn’t going to be the engine of this Boomer's offense—that’s Josh Giddey. He won’t lead them in scoring while in Paris—that’s a job for Captain Australia, Patty Mills. However, there isn’t a more important player to ensuring this Boomer's offense runs smoothly than Nick Kay. His job is to be the conduit that connects it all, a genuinely thankless but vital job. 

The Boomers lean on Kay’s offensive versatility to unlock complicated defensive puzzles. Two actions stand out above the rest when talking about how Kay’s versatility: 

1. Ball-handling - Kay’s ability to handle allows the Boomers to get into dribble handoffs (DHOs) in transition quickly (if Kay is pushing) or by quickly changing sides of the floor (if Kay is in the trail spot). Getting into these actions quickly against a scrambling defense can be devastating. 

Nick Kay uses his ball-handling ability to create advantage opportunities for teammates (SOUND ON).

2. Where Is My Space (WIMS) -  pick and rolls, spot ups, cuts, or DHOs. It doesn’t matter what the offensive action is; Kay is a master at knowing what space the defense is giving up and how to get himself into that space effectively. He consistently creates advantages for himself to shoot great in-rhythm and on-balance shots or move the ball onto a teammate if help defense is onto him early to keep the advantage for the Boomers. 

Nick Kay’s great WIMS reads (SOUND ON).

Kay’s offensive game is the walking embodiment of my favorite phrase to say to clients: “Everything [done] right, you know, every possession.” This means don’t let the makes and misses control your game or emotions; stay committed to the process, and everything will be okay.

The One Stat That Matters:

The beauty of the Nick Kay experience exists deep in the details of each possession, far beyond the surface-level standard stat sheet. It’s 4D chess, not checkers.

He will never consistently win you a fantasy league title or help you hit on your prop bet parlays. 

There’s only one stat you can count on with Nick Kay: wins. He’s been a winner at every stop of his career, and I do not expect that to change in Paris or beyond.

The highest compliment you can pay to a player is that everyone loves to play with them, and no one likes to play against them.

That’s Nick Kay — the Boomers’ Mr Flex Tape.

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