Rillie: "A great team performance"

Keanu Pinder may have been the leading light in Perth’s Playoff win over Tasmania, but John Rilie has praised the performances of all his players in the eight-point victory.

The JackJumpers found themselves leading by as many as six points in the final quarter, but the Wildcats stormed home to maintain home-court advantage and travel to Tasmania with the hopes of moving into the Championship Series.

Only three players – Pinder, Bryce Cotton and Jordan Usher – scored in double-figures for the Wildcats in the win, but Rillie says his side’s role players stepped up.

“I felt like it was a great team performance at different times,” Rillie said post-game.

“Ush had some big moments for us ... the guy next to me (Hyrum Harris) made some great defensive plays, Jesse’s tip-out off the free throw, we just had guys chip in at the right times. Doolittle makes two big pull-up twos in the right moments, Tai Webster with his rebounding, and obviously Keanu played at a very high level tonight.

“That’s what we’ve done throughout the year, and we continued to do that tonight.”

Rille also saved a special mention for Next Star Alexandre Sarr, and praised the Frenchman’s defensive influence on proceedings.

“I believe this was the best game for him protecting the rim. Him and Keanu did a phenomenal job with what we wanted to do with our ball-screen coverage in practice and their detail to that got rewarded tonight.

“His activity protecting the rim was tremendous and that’s where I really thought he made a difference in the game for us.”

One potential black mark against the victory was the apparent injury suffered by starting guard Tai Webster late in proceedings.

Webster clutched at his leg in the fourth quarter, however Rillie believes the New Zealand international will be OK to suit up in Monday’s Game 2.

“I’m not sure what the diagnosis is, but I did see him drinking pickle juice afterwards,” Rillie said.

“That cures everything I heard, so he’ll be fine.”

The second game of the Playoff Series between Perth and Tasmania will be played at MyState Bank Arena on Monday from 7:30pm AEDT. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN via Kayo.