NICK King is determined to make his mark as he avoids being labeled as a replacement for Renaldo Balkman at San Miguel Alab Pilipinas.
Brought in a week before a week before the start of Alab’s ABL campaign, King says he’d like to be seen as a new face who cannot only match but even top what the Puerto Rican reinforcement did for the Philippine-based club.
"There's no pressure. I know that Renaldo Balkman is a great player, but I didn't really keep up with what he did here. I really didn't know too much about what he did here," he said.
"I know what I can do, what I can bring to the table, and I'm just here to do that."
Alab leans on Kingand other new players Adrian Forbes and Khalif Wyatt as it looks to regain the title after falling short last season.
"It was great. I bonded with the team great," said the 24-year-old forward. "As soon as I got in, we got a real tight connection already. We're real cool and that helps us out on the court. It makes it a lot easier when you're playing with teammates that you like. And I feel like we got a pretty good group."
King also seems to fit well with the fast-paced style of coach Jimmy Alapag with point guard Jason Brickman.
"We can run and gun, we can get up and down the floor, we got a lot of players who can play multiple positions, and we love playing with each other. A lot of people can do a lot of different things," said King. "I feel like we can do that, especially with Jason in the point guard cause he gets us in line. And by us being so young, we're just out there having fun."
As exciting as the buildup is to this ABL season, King still knows that Alab has ways to go before it can get to the world beaters it aspires to be at the end of the season.
"Just more communication. The team is just getting together and I feel like we can communicate better and when we clean some things up, we're going to be a tough team to beat," said the Middle Tennessee State alum.
"I can promise you one thing: We will play hard every single night you know we have we got a very great team. Alab should be excited on what we're about to do this year."
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