Rock bottom to red-hot: Wildcats rise from the "crater"

Whether it was spending time together on the road, pulling together with only one available import or being determined to hit back, John Rillie was delighted with the Perth Wildcats' best team performance of NBL26.

The Wildcats arrived in Cairns averaging just 83 points a game, but turned it on against the struggling Taipans.

Perth lost to Brisbane at home last Wednesday and then away to Sydney on Sunday by a combined 39 points, but everything clicked against the Snakes with the 110-78 hammering where they claimed all seven Ignite Cup points on offer.

They did it without the departed Mason Jones and injured Dylan Windler, with coach Rillie labelling it the best team performance of the season.

The Wildcats exploded for 110 points on 58 per cent shooting with 22 assists and just five turnovers, and eight players scoring seven points or more.

"I would say it's the first game this season where we've had contributors across the floor," Rillie said.

"We had five guys in double figures and even things like David Okwera having big offensive rebounds in the third quarter, Noa (Kouakou-Heugue) came in and was a nice spark for us and it also helps when you make shots. It's amazing what that can do for your confidence."

Kristian Doolittle spent more time on the perimeter paid off with his season-best 18 points with eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Okwera (seven points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals) and Jaron Rillie (10 points, six rebounds, two assists) both made the most of their first starts, while Elijah Pepper found shooting form with 18 points and four assists.

Next Star Noa Kouakou-Heugue also not only scored his first NBL points, but had eight points and four rebounds in 16 minutes, and Rillie couldn’t fault the whole team performance.

In the losses to the Bullets and Kings, the Wildcats scored a combined 165 points with 31 assists and 30 turnovers, along with shooting 39 per cent from the field and 22/77 from deep.

It was a much smoother looking offence against Cairns and they only attempted 21 three-point shots from 73 field goals with the offence far and away the best it's looked in NBL26.

"A chink is being awfully generous, I would say it's been like a crater (the offence) but we had good ball movement, we had good pace and that comes from the defensive end," Rillie said.

"As far as us as a team, that was kind of the most connected and the most guys that have contributed to winning that we've had."