Preview: Perth v Sydney (Round 16)

When: 9.30pm (AEDT), Friday 20 January, 2023
Where: RAC Arena, Perth
Broadcast: ESPN; Foxtel; Kayo; Sky NZ

Who won the last time?

Sydney 108 (Cooks 24, Walton 16, Glover 13) d Perth 87 (Cotton 22, C Webster 22, Thomas 16) – Round 14 at Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

This was a thorough beating for a proud club like the Wildcats. They were down by 20 early in the second quarter, never got closer than 11 and fell by 21. The frustrating thing for Perth was they threw plenty at it in the final 25 minutes but they simply couldn’t stop the Kings, who outscored them by 23 from the paint and free-throw line. Xavier Cooks put on a rare 7/8 show from the stripe to go with his 80 per cent field-goal clip en route to 24 points in 28 minutes.

What happened last game?

Illawarra shut down the Cooks and Sydney only just snuck away with the win. Jaylin Galloway provided some much-needed frontcourt spark and then joined Derrick Walton Jr to seal it from the free-throw line. The result keeps the Kings 1.5 games clear in first, but with Perth and New Zealand on the Round 16 menu they’re not locked in yet. Wins over Sydney and South East Melbourne could have the 'Cats in third place by round’s end after they trumped the Breakers and Adelaide last week, but two losses might have them outside the top six.

What’s working?

Scoring (outside) points – The Kings lead the league in scoring with a staggering 95.1ppg at 50 per cent – ahead of the second-placed Wildcats on 91.4 – and went at 108.7ppg in six games leading into last Sunday’s derby. Yet while paint points are their bread and butter, three-pointers are the difference maker. In those free-wheeling six games Sydney nailed 11.5 treys at 46 per cent, while in losses they drop only 6.8 at 27 per cent.

Scoring points – Since Round 8, Perth have only failed to reach 90 points once in 11 games, and that was their 87 against the Kings. The Wildcats are 7-4 in that spell, averaging 99.6ppg in those wins with an average of 11 triples at 40 per cent and shooting 51 more free throws than their opponents. Perth’s dependence on offensive output is shown by their 10-3 record when reaching 90 points in regulation, compared to 2-7 when they don’t.

What needs stopping?

Bombing – They didn’t own the free-throw line in Round 14, however, being out-striped 32-14 as they fell into Sydney’s trap of daring opponents to shoot from range. The Wildcats shot 27 per cent that night, missing 26 triples which the Kings rebounded at 83 per cent and converted into 21 points on 80 per cent shooting, 16 of which came in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock. If Perth want to slow Sydney, their shot selection must be en pointe.

Cotton Webs – For all the 'Cats struggles at Qudos Bank Arena, their dynamic backcourt duo still combined for 44 points at 52 per cent inside, 38 per cent outside and 7/8 from the foul line, but would be disappointed with their moderate 6/14 return from midrange. Bryce Cotton and Corey Webster have averaged 44.3ppg on 5.2 triples at 43 percent and 8.0 assists since Webster was inserted into the starting line-up, going 7-3 in that stretch. Can the Kings find the answers?

Who’s missing key men?

Perth will be without back-up guard Mitch Norton (hip), who is replaced by Michael Harris, while Sydney are expected to be at full strength.

Who’s matching up?

TaShawn Thomas v Xavier Cooks – Illawarra found an answer for Cooks, but it wasn’t complicated. Rather it was a concerted team effort to take away space and driving lanes, then rotate proactively off the ball to limit his passing game. What that requires is a lot of effort and energy, something that’s been inconsistent for Perth in NBL23. At the other end, Thomas needs to make Cooks guard the spot given the 'Cats import has averaged 17.8ppg and 3.0apg in his past nine, and had 16 points at 64 per cent last time against the Kings.

Tai Webster v Derrick Walton Jr – When Walton Jr attempts 14 or more shots, Sydney are 1-4. When he takes fewer they are 15-1. When he has seven or more assists, the Kings are 8-1. The former Piston’s most important contribution is playmaking, and Tai is the one Wildcats guard with the length and athleticism to recover from ball-screens and prevent the help D from overcommitting – can he get that job done? Offensively, the Tall Blacks star dished seven dimes against Adelaide to help mastermind Perth’s best offensive display of NBL23.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">TaShawn Thomas with the wind beneath his wings! ??<br><br>? Watch live on ESPN via Kayo &amp; Foxtel <a href="https://t.co/9fu8wzMd8O">pic.twitter.com/9fu8wzMd8O</a></p>&mdash; Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1614190898925154306?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s saying what?

Not many people in the NBL know Xavier Cooks better than his fellow ‘Gong graduate Angus Glover, and the fiery red head didn’t hold back when asked what it’s like to play with Cooks.

“Ridiculous,” he said with a smile.

“Super easy. He makes everyone’s job easy. I've had the luxury to grow up playing with him a little bit, he’s my MVP, I'm obviously biased but to me he’s by far the best in this league.”

That was after the Andrew Gaze Medal fancy had dismantled the Wildcats, finishing with 24 points at 80 per cent, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

“My vocabulary is not good enough to come up with new superlatives each and every week,” coach Chase Buford said.

“(In the) first half they just couldn’t touch him, he was terrific, we probably didn’t get him the ball enough in good spots in the second half, but we just played off him in that first half.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Xav heating up nice and early!<br><br>Live on ESPN via Kayo Sports + Foxtel<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WetheKings?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WetheKings</a> <a href="https://t.co/amEBGIlal4">pic.twitter.com/amEBGIlal4</a></p>&mdash; Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1611653159025246208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Of course, those opportunities didn’t just come from Cooks beating his opponent in walk-up situations, he thrived in the Kings’ space and pace that opens the cracks he’s so apt at sliding into.

“They are struggling a little bit defensively but they're really good offensively so they're going to score a lot and that makes it tough to play fast when you’re taking it out of the net,” Buford said about Perth.

“So I think we recognised early that we had to run when we could, we needed to, and X in every time-out was just screaming, ‘Run, run, run’. I think the guys knew that was where our advantage was.”

The Wildcats walked into that game backing themselves to beat Sydney in a shoot-out, but now know there needs to be more nuance in their execution at both ends.

“What I hope we got out of the first game against the Kings was that we understand how fast they play,” coach John Rillie said

“They do a phenomenal job of creating pace for themselves on offence so if we don’t have an urgency to get back in defence, we certainly didn’t learn our lesson and it’s going to be a long night.”

The other lesson is having their counters ready for Sydney’s swarming defence on Bryce Cotton, with the length of Justin Simon and Jaylin Galloway leading the charge last time.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tai throws it up, Tae throws it down. ?<br><br>? Watch live on ESPN via Kayo &amp; Foxtel <a href="https://t.co/r18Kv11mgk">pic.twitter.com/r18Kv11mgk</a></p>&mdash; Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1611672290730868736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“We had a unique game plan for us in that we were just going to try to get the ball out of his hands and be aggressive every time he came off a screen,” Buford said.

“We were just going to have him see bodies as best we could. That was going to put us in rotations we had to scramble out of and I thought our guys did a great job.

“As good as Justin was, as good as JG was on Bryce, our bigs helping them were really, really good.”

Can the Wildcats bigs respond in kind to limit Cooks and make some of the Kings’ role players beat them? TaShawn Thomas certainly hopes so.

“He was a focus last game, and I don’t like what I did last time,” Thomas said.

“Coming in this time, I’m definitely trying to critique myself into trying to do what I need to do to slow him down.”

But don’t expect Perth to suddenly transform their style and try to beat the Kings in a grind, they know they need to execute their style with improved shot selection, transition defence and most importantly the ability to contain penetration.

“One thing JR has been focusing on is just reminding us to not back down,” Thomas said.

“It’s still a challenge and we feel pretty confident going in, we’re just going to play the hardest we can and that’s the positivity we’re bringing into the game.

“They’re playing the best basketball, they’re a very talented team but I don’t think they’re unbeatable, every team in this team is talented, we just have to perform on the night.”