Preview: Brisbane vs Perth - Round 8, NBL24

Saturday, November 18 at 8pm AEDT | Nissan Arena

Watch: Live on ESPN via Kayo Sports - International viewership details
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Perth has now won four consecutive games – the longest current streak of any team in the NBL. The Wildcats’ last loss came at the hands of Brisbane in Round 5.

Following the win over New Zealand, John Rillie said this clash is a chance to atone against a team that “embarrassed” his side last time out.

Brisbane’s Tyrell Harrison is reportedly expected to play despite leaving last week’s clash with Sydney due to a calf injury, however News Corp’s Mick Randall listed his status as “uncertain” on Wednesday.

Brisbane
95-104 loss to Sydney
85-87 loss to Tasmania
108-92 win over South East Melbourne

Perth
88-80 win over Cairns
94-76 win over New Zealand
102-95 win over Melbourne

Rocco Zikarsky
Following Rocco Zikarsky’s seven minutes against Sydney, Brisbane head coach Justin Schueller said he was loathe to inject the Next Star into proceedings for longer in order to help him continue his development.

While that may sound counter-intuitive, it’s worth hammering home that Zikarsky is the youngest player in the NBL, and he’s also the tallest. He turned 17 right before the season started, and he’s often crashing and bashing with established professionals in his position.

Part of that development, according to Schueller, is to come in his ability to defend shooting bigs, and that’s exactly what Perth possess in Keanu Pinder and Alexandre Sarr.

It remains to be seen how fit Tyrell Harrison will be for this game, and last time he played against Perth and Sarr, Zikarsky was a monster defensively.

Just how much of one of Australia’s brightest young talents will we see in a game that’s looming as a must-win for the Bullets?

“One of Rocco’s developments is against shooting bigs and they put a lot of shooting on the floor. Part of Rocco’s development this year is also to not throw him in the deep end and put him in a position that doesn’t give him some success. He did his job, in his minutes we were happy with him.” – Justin Schueller following last week’s loss to Sydney.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Block-o Zikarsky strikes again ?<br><br>Catch the action live on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/C5PQJf3Ifl">pic.twitter.com/C5PQJf3Ifl</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1717872720635908270?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Keanu Pinder
When a player comes up against their old side, there’s usually a little bit of extra spice in the matchup. For Keanu Pinder on Thursday, that extra spice against Cairns resulted in early foul trouble and one of his least effective performances in a Wildcats jersey.

Pinder had four points, four turnovers and four fouls in a touch over 22 minutes of action against former mentor Adam Forde and the Taipans, but where he was often something of a lone wolf in the Wildcats’ early seasons struggles, the rest of the team rallied to cover for a rare off night by the back-to-back Most Improved Player winner.

If history is anything to go by, Pinder rarely has two bad games in a row, and after discussing his continued NBA aspirations with former Perth captain Damian Martin during the week, he likely can’t afford to have two games of that ilk in consecutive appearances.

Pinder is one of the most dangerous and effective players in the NBL, so don’t expect him to be kept quiet for long.

“It was great to see him … this is the league, it chops and changes … Waardenburg was great, AK (Gak), Sam Mennenga did a great job in trying to limit his touches and I thought for the most part they were areas we really did well in.” – Adam Forde on Pinder following the defeat to Perth.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Keanu Pinder rocks the rim ?<br><br>Catch the action live on ESPN via Kayo | SkySport in NZ ? <a href="https://t.co/hJ5h5CHkhN">pic.twitter.com/hJ5h5CHkhN</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1722934525897085030?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Aron Baynes vs Alexandre Sarr
Following Thursday’s win over Cairns, Wildcats Next Star Alexandre Sarr waxed lyrical about how the physicality of the NBL is helping fast track his own development, and how he’s already a different player than he was 10 games ago.

That physical battle is set to reach new heights regardless of whether Tyrell Harrison plays or not, because standing in Sarr’s way is likely to be former NBA veteran and notoriously strong center Aron Baynes.

Sarr will likely also match up against fellow towering Next Star Rocco Zikarsky, but if Keanu Pinder finds himself in similar foul trouble as he did in Perth’s last game, Sarr will likely lock horns with one of the toughest and strongest players Australian basketball has produced.

It’s these types of matchups and learning experiences that make the Next Star program such an attractive prospect for emerging talent the world over, but it will also provide an immense challenge to Sarr.

Let’s see how The Athletic’s number one draft prospect fares against one of the greatest Australian bigs – and greatest Australian NBA players – of all time.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Alex Sarr spoke to the media post-game about dealing with the hype amid NBA draft projections.<br><br>Full presser: <a href="https://t.co/HLpOvCgzwK">https://t.co/HLpOvCgzwK</a> <a href="https://t.co/vWKrwkRGhA">pic.twitter.com/vWKrwkRGhA</a></p>&mdash; Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1725146059234779137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Brisbane has won the first half in each of its last five games, but lost the second half in each of its last six. Can the Bullets pull together an elusive full 40-minute performance against a red-hot Wildcats side?

Aron Baynes.

Brisbane
Shannon Scott – hamstring (Round 8)

Perth
Nil