"What you see is what you get": McIntyre praises new coach

New Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah has now been in Australia for almost a week. The former Rockets assistant has arrived in Sydney from Houston and, according to assistant Fleur McIntyre, has hit the ground running.

Abdelfattah has been chosen by the Kings to replace outgoing two-time title-winning coach Chase Buford following a coaching career that has seen him win two G-League titles with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers – one as an assistant and one as a head coach.

He’s overseen a drastic and dynamic roster change at the club. Last season’s import trio have all been replaced by new signings, while local stars Xavier Cooks and DJ Vasiljevic have also departed the club.

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McIntyre says Abdelfattah will ensure the Kings remain an entertaining side to watch in NBL24.

“I picked him up from the airport at 6:30am on Wednesday morning, and he wanted to come straight with me to workouts,” McIntyre told SEN.

“I got to meet him in Vegas, and what you see is what you get behind closed doors – that’s my impression.

“I had guys coming up to me on NBA opposition teams, introducing themselves and telling us how great a guy he is and how much I’m going to enjoy working with him.

“I think he’s going to bring that energy on the floor, off court, in everything he does he’s just a very positive human being.

“I think it’s going to be very fun to watch the Sydney Kings this year, it’ll be a very similar style and a lot of pace. I think we’re going to get up a lot of threes given how many shooters we’ve got on the floor so I’m looking forward to it.”

While Jaylen Adams’ return to Sydney has, rightly, taken most of the headlines in regards to the Kings’ import hunt, the signing of former Chicago Bull Denzel Valentine certainly hasn’t flown under the radar.

Valentine was selected with the 14^th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, and was named the Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year in 2016.

He’s also the all-time leading scorer for the Michigan State Spartans – a program that has launched the likes of Magic Johnson, Draymond Green, Scott Skiles and Jaren Jackson Jr to the NBA.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">??? ??? ?? ???-?????? ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheKings?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheKings</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL24?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL24</a> <a href="https://t.co/iRR5Y6IDiA">pic.twitter.com/iRR5Y6IDiA</a></p>&mdash; Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1685921664541106177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“He’s come with unbelievable character references,” McIntyre said of the guard.

“He had some injuries that plagued him early in the NBA, but I think he’ll be a really good fit for the Kings. I’m really excited to see him in person.

“He’s a really good size with a long wingspan, [and a] great shooter. I think what people are really going to underestimate is he’s actually a phenomenal passer and playmaker as well.

“He’s another complementary piece to go alongside Jaylen Adams as we attempt to go for this three-peat.”

The Kings’ NBL24 campaign will get underway on Saturday, September 30 when they play the Illawarra Hawks.

Prior to Round 1, they’ll take part in the pre-season NBL Blitz on the Gold Coast.

For more information on the Blitz, click here.