Preview: Perth vs Brisbane - Round 16, NBL24

Thursday, January 18, 2024

Can the Bullets walk into enemy territory to earn their fifth straight win, or will the Wildcats prove too strong?

Friday, January 19 at 9:30pm AEDT | RAC Arena

Watch: Live on ESPN via Kayo | International viewership details
Box scores: Download the free NBL App

Kristian Doolittle will likely miss Friday’s clash with Brisbane due to a concussion suffered during Perth’s Round 15 win over South East Melbourne.

Wildcats captain Jesse Wagstaff says the quality of Perth’s practice sessions are to credit for the side’s meteoric rise in the standings, since its start to the season.

Josh Bannan and Casey Prather were both absent from the Bullets’ Round 15 win over Illawarra due to illness. Sam McDaniel stepped into the power forward position for the win, and Bullets head coach Justin Schueller believes the wing should be in the Best Defensive Player conversation, come season’s end.

Schueller has credited his team’s ability to play around and alongside star guard Nathan Sobey as a key reason for its four-game winning run.

Perth
100-79 win over South East Melbourne
108-102 win over New Zealand
100-82 win over Adelaide

Brisbane
110-103 win over Illawarra
80-77 win over Tasmania
101-93 win over Sydney

David Okwera
David Okwera has suddenly found himself in an eerily similar situation to what he did last season, although rather than wearing Melbourne colours, he’s in the red of the Perth Wildcats.

Okwera established himself as a genuine NBL-level talent with Melbourne last season as a makeshift center, largely through injuries and the need to put players away from their natural positions.

Now he has the chance to do the same in the post for Perth, due to the absence of Next Star center Alexandre Sarr and starting forward Kristian Doolittle.

Okwera hasn’t quite kicked on in the fashion many expected him to after his breakout NBL23 campaign, but he’s been an effective influence on the floor when he’s been called upon.

This time of the season is when a team’s depth almost always causes it to sink or swim, and Okwera is likely to face a stern test in the post against Brisbane’s deep frontcourt rotation.

“Dave had a fantastic week of practice last week, he was great in the game but even before that he had a great week of practice and he was great on the practice track today as well. There’s opportunities with potential injuries and guys out and that’s how it’s been all year, there’s injuries and whatnot and you just have to keep on playing.” – Jesse Wagstaff mid-week.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">High praise for David Okwera from the skipper today! ?<br><br>Watch the full presser: <a href="https://t.co/qmRiOas4aV">https://t.co/qmRiOas4aV</a> <a href="https://t.co/cgLnEdGnGJ">pic.twitter.com/cgLnEdGnGJ</a></p>— Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1747479419181322408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sam McDaniel
Sam McDaniel, Best Defensive Player winner? If Justin Schueller has his way, that’s exactly what we’ll be hearing come the end of season awards night.

McDaniel may have crossed to Brisbane from Tasmania with little fanfare, but the former JackJumpers and United rotation player has been absolutely immense for the Bullets this season.

He’s been Brisbane’s go-to defensive enforcer. Whether it’s been nippy guards like Jordon Crawford, sharpshooting superstars like Chris Goulding, or powerful forwards like Gary Clark, McDaniel has taken on every defensive assignment he’s been presented with aplomb.

It’s not just on defence where he’s been impressive though. His 8.6 points per game is a career-high, and he’s both his field goal and three-point percentages are at the second highest mark of any season in his career so far.

McDaniel almost certainly gets the thankless and near impossible job of stopping Bryce Cotton on Friday night, but if there’s anyone who can do it, given recent form, it’s probably him.

“All week for this one Sam Mac has been prepping for his usual matchup with Harvey and he goes to Clark. I want to say, he’s outstanding for us defensively. For us to be able to throw those challenges to him – Harvey gets off in the first half, we switch that and put him on there – he’s doing a heck of a job.” – Justin Schueller following the win over Illawarra.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sam McDaniel somehow gets that wild shot to go ?<br><br>Watch live and free on ESPN2 via Kayo Freebies | 10 Peach and 10 Play <a href="https://t.co/AalFwPP66H">pic.twitter.com/AalFwPP66H</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1738773106766889342?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Tai Webster vs Shannon Scott
Bryce Cotton has rightly been earning the bulk of the praise for Perth’s turnaround in form this season, but Tai Webster’s season-best performance in the Wildcats’ drubbing of South East Melbourne last week has had pundits, players and coaches lauding the impact the New Zealand-born guard has had on John Rillie’s system.

Webster has offered a different type of foil to what Cotton has been used to in the gritty, defensive Perth backcourt partners of the past, like Mitch Norton and Damian Martin, but he’s added an extra offensive punch that keeps the side a multi-dimensional scoring threat.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Did the Phoenix disrespect Tai Webster with how they guarded him?<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLOvertime?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLOvertime</a> on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/oFV6zSsVLG">pic.twitter.com/oFV6zSsVLG</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1747179056485839036?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Shannon Scott also offers a different type of offensive threat to the typical modern NBL point guard, and his style is that of a traditional, pass-first floor general that opens the game up for teammates.

It’s no coincidence that his roughest patches of the season are when the Bullets have struggled most, or that he’s averaging almost six assists per game in Brisbane’s current four-game winning streak.

Neither Webster or Scott is usually front and centre when discussing the most important pieces of either Perth or Brisbane, but that’s a disservice to them, and it’s highly likely that whichever team wins this one will have the point guard who plays best.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Clear the lane for the big fella ? <br><br>Shannon Scott had the pace, and Tyrell Harrison found the space ?<br><br>Catch the action live and free on ESPN2 via Kayo | 10 Peach and 10 Play ? <a href="https://t.co/Q18Ds5cDet">pic.twitter.com/Q18Ds5cDet</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1746370423187550273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Should Brisbane emerge victorious from this game, it will be the first time the Bullets have registered a five-game win streak in a season since Rounds 15 to 17 of NBL20. That run was stopped at six games by New Zealand and encompassed wins over Perth, New Zealand, Illawarra, South East Melbourne, Adelaide and Melbourne.

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