Preview: Perth vs Tasmania (Round 1)

Thursday, September 28, 2023

Tasmania heads into enemy territory and face a red army ready to roar, as they take on the Wildcats.

Friday, September 29 at 9:30pm AEST at RAC Arena

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Is this the first season the Tasmania JackJumpers have not entered the NBL season flying under the radar?

The competition’s newest side went unbeaten through its five pre-season fixtures. First, two wins came against Melbourne United, and then came three wins at the Blitz.

While Perth did not go unbeaten in their pre-season campaign like Friday’s opposition, they too put together an exceptional run of games to enter Round 1 with some serious momentum.

The Wildcats have further been buoyed by the new signing of import big Kristian Doolittle ahead of the clash, but it remains to be seen if the former Oklahoma Sooner will hit the floor in his first week at the club.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Some thoughts + reporting on the Perth Wildcats’ latest signing - Kristian Doolittle - on this week’s <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLOvertime?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLOvertime</a>. <a href="https://t.co/9AQ6qjurFY">pic.twitter.com/9AQ6qjurFY</a></p>— Olgun Uluc (@OlgunUluc) <a href="https://twitter.com/OlgunUluc/status/1706642027860185377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 26, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Hungry Jack’s NBL Blitz fixtures used for recent form

Perth
93-89 win over New Zealand
112-80 win over Adelaide
102-95 win over Cairns

Tasmania
86-82 win over Adelaide
92-85 win over New Zealand
97-84 win over South East Melbourne

Alexandre Sarr
This NBL pre-season has belonged to Alexandre Sarr.

After arriving in Perth following a silver medal at the U19 FIBA World Cup Sarr has drastically exceeded all expectations initially placed on him through his pre-season and Blitz performances, and is firming as a lottery pick – if not a top five selection – in the 2024 NBA Draft.

He dominated in two games against the NBA G-League Ignite and looked totally unfazed playing against full-bodied professionals at the Hungry Jack’s NBL Blitz.

The start of the season proper will offer a new type of challenge for the exciting French phenom, and with a the physically imposing pair of Marcus Lee and Majok Majok standing in his path in the first game of the season, Sarr will need to be at his hungriest to continue to clean the boards and block shots like he has been in his short time in Wildcats red.

“Alex Sarr is a joke defensively. He is so, so advanced for a teenager playing in a professional league … depending on who gets that number one overall pick, they could really sell themselves on Alex Sarr being the best long-term asset in this draft.” – NBA Draft expert Sam Vecenie on the Game Theory Podcast.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">THIS SEQUENCE ?<br><br>2024 NBA Draft prospect Alexandre Sarr elevates on BOTH ends of the floor! <a href="https://twitter.com/gleagueignite?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@gleagueignite</a> vs. <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PerthWildcats</a> live now on the NBA App: <a href="https://t.co/Rn8EutCkkP">https://t.co/Rn8EutCkkP</a> <a href="https://t.co/fJ74XdOMix">pic.twitter.com/fJ74XdOMix</a></p>— NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1699611281341419647?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Milton Doyle
The ‘will he, won’t he’ storyline of Milton Doyle’s potential re-signing with the Tasmania JackJumpers was one of the stories of the early NBL off-season, and since the star guard re-signed with Tasmania, all seems to have gone quiet.

Doyle will have to adapt to a stylistically different guard pairing to last season with the addition of Jordon Crawford and departure of Josh Magette, however the one-two scoring punch of Doyle and Crawford showed immense promise during the Blitz.

Last season it was a case of when Doyle fired, Tassie fired – but with a handful of new offensive pieces like Crawford now in place around him, can the All-NBL First Team nominee further elevate his game to open the new season?

“The one we don’t talk enough about is Milton Doyle. All-NBL First Team down in Tassie, he’s got some other complementary pieces around him like Jordon Crawford, and I think he’s going to have a better year than last year.” – Peter Hooley on NBL Now.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Unfinished Business ?<br><br>Milton Doyle chats the media at this morning's press conference, watch the full interview here - <a href="https://t.co/O2elqoiE1l">https://t.co/O2elqoiE1l</a> <a href="https://t.co/9QKq4FArtv">pic.twitter.com/9QKq4FArtv</a></p>— Tasmania JackJumpers ? (@JackJumpers) <a href="https://twitter.com/JackJumpers/status/1666688717464178691?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Bryce Cotton vs Jordon Crawford
The NBL’s consensus best scorer is coming up against one of the most electric offensive players to be entering the NBL this season.

Only two players have taken home the NBL’s scoring title since Bryce Cotton’s introduction into the league. Jerome Randle did it in the 2017-18 season, and Cotton has taken it home the other six occasions.

Cotton has labelled the level of talent in the NBL this season as the highest its ever been, and Crawford is one of a number of guards who will be looking to take the crown from the three-time MVP.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Are we witnessing a new golden era of the NBL?<br><br>Bryce Cotton believes so ?<br><br>Read more ?? <a href="https://t.co/kByDk0zire">https://t.co/kByDk0zire</a> <a href="https://t.co/100KYD2teB">pic.twitter.com/100KYD2teB</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1706532852857442459?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 26, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

If you’re coming for the king though, you’d better not miss. Crawford’s career resume heading into his debut NBL campaign can rival any new import in the competition, and offence is the major name of his game.

He’s arrived in Australia off the back of a season with Buyukcekmece in Turkey, where he was named the competition’s top scorer ahead of the likes of new New Zealand import Parker Jackson-Cartwright and new teammate Milton Doyle.

The level of import guard competition in the NBL is absolutely exceptional in NBL24, and Crawford could fire a serious warning shot should he get the better of Bryce and the Wildcats on Friday.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jordon Crawford has the jumper firing on all cylinders early ?<br><br>Stream the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> pre-season action live and free on the NBL app ? <a href="https://t.co/idlXlpX5J2">https://t.co/idlXlpX5J2</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/yII4JoROsk">pic.twitter.com/yII4JoROsk</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1696808247917678625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Perth has won its last eight Round 1 games. Due to the Wildcats playing two Round 1 fixtures in 2018, 2021, and none in 2020, their most recent Round 1 loss came against Brisbane in 2016, where Torrey Craig’s 16 points led the Bullets two a seven-point win.