"Scratching the surface": Wildcats’ best still to come

At the conclusion of four rounds of the Hungry Jack's NBL26 season, the Perth Wildcats sit in a strong position with a 3-1 record.

The scary thing is though, there's a sense, as NBL expert Pete Hooley said on Monday's episode of Overtime, that John Rillie's side are "not even close to scratching the surface of what they're capable of".

With three straight wins to their name, including a gutsy three-point victory over Cairns in their last game, all signs are pointing to the Wildcats being a serious contender during the 2025-26 season.

Coach Rillie even said their offence didn't resemble "Picasso" right now, but they were finding ways to win.

"He [John] has played in this league long enough to know that nobody is going to be their best in the first four rounds [of the season]," NBL commentator and former champion Damon Lowery said.

"They don't hand out trophies in October and [at this point] we need to just win by any means necessary."

The key to their strong form, Lowery says, is their three legitimate front-court players in Dylan Windler, Kristian Doolittle, who Hooley compared to Golden State Warriors star Jimmy Butler, and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr, who are combining for more than 50 points per game this campaign.

"Those three guys right there, one of them is going to get you every single night," Lowery said.

"And if two of them get you, they're probably going to win. All three of them haven't clicked [in one game] just yet."

Fellow panellist and 1990 NBL MVP Derek Rucker agrees, emphasising even further how impressive Lual-Acuil Jr has been during his debut season with the Wildcats, to the tune of 22 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.

"He is playing exceptional basketball, [including being] an outstanding defensive player, which is an area of the game where he doesn't get enough credit for," Rucker said.

"He has tremendous length and athleticism, and the thing I like about JLA is he takes battles personally. He may say one thing on the outside, but I know he's hit me up about the top 15 before like, 'Yo, Derek, I belong here.' I like that. I respect that. You need a dog out there in the front line, and they got a marquee dog, he's been terrific."

Perth will put their three-game win streak on the line on Wednesday when they host Brisbane in their first-ever Ignite Cup game at RAC Arena.

The game tips off at 9.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.