Breathing room: How Perth can benefit from break

This mid-season break is offering all NBL teams a chance to take stock, rest tired bodies and re-evaluate their goals for the remainder of the NBL24 season, and Wildcats head coach John Rillie believes that while the stoppage in games has come whilst his side is playing its best basketball, it’s easy to draw positives from the weekend off.

Rillie’s Wildcats endured a stuttering start to the season, but have exploded to win each of their last five games in the NBL. It’s the longest current winning run of any team in the competition, and it’s seen them surge from eighth to fourth on the ladder.

“We’re stringing some wins together, but in those there are always things we can strive to get better at and keep working on as a group. With that rough patch you can’t rest, relax and feel like you’re doing a good job. You have to keep pushing forward,” Rillie told SEN WA.

<iframe src="https://omny.fm/shows/nbl-radio-interviews/john-rillie-on-sen-wa-november-23-2023/embed?style=artwork" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write" width="100%" height="180" frameborder="0" title="John Rillie on SEN WA - November 23, 2023"></iframe>

“Right now, we want to get better and it gives guys who have played heavy minutes the chance to get a breather and get their bodies right in the chance to push forward to the second half of the season.

“In saying that, we’re playing good basketball, we’re moving forward at a great rate so sometimes a break is not positive, but let’s take the positives and move forward and we’ll be better for it afterwards.

“As we know in sport a season has many twists and turns and it’s not just going to be smooth sailing the rest of the way.

“I think we’re better prepared, because everyone’s comfortable with the seat on the bus they’re sitting in right now.”

Perth’s first game back from the break will be against the second-placed Sydney Kings, who will have had almost two full weeks to stew on their comeback defeat against Melbourne United in Round 8.

Despite the loss in, which the Kings gave up 40 points in the final quarter, Sydney still sit second on the ladder. The back-to-back reigning champions are once again establishing themselves as one of the best teams in the competition under new head coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah.

Melbourne is the only side in the top five that Perth has defeating on its winning run, and Rillie believes the clash against the Kings will offer a barometer for how the Wildcats match up against the top teams in the competition.

“Let alone the rivalry, where we’re sitting on the ladder, everyone’s talking about Sydney and Melbourne as the front-runners so it’s a good opportunity to really see where we’re at within this five-game streak.”