Preview: Perth v Illawarra

Friday, October 7, 2022

Can Tyler Harvey and the Hawks' offence continue to fire in the Wild West, where a packed crowd and a red-hot Bryce Cotton await them in the Jungle?

When: 8pm (AEDT), Saturday 8 October 2022
Where: RAC Arena, Perth
Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Foxtel; Sky Sports NZ
LIVE SCORES & STATS

Who won last time?

Illawarra 82 (Harvey 22, Reath 19, Rathan-Mayes 12) d Perth 77 (Cotton 25, Majok 16, Frazier 11) – Round 20, NBL22 at RAC Arena

With their playoff streak firmly on the line the Wildcats never led this game, pulling level eight times in the opening half and getting within three points with two minutes left in the game, before missing their final four shots to come up short. Duop Reath was the efficient assassin for the Hawks, while the Law-less Perth were led by an inefficient Bryce Cotton.

What happened last game?

Bryce was back to his best against Brisbane in Round 1, and behind his all-around game the 'Cats ran up 87 points en route to a double-figure home victory. Illawarra suffered a home heart-breaker against Sydney but bounced back in style, overcoming the pre-game loss of Justin Robinson by turning up the defensive screws on South East Melbourne. The Hawks produced a hard-nosed 43-21 run in 19 minutes bridging half-time to seal their first NBL23 W.

What’s working?

Sam Froling – One of the highest IQ bigs in the NBL, Froling is putting in some serious work in the paint, picking up four o-boards in each of the opening two games to lead the league in that category. Those eight caroms have been converted into 12 points, a key to Illawarra’s 32-22 advantage in second chance points, while he also leads the Hawks with 11 d-boards.

Length & passing – The Wildcats are blessed with two outstanding multi-skilled athletes in Luke Travers and TaShawn Thomas, and coach John Rillie is utilising it. Travers’ decision-making as a ball-handler, and Thomas’ ability to screen, receive and make plays delivered 13 combined assists against Brisbane, adding a new element to the 'Cats offence.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Well, BC is happy to be back! ??<br><br>17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a SLAM in the first half. <br><br>? Watch all the action live and free on 10Peach and ESPN, via Kayo and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/JyL8VjwCYN">pic.twitter.com/JyL8VjwCYN</a></p>— Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1576449903471255552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

What needs stopping?

Rebounding lanes – While both these sides are testing opponents with their defensive aggression – Perth held Brisbane to 73 points at 42 per cent and Illawarra kept South East Melbourne to 72 points at 37 per cent – they're paying for that on the glass. While rebounding is described as an effort thing, the more you rotate the harder it is to box out, and these teams secured just 64 and 65 per cent of their d-boards last start. The league average in NBL22 was 73 per cent.

Early triples – There are few things this Hawks team enjoys more than a good pull-up or transition triple, with Tyler Harvey, George King, Tim Coenraad, Wani Swaka Lo Buluk, Alex Mudronja and Lachie Dent all dropping them so far. In fact, 17 of their 25 trifectas have come in the opening 14 seconds of the shot clock. The 'Cats better be ready in transition.

Who’s matching up?

Luke Travers v George King – Perhaps because of his predecessors, King has been talked about as a defensive specialist, but in the opening two games he’s dropped 30 points on a sizzling 6/11 from long range. He also defended Mitch Creek at a high level, and may be a good athletic match-up for Travers in the open floor, with the Cavs draftee a key part of Perth’s playmaking, dishing seven dimes and going +18 in his 23 minutes on the floor.

Bryce Cotton v Wani Swaka Lo Buluk – Bryce was certainly nice in the opener, 23 points on 7/11 from inside the arc as he showed his pull-up game is still elite. He also had 12 rebounds, six dimes and six steals in a classic performance. Cotton averaged 25.7ppg against Illawarra last season and 24.3ppg in three clashes with Swaka Lo Buluk at Sydney. Can Wani use his length to make life hard for the three-time MVP? Or is Bryce in red-hot form?

Corey Webster v Tyler Harvey – Are there any better players in the NBL than this pair when it comes to herky-jerky pull-ups and high-arching floaters? T-Raw was back to his best on Thursday night with 22 points at 50 per cent, with 15 of those points coming from 12 feet or further. Meanwhile Webster made a classy Perth debut in Round 1 by dropping 11 points at 50 per cent in just 21 minutes, with all from beyond 12 feet. Bring on this shootout!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">He's a Tyler so you know he's not working with ?? <a href="https://twitter.com/YoungTRaaw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YoungTRaaw</a> from deeeeeeeeeeeeep<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> live on ESPN via Kayo Sports <a href="https://t.co/rJnXhmPhPW">pic.twitter.com/rJnXhmPhPW</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1577966654763376640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s saying what?

There were a lot of reasons why, and that discussion could go on for a long time, but last season’s team never really looked like a trademark Wildcats outfit.

Sure they were the league’s best offensive team, but their defence was mid-level and their defensive rebounding – long a Perth fundamental – ranked dead last.

So it was notable that when asked about Bryce Cotton’s amazing all-around performance in Round 1, that new coach John Rillie decided to highlight his superstar’s work on the glass first.

“I’ve always said that it’s not always the big guys’ responsibility for rebounding,” Rillie said.

“It’s up to the likes of him, Mitch Norton got some great offensive rebounds, Luke Travers, Webster, the guards play an intricate part of that and he was rewarded tonight with 12 of them.”

Captain Jesse Wagstaff pointed out Cotton’s outstanding defensive energy, which led to six steals.

“He is immensely underrated on the defensive end,” Wagstaff said.

“What he creates with his speed and his smarts on the defensive end, everyone sees the flashy plays on the offensive end, but defensively he’s a very good player as well.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Unreal fact: Bryce Cotton is the first NBL player EVER to record 20+ points, 10+ rebounds, 5+ assists and 5+ steals in a 40 minute game. ?? <a href="https://t.co/mNoBKA1jFP">pic.twitter.com/mNoBKA1jFP</a></p>— Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1576867327400095747?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 3, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Both those contributions were invaluable. The Wildcats forced 24 miscues and won points from turnovers 31-8, the decisive factor in their 14-point win.

They struggled on the glass however, with Cotton grabbing 11 defensive rebounds and his teammates pulling just 12 between them as Brisbane easily won the battle on the boards. With Todd Blanchfield in doubt this week, Perth need to fill that rebounding hole.

So while Rillie was satisfied with an opening-night win, he knows the basics that will create enough wins to return to the playoffs are still a ‘work on’.

“You can try and overcomplicate it, but it just comes back to the little things like defensive transition, rebounding, our turnovers,” Rillie said.

“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, we just need to address the little one-percenters that help you win.”

If you get those basics wrong, the Hawks are a team with the athleticism and shooting to make you pay.

“They ‘re a dangerous team in transition, they have many guys that are capable of making four or five three-pointers in a game,” Rillie said.

“They’re long and athletic, so controlling them on the glass (is important), but if we do a good job with that, taking away their three-point shooting, rebounding, we should be able to get out in transition and score some points.”

With Illawarra’s new point guard Justin Robinson sidelined, expect the 'Cats to again be aggressive defensively to create easy scores, but Hawks boss Jacob Jackomas isn’t too concerned with Tyler Harvey, Lachie Dent and Co on board.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We like to call that the MANGO SLAM!! <a href="https://twitter.com/mangok_mathiang?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mangok_mathiang</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HawkNation?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HawkNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/boBde69FQ8">pic.twitter.com/boBde69FQ8</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1577948893014523905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“We’re in a good situation,” he said.

“Lachie played well last week and Tyler was all-league first team with the ball in his hands so that’s a pretty good thing. We’ve got multiple guys that can carry that aren’t the point guard.

“George can carry a little bit, Deng can carry a little bit, Wani, ‘Mud’, we’ve got multiple guys there. We did a bit by committee but also having a couple of guys who can play in that spot no problem.”

History says Illawarra experiences lots of problems when they travel to Perth, but in Jackomas’ short time in the 'Gong they’ve won a semi-final clash out west and sunk the Wildcats playoff hopes last season, so he feels good about entering The Jungle.

“We’ve won there. We've had some sort of success there,” he said.

“That’s the place you want to play, you know the guy behind the bench is going to have something to say and the guy next to the bench is going to have something to say.

“We’re going to see where we’re at, it’s early in the year, we’re going to see how we handle it ... I think it’s a really good thing we’re going there first up.

“They're nasty right now because of the (playoff) streak. Whatever comes of it, comes of it, we’re going to really see what we’re about.”