Nick Kay's playing marathon will continue when his Wildcats and Melbourne United clash in a grand final replay at Perth's RAC Arena on Saturday night.
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The forward - who took his game to another level domestically and internationally over the past 12 months - has been gorging on basketball.
His debut season with the Wildcats yielded a championship (he was an All NBL section), which was followed by him steering the Wellington Saints to New Zealand's NBL title (he was named league MVP), which was followed by his standout showing for Australia at the World Cup.
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Australia lost the third-placed playoff to Spain on September 15, with Kay then rejoining the Wildcats for preseason training.
Western Australia just marked the Queen's birthday long weekend, providing Kay with three days off training.
"Not a whole lot of time, but enough to freshen up," he said, adding: "Playing throughout the off-season has its negatives with fatigue and stuff, but it also allows you to continue to work on your game.
"And basketball is a short career, and I want to make the most of the opportunities I have with it and see how far I can go."
When an athlete elevates their performance, the public's expectation of that athlete invariably rises.
On Wednesday, Kay was the lead story on the Wildcats' website: the article entitled "Kay unfazed by increased expectation".
He averaged 15.25 points and 8.68 rebounds per game last season, with him crediting his high-calbre teammates for helping him deliver career-best form after joining the club from the Illawarra Hawks. "But I've spent a lot of time this off-season working on my game, and hopefully I can take it to another level again."
The 206-centimetre star believes that he can achieve that by becoming more "efficient", and by providing his teammates with increased opportunities.
His performance improvement has left him feeling deeply satisfied. "You spend a lot of time behind closed doors working on your game and trying to get it the best that you can," he said.
