"Defensive Presence" Key to 'Cats Loss: Rillie

The Perth Wildcats slipped up on the defensive end in Sunday’s game against the South East Melbourne Phoenix, costing them a 112-91 loss.

Defence was not the winner in Perth's 112-91 loss to the South East Mebourne Phoenix on Sunday night, as the Phoenix won in a game that became something nearing a pure shootout.

The Wildcats have often relied on their offensive firepower in the form of Bryce Cotton, Brady Manek and now the Webster brothers to pull them over the line this season, and head coach John Rillie expressed his disappointment in his side's defensive efforts against South East Melbourne.

“We just had no presence defensively,” Rillie said post-game.

“If we could have put a little more scoreboard pressure on, we just couldn’t do that tonight.

“We just couldn’t get over the hump.”

Perth is on a solid run as the side closes in on a potential return to the post-season. The Wildcats have won three of their last five games and sit in fifth with a 13-11 record. Their final four games of the season will determine their post-season fate though.

Wildcats captain Jessie Wagstaff echoed Rillie’s comments, and believes the scoreboard flattered his side in Sunday's loss.

“At half time it was a six-point game, and we were exceptionally lucky it was a six-point game. Even the final score I don’t think was a true reflection of the game,” Wagstaff said.

“We should’ve been getting pumped at half time on the scoreboard and we weren’t.

“We’re going to have nights where we don’t shoot well or we turn the ball over. But we still have got to knuckle down and keep them in front and rebound and shoot and we didn’t do that.”

Wagstaff - Perth's captain and a veteran of 14 seasons and six championships - has been a victim of Rillie shortening the Wildcats' rotation alongside fellow veterans Mitch Norton and Todd Blanchfield.

Despite playing only eight minutes against the Phoenix, he continued to preach Perth's next man up mentality.

“I think if I’m worrying about how many minutes I play I’m probably worrying about the wrong thing,” he said.

“My job isn’t to score a certain amount of points or play a certain amount of minutes, our job collectively as an organisation is to win basketball games so the minutes is irrelevant in my view.”

The Wildcats next play the bottom of the ladder Illawarra Hawks on Friday night at 9:30pm AEDT at RAC Arena.