Competitive King: Abdelfattah "loving" NBL closeness

The current standing of the NBL feels closer than it has for a long time. While Melbourne has barely an inch of breathing room at the top of the standings, only one game separates second and sixth on in the standings, halfway through the regular season.

Sydney’s loss to Perth in Round 9 has seen the Kings slip from second the fourth on the ladder, and while there will be no alarm bells ringing yet for those teams in that mid-table logjam, that fall speaks volumes about the competitiveness of the competition.

It's a competitiveness that Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah is enjoying in his first season in the NBL.

<iframe src="https://omny.fm/shows/nbl-radio-interviews/mahmoud-abdelfattah-on-sen-december-5-2023/embed?style=artwork" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write" width="100%" height="180" frameborder="0" title="Mahmoud Abdelfattah on SEN - December 5, 2023"></iframe>

“It kind of has that college conference feel where every game everybody is laying it on the line, everyone is playing like it’s a game seven and I love the competitiveness,” Abdelfattah told SEN.

“Everybody is playing until the end with the points differential. I was reading about the NBA and their In Season Tournament, the points differential matters and nobody over there is used to it, and they’re used to if you’re up 15-20 the last five minutes is nonchalant.

“Here if you’re up 10, 15, 20, it’s like it’s a tied game but it’s been fun to be around.

“What’s the biggest difference between the NBA and the NBL? I tell them there’s no days off, there’s no load management, if a guy is healthy or maybe he’s in pain he’s probably going to play and they’re playing every second of the 40 minutes – they’re not taking any plays off, so they’re playing hard.”

Friday’s clash with Perth represented Abdelfattah’s first experience of traveling to face the Red Army, and a Bryce Cotton masterclass put Sydney to the sword in a fast-paced, high-scoring encounter.

The rivalry between the Kings and Wildcats is steeped in a history of on-court competitiveness, and Abdelfattah believes there’s a running theme in some of the NBL’s biggest rivalries.

“For me not knowing the rivalries, it seems like everyone’s rivalry game is the Sydney Kings,” he said.

“Every time we play I feel like I read or I hear it’s a rivalry game with Sydney. I’m just beginning to truly understand, but every game is a battle.

“After a week you can go to the top two, after a week you can drop to the middle of the pack. A win or a loss can’t determine your prep for the next week, you just have to move forward and get ready for the next one.

“Perth was a hell of a game, I’m looking forward to the next time we play them but we’re moving forward and focusing on Cairns now.”

Sydney will open Round 10 of the NBL24 season when it travels to Cairns to take on the Taipans on Thursday night.