Rillie Inspired by NBL Champion

By Dan Woods - NBL Media

New Perth Wildcats coach John Rillie has been presented with a rare opportunity this season.

He’s graduated from the Brian Goorjian coaching school having served as an assistant under the legendary coach at the Boomers, and now he’s been tasked with getting Perth back into the playoffs after their 35-year streak ended last season.

Rillie is a remarkable figure in Australian basketball himself, having won a championship in his playing days with the 36ers, and he’s come into the Wildcats job with a clear mentality.

“I love a great atmosphere so people feel comfortable, but at the end of the day I do want to kick your ass,” Rillie said on The Huddle.

“I’m certainly not Brian Goorjian, but I think we have a similar approach and personality to the game and the way we want our teams to be.

“I’m certainly vocal during practice and letting guys know how it is. That’s the way I want my team to step out onto the floor and play.

“We want a confidence about what we’re doing. Respect the opposition, but [also] feel like we have a good chance of winning every game.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">??? ?????? ??????? | The annual preseason coaches series continues with new <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PerthWildcats</a> coach <a href="https://twitter.com/johnrillie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@johnrillie</a> ?<br><br>Full episode available at <a href="https://t.co/vSr7Ee0p7s">https://t.co/vSr7Ee0p7s</a> ? and wherever you get your podcasts ? <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> <a href="https://t.co/OAgDmtlMav">pic.twitter.com/OAgDmtlMav</a></p>&mdash; Liam Santamaria (@Liam_Santa) <a href="https://twitter.com/Liam_Santa/status/1560802413367685121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Rillie is looking for his Wildcats to follow a basic blueprint that’s been utilised by successful teams year after year. If you want to compete, you need to build a strong core, based off of defence and rebounding.

With the Wildcats bringing in a number of new weapons on offence including Corey Webster and Brady Manek, while retaining established NBL scorers Todd Blanchfield and Bryce Cotton, Rillie says improvement on the defensive end is what he’s targeting most in pre-season.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">New faces on the floor. ? <a href="https://t.co/ad9bGcgKsG">pic.twitter.com/ad9bGcgKsG</a></p>&mdash; Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1559071192904237057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“I have confidence in our offence, and if you want to be a championship level team you have to defend and you have to rebound," he said.

“More than anything I feel like I have to implement my philosophy defensively. It is different to how they (Perth) played last year at that end of the floor, so they need to see I’m serious about it because I am trying to navigate that aura of how people think my teams are going to play.

“The players have to buy in as well so every day we’re emphasising those two things.

“Even the best defender gets beat, but if we get beat I want us to be beat the way I feel we can hide that, with our rotations and so forth.

“Take care of that and we’re moving down the floor where we all enjoy being.”