The Sydney Kings have confirmed the appointment of Joe Connelly as their new head coach for the remainder of the 2015 NBL season and the new man in charge believes "the play-offs are still within reach" for the struggling franchise.
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As reported by Fairfax Media on Saturday night, Connelly will be given the task of turning the Kings' season around after Damian Cotter, whose last 19 games at the helm resulted in three wins, was sacked on Saturday evening by the club.
During the past 48 hours, Kings management has discussed the position with "appropriate stakeholders to formulate an all-encompassing plan".
Head of basketball operations Tim Hudson said the decision made by the club's directors was not an easy one.
"It was essentially Joe's genuine qualities, interpersonal skills and coaching experience that led the club to offer Joe the interim head coach position," Hudson said.
Connelly spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Washington Wizards while also working closely with NBA stars Carmelo Anthony and John Wall.
"More than anything I'm excited to come into the current situation because of the calibre of players we have on this team," Connelly said in a statement. "Already it's clear that they are on board and ready to work. Life is all about embracing challenges and we believe the play-offs are still within reach so this is the perfect situation for us to do something special.
"It's going to take a collective effort to get over the hump but the guys are open-minded about moving in a new direction and committed to turning this season around."
Assistant coaches Jacob Jackomas and Ben Knight will remain in their current positions.
There has been substantial disapproval from basketball fans and commentators about Cotter's axing, including Andrew Gaze who said he was disappointed Cotter had been moved on.
Connelly was signed by the Kings two weeks ago as the team's specialist assistant coach. The Kings were at pains to say when they signed Connelly that he was not brought in to replace Cotter, who had fallen out of favour with the board.
When asked about the appointment of Connelly, Cotter said two weeks ago he was glad to have an extra helping hand at the club.
"Joe's good, Joe's a really good bloke," Cotter said after the Kings' last home game against the New Zealand Breakers. "His brother came over last year so I know the family pretty well. He's been really, really good."
Connelly has a tough assignment ahead of him – the Kings travel to Cairns for a clash with the Taipans on Friday night, are away to the New Zealand Breakers seven days later before playing the club's last match at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on December 13 before the switch to Homebush.
