Q&A: Trevor Gleeson on preparing for the NBL Finals without Bryce Cotton

Interview conducted for nbl.com.au by Tom Hersz

It’s tough to replace a superstar. Even tougher when that superstar was having another MVP season and your program is built around him.

Coach of the Year Finalist, Trevor Gleeson is facing that challenge now in Perth. Bryce Cotton is out for the remainder of this season with a serious quadriceps injury that required emergency surgery.

After going 23-9 with Cotton, the Wildcats finished the season with two wins and two losses since losing him and the team has needed to adapt very quickly.

It will require Gleeson and his coaching staff to come up with something special to overcome what Cotton would have given them as they defend their title and chase an historic three-peat.

In this, their 35th straight NBL Finals appearance and their first without Damian Martin since 2009, would this be Gleeson’s greatest coaching feat if he can get this Wildcats team to the title?

Gleeson was kind enough to chat with NBL Media earlier today to discuss how the team is preparing ahead of Game 1 of the Semi Finals tonight against Illawarra.

How confident were you in this team’s ability to defend the title before Bryce’s injury and chase that three-peat?

I don’t really see it as a “defend” because we haven’t got the same roster. You know, Damian Martin, Terrico White, Miles Plumlee, Nick Kay – they were instant championship players. So, this has been a really good challenge for us, you know [we have] a couple of guys who are journeymen, a couple of guys who never played NBL before and what we’ve been able to achieve has been absolutely brilliant throughout the year and looking to continue that all the way through the playoffs. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;It&#39;s over with, I don&#39;t even want to give fans false hope. I couldn&#39;t be out there even if I wanted to&quot;<br><br>Bryce Cotton provides an update on his condition following surgery with some tough news for <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PerthWildcats</a> fans.<br><br>Here&#39;s hoping for a speedy recovery, Bryce <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/VVE3cOMRcu">pic.twitter.com/VVE3cOMRcu</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1400311803385548801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

You’ve had just four games to observe the current roster and team make-up, coming away with mixed results, going 2-2. What are your observations form those games in terms of how the team has adjusted to playing without Cotton?

Yeah, there’s obviously an adjustment period when you lose such a dominant player throughout the league and I think, just the last game not having Mitch Norton there really gave us a different look too. So there’s a little bit of experience we’ve got now. 

We actually played Luke Travers at the point guard and he did quite well. So it’s something we’ve been forced to deal with, putting different line-ups there and different strategies in place, and it’s been good to have those four games and to get ready.

On that, you built a system to play a certain way, which you ran for 32 of 36 games and now that’s had to change. How big a challenge is it for you and your coaching staff at this late stage of the season, to adjust the player’s focus, your schemes, certain roles etc. to counter the loss of Bryce?

You can’t replace Bryce. You can’t do it. What you have to do is reinvent in your system, opportunities for our guys to score. And we have that mentality of ‘one man down, the next man is up’ and we’ve done that; we’ve won games without Bryce in the team and we’ve won games without our stars in the team before. 

So, there’s just a little tinkering. We haven’t got time to put a whole new system in, so we tinker and [if] that works we keep it, that doesn’t work, so we throw that out.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> Coach of the Year Finalists ?? <a href="https://t.co/9cFBLJnBDZ">pic.twitter.com/9cFBLJnBDZ</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1402128326798417923?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

We saw Todd, John and also Mitch – before he missed the final game – really lead the way in those final four games, plus Clint, Luke and Jesse also produce at times. Without giving anything away, who do you expect to step up to help fill that void in the Finals?

I’ve been really pleased with Luke Travers’ development. Not only through the course of the year, but the added responsibility that he’s taken and he’s quite a dynamic player. 

We’re built [where] we need everybody’s input. We need guys to play their roles the best that they can. We don’t need somebody to go out there and drop 40 like Bryce is capable of doing, but we need them to play their roles. 

That’s what we’ll focus on; being part of a team and sharing the ball and covering each other on the defensive end. That’s why we’ve been successful for so many years.

It’s also your first postseason without Damian Martin, which must feel different. How much do you rely on the experience of your current veterans and leaders like Jesse, Mitch, Clint and Tom – guys who you’ve won with before – to help prepare going into a series like this?

Yeah good question. And I’ve been into battle with Jesse for eight finals campaigns now and Tommy’s won three championships with us, Norto’s won two championships, so there’s a lot of faith that I put in these guys and a lot of faith they give each other. It’s about growing without the guys like a Damo and a Nick and Terrico, so I’ve been very surprised and encouraged by their leadership.

What’s been your message to the team about their ability to win in the Finals and chase that third straight Championship without Bryce?

I’ve been very lucky to be around some championship teams and they have some common threads, and those common threads are they bring energy, they’re great together, they’ve got that toughness and they’ve got that mental edge. 

All those teams, even though they’re different with personnel, all have those common characteristics. That’s what you’ve got to focus on this time of year and hopefully we can keep developing that.

What are you expecting heading into Game 1 tonight against Illawarra?

Yeah a tough encounter. We played them two weeks ago down there and it was a two-point game. They’ve got some quality players with their three imports in Harvey, Jessup and Simon. And Froling has been the most improved player this year in Brian’s system, so we’re going to have our hands full and we expect nothing else for this time of the year.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Game 1?? has been VERY important.<br><br>The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLFinals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLFinals</a> begin tonight with the <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PerthWildcats</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@illawarrahawks</a> at 9:30pm AEST on SBS VICELAND and ESPN ? <a href="https://t.co/t6Kl46DZus">pic.twitter.com/t6Kl46DZus</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1402745779773607936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Finally, where would this rank on your personal list of achievements if you could win the Grand Final this season?

Look, I really don’t look at that. I just try to get the best out of the team and the best possible result and we want to win the championship. 

When I get old and get a rocking chair, I can sit back and start grading the championships, but we don’t do that and certainly I don’t do that.

Trev – thanks very much for your time and good luck tonight.

No worries mate. Too easy.