NBL Blitz opportunity excites coach Abdelfattah

Since returning to the hardwood in early August, the Sydney Kings, apart from its closed-door scrimmage against New Zealand, have been going at each at training- to prepare for the upcoming NBL24 season.

That will all change this coming week when the Hoops Capital side heads to the Gold Coast for the 2023 NBL Blitz - giving new coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah is first chance to examine his squad ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.

"Training has been going really well for us so far, with everyone putting in great effort since we first got together a month and a half ago," said Abdelfattah.

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"Apart from that scrimmage against the Breakers, we've been battling against one another for weeks, so it's going to be nice going against different opposition and play someone different.

"It's going to be a fun week and we're all looking forward to it."

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During the annual pre-season tournament, the two-time reigning champions will play South East Melbourne (Monday), Melbourne (Wednesday) and Brisbane (Friday).

Instead of focusing too much on the results, Abdelfattah is more concerned with achieving more team-orientated goals in Queensland.

"First and foremost, the main thing for us to get better each and every day - something we've preached since the start of training camp," said the Chicago-born coach, who admits there are no nerves, but rather excitement heading into his debut as Kings coach.

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"We're not too worried about how we're going to look one or two months from now, rather making strides every time we take the court and the Blitz is a great opportunity for us to do that.

"Whether we win or lose the three games on the Gold Coast doesn't concern me too much, rather us making progress as individual players and a group.

"You never have enough time as a team together before the season gets here but these three games give us a chance to build chemistry and camaraderie before our opener against Illawarra.

"To me, this tournament is a blessing and we can't wait to hit the court and continue this fun, whirlwind experience."

The Kings' first game tips off at 7.30pm AEST Monday against the Phoenix at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, followed by United and the Bullets on Wednesday and Friday respectively - with both also starting at 7.30pm.

All matches will be broadcast via Kayo Freebies.