Three-time NBL champion Casey Prather is focused on helping bring success back to the Brisbane Bullets while Sydney Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah is searching for answers.
Brisbane moved into sixth position at the end of Round 14 with Sunday's 101-93 win against Sydney, a first at Qudos Bank Arena since 2017, and there was plenty to like about the performance.
Captain Nathan Sobey put up another 27 points while the championship experience of Mitch Norton and Sam McDaniel shone through. The impact of centres Aron Baynes and Rocco Zikarsky at opposite ends of their careers was significant, and rookie forward Josh Bannan stood tall again.
Then there was the return to the NBL of Prather. The three-time champion was playing his first game at any level since June 2021 in Israel having battled chronic knee injuries since.
However, the 32-year-old offered a glimpse of what he can still produce with eight points and two rebounds in almost 11 minutes including hitting a three-pointer in his first shot attempt.
He knows all about winning with the two titles in Perth and one in Melbourne, and the Bullets were looking at him as being the missing piece to their puzzle.
Brisbane hasn't made the NBL finals since 2019 and Prather could very well lead them there, but it's a championship he wants not just to make up the numbers.
"Obviously my goal is to get back to that level to win us a championship here with the guys and I'm not stopping until I do that," Prather said.
"The vibes were there from the start. Just being able to work with the guys in practice and seeing how they've just taken on the challenge possession by possession, minute by minute, and game by game was very encouraging to me.
"I thought right away when I got here it was a championship calibre team and I'm glad to be part of it."
Meanwhile, the Kings have won the last two NBL championships but are now sitting on a 10-10 record to be clinging to a top six position having lost four of their past five home matches.
Mahmoud Abdelfattah is putting it on his talented playing group to dig deep to have a real crack at this championship three-peat.
"I think we have the talent and are one of the more talented teams in the league, and when the guys play hard we actually show it," Abdelfattah said.
"I can sit here and talk about it but at the end of the year we can be in the playoffs, be in a play-in or we can be out of it saying the same thing over and over.
"Some things have got to change, you just have to put forth your best effort and if you don't do that on a consistent basis, anybody can beat anybody."
