Why star import makes Perth a contender

All the talk leading into Sunday's Perth and Adelaide showdown centred around Bryce Cotton playing against his former team for the first time.

But the Wildcats ruined the script for the five-time NBL MVP, winning by seven points at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

One of the main factors in that was new Wildcats import David Duke Jr holding Cotton to 1/11 on two-point shots and zero free-throw attempts.

This impressive Round 8 win caught the eye of 1990 NBL MVP Derek Rucker, who explained how those defensive exploits give the Wildcats a team capable of winning the Hungry Jack's NBL26 championship.

"Perth went into Adelaide and silenced the crowd by executing well on both ends of the floor," Rucker said on Monday's episode of Moments That Mattered, presented by Mitsubishi Motors.

"What I like about the Wildcats is their physically imposing lineup, as they have height, they have length, they have athleticism, they have inside scoring and they've got really good basketball players in Dylan Windler and Kristian Doolittle.

"[Now] David Duke Jr is proving to be a very good addition, doing an outstanding job while being isolated on Bryce Cotton, where he had to control the most dangerous player in the competition.

"Physically, he [Duke Jr] has an NBA body, is a very intelligent defender, which was evidenced by how he defended Bryce Cotton.

"He's a great complementary piece that has the upside, in any given game, to be a dominant player, as his 16 points and 4 assists were very valuable on Sunday.

"Perth's inability to defend hurt them during the regular season last year, but they've significantly improved on that end of the floor.

"We know you've got to be a top-four team in defensive efficiency to have any chance of winning the title and right now, they're doing that."

Rucker's comments are backed up by the statistics, with Perth holding Adelaide to 39.74 per cent from the field (their second-lowest mark of NBL26) on Sunday, significantly lower than the 36ers' season average of 45.1.

Perth, which has a 6-5 record on the season, hosts New Zealand on Saturday from 8pm AEDT, live on ESPN.