Rillie Denies Accusations of Wildcats' Rebounding Weakness

After South East Melbourne’s victory over Perth Phoenix head coach Simon Mitchell said his side saw rebounding prowess as an area of weakness for the Wildcats. A claim Perth coach John Rillie has refuted.

Despite staying within touching distance of the Phoenix for much of the contest, South East Melbourne blew the game open in the fourth quarter agaionst Perth en route to a 21-point win in which centre Alan Williams played a starring role.

‘Big Sauce’ finished the game with 27 points and 14 rebounds – seven of which were offensive – and the Phoenix won the battle of the boards 49-25.

Perhaps most alarmingly the Wildcats only pulled in four offensive rebounds compared to the Phoenix’s 18.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">??? ?????? ???<br><br>? Tune in on <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAu</a> ?? <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KayoSports</a> | ESPN2 <a href="https://t.co/22n3hYcWtK">pic.twitter.com/22n3hYcWtK</a></p>&mdash; South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1617012817751859206?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“It’s really our own mindset and attention on the defensive end,” Rillie told SEN of his side’s rebounding struggles. “We talk about defence and rebounding but some of that comes from our own offence and the shots we’re taking.

“We’re a good offensive team, but when we take good shots versus great shots for us as a team that puts a lot of heat and stress on our defence and rebounding, because we’re not in position and our matchups aren’t the ones we really want.

“They way I come back to it is it wasn’t an issue against the Kings and you would argue the Kings put a lot of heat on the rebounding situation.”

Much of Perth’s crucial upturn in form has been put down to Rillie’s shortening of his side’s rotation. Veterans Todd Blanchfield, Majok Majok, Jesse Wagstaff and Mitch Norton have found court-time hard to come by, while the selected starting five have had their minutes drastically increased.

The arrival of Tai Webster from Petkim Spor and his insertion into the starting line-up has contributed to the cut in minutes for the side's extended guard rotation, while Luke Travers has drastically improved his form since being awarded extended time on court.

“I coach a lot of the game on feel,” Rillie said. “The way I handle [minutes] is your performance dictates your playing time. That’s not just the work you’re putting in when the game time comes.

“The way I became successful as a player was putting in work, and that’s the way I truly believe you become a good player and get consistency in your game.

“[Tai Webster] brings a nice outlook and swagger about things – he truly is a confident player … it’s a nice dynamic to add to the group in this part of the season.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Find someone who looks at you the way <a href="https://twitter.com/Tjawtherula?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Tjawtherula</a> looks at Jesse. ? <a href="https://t.co/0gBFnnNI5q">pic.twitter.com/0gBFnnNI5q</a></p>&mdash; Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1616620599203491840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“At the end of the day we’ve been playing in playoff mode for the last month with the way we started the season.”

The Wildcats close out their season with clashes against Illawarra, Tasmaina, Cairns and Sydney – with only the contest against the JackJumpers coming away from home.

The Red Army has been coming out in full force during their side’s run to the finals, and over 13,000 of them packed into RAC Arena to witness Perth overcome Sydney in its last home game.

Rillie believes his side is finally giving the fans something to cheer for.

“Over the last three weeks I think it’s been a gradual build-up with the Breakers, 36ers, Open Air game and then the other day with the Sydney Kings,” he said.

“We need to give them something to cheer about.

“Our players have started to give moments for the crowd to get really enthusiastic and passionate about.

Perth next hosts Illawarra on Friday night at 9:30pm AEDT.