Wildcats’ fatal flaw exposed in losing streak

After a promising start to the season, the Perth Wildcats have lost three straight games, with a pattern emerging as a big reason why they’re in this position.

Across the last three games against the Sydney Kings, Illawarra Hawks and the Bullets, Perth found themselves trailing by five or more points in each of the first quarters.

“The scoreboard doesn’t reflect the way we wanted to finish,” John Rillie said post-game following his team’s five-point loss to the Bullets on Wednesday night.

“The last three games we’ve got off to some sluggish starts.

“Our second halves over the last three games have been tremendous, but we’ve dug ourselves in these holes.

“That’s something that we’re going to have to really look at and how do we adjust and change the momentum at the start of the games.”

Adding to that, against Sydney and Brisbane, the Wildcats faced a 20-point deficit in the first half, before doing their best to mount a comeback after the break.

“It’s tough because obviously the way we fought back in the second half is a good sign,” star guard Elijah Pepper said.

“But we can’t be having that start at the beginning of the games.

“Our goal is to win championships, and I don’t think a team that wants to win a championship can start a game down 20 at half-time.”

While it looked bleak at half-time, Rillie turned to a rarely used bench unit to find some energy in the third quarter, and it proved to be a smart decision, as the lead was cut down to single digits and put them within striking distance.

“I thought our bench was very productive tonight and then in the end gave us a chance in that fourth quarter,” Rillie added.

“You know, they’ve been doing a good job at practice and they understand like that’s what they got to bring to this team.”

The Wildcats will be hoping to return to winning form on Sunday when they welcome the Cairns Taipans to RAC Arena.

However, with 11 of their first 13 games at home, they face a big challenge towards the back end of the season.

Sunday’s Round 8 fixture between Perth and Cairns tips off at 5pm AEDT, live on ESPN.