Kings sweep still stings for Wildcats star

Kristian Doolittle doesn’t forgive and he doesn’t forget.

The Perth forward holds a grudge against any team that has stood between him and a championship, and the Sydney Kings are firmly on that list.

The eventual NBL26 champions swept the Wildcats 2-0 in last season’s Playoffs, and Doolittle is still carrying it.

“I hold grudges, but you know, how I feel is not how the team feels,” he said on Wednesday.

“Personally, any team that stops me from getting a championship, I’ll essentially, I’ll never forgive them, but at the same time it’s not that deep.”

He was clear the feeling isn’t reserved for Sydney alone.

“It’s personal. I just, I hate not winning a championship,” he said. “It’s not just Sydney, it’s any team who stopped me from winning a championship.”

Doolittle also made no apology for being wired differently than most.

“I feel like how I approach things, it’s what makes me different than everybody else,” he said. “It’s not a who’s right or who’s wrong. It’s just, you know, that’s just how I feel about it.”

Perth takes on Sydney in enemy territory on Saturday night, and while Doolittle says last season will only be a small factor, it’s hard to see him not bringing some added energy.

“As a team, I feel like anybody would have not a grudge against a team that knocked them out of the Playoffs, but they would definitely remember the team that stopped them from reaching the championship,” he said.

“While that’s going to play a small factor, I feel like it’s just a next game mentality for us. They’re the next team on our schedule, and so they’re going to get all of our attention until the game’s over.”

The Wildcats head into the contest on a four-game winning streak.

“As long as we keep the same mentality that we had on our current win streak, we give ourselves a pretty good chance to win,” Doolittle added.

Doolittle gave the Wildcats a scare when he hurt his ankle during Thursday’s training session, but coach John Rillie is confident he will line up against Sydney.

“He should be fine to play. It was more precautionary when he went off,” Rillie told The West Australian.

Tip-off at Afterpay Arena is 7:30pm AEDT, live on ESPN, 9 and 9Now.