Valentine, Toohey starring in Kings rise

Sunday, October 22, 2023

The performances of Denzel Valentine and Alex Toohey have meant the Sydney Kings have not been left high and dry with an injured DJ Hogg.

The Sydney Kings are flying at this early point in the season, and they’re playing so well it’s easy to forget they’re still yet to retain the services of All-NBL23 Second Team nominee DJ Hogg to their side.

Next Star Alex Toohey has been starting at the power forward position for the Kings in Hogg’s absence, and head coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah has his new-look starting five shifting into gear as the season progresses.

Aside from Toohey, one player whose role will likely change when Hogg returns is import wing Denzel Valentine, and ESPN’s Olgun Uluc believes the ability for players like Toohey and Valentine to step into the breach and cover for Hogg holds Sydney in good stead to attack the rest of the season.

“The interesting thing is Denzel Valentine came in ostensibly as their third import,” Uluc said on NBL Overtime.

“Right now he’s operating as their second import, but when he can take a step back and just be a connector and a shot-maker then they’re in a really cool place with Jaylen Adams and DJ Hogg as their 1A and 1B.

“They did scour the market for a potential replacement (for Hogg), and they’re 4-1 right now, they’re clicking on all cylinders, Alex Toohey is probably ahead of schedule, Jonah Bolden is definitely ahead of schedule.

“They’re operating pretty well right now and when you add DJ Hogg – one of the best players from last season – they’re in a pretty good spot as a franchise.”

The news of Hogg inching closer to a return to court comes after former King DJ Vasiljevic signed a one-year deal with the Adelaide 36ers, following Sydney relinquishing the rights to the two-time champion.

In a statement released by the club, Kings CEO Chris Pongrass said there was no point shuffling the current roster to try and fit Vasiljevic in.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">SIGNED ?<br><br>Sharpshooting guard DJ Vasiljevic will return to the NBL with the <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Adelaide36ers</a> on a one-year deal ??<br><br>Read more: <a href="https://t.co/TKySK2cvY8">https://t.co/TKySK2cvY8</a> <a href="https://t.co/AjT5QGTQgo">pic.twitter.com/AjT5QGTQgo</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1714198752448418035?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“While DJ played a role in the club’s recent success, it became clear that to make such a significant change to our roster by having him return at the expense of one of our current rostered players was not in our best interest,” Pongrass said.

“We have the utmost confidence in the team we have built and the success we will have with our contracted players.”

The Kings will face the JackJumpers on Sunday afternoon, live on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, and 10 Peach and 10play.