Rillie: 'We're ready for Game 3'

The Wildcats and JackJumpers have a short turnaround to Game 3 following Monday night’s thriller at MyState Bank Arena, and Wildcats head coach John Rillie has detailed exactly what the next 36 hours will contain for his side.

Tasmania’s Game 2 victory has forced a decisive final clash to be played at RAC Arena. The winner will progress to face either Illawarra or Melbourne in the Championship Series, while the loser will have their campaign brought to a screeching halt.

Both sides have to cross the country ahead of the clash, and Rillie says he’s already gone over the defeat multiple times to kickstart his Game 3 preparation.

“I rewatched the game a couple of times so when Wednesday night comes around, we’re ready to go,” Rillie told SEN WA.

“Before we leave we’ll have a very short and sharp film session so we can tighten things up from a visual point of view, we’ll do a very, very light shootaround tomorrow just so we can go through some of the tactical stuff of things we want to execute a little bit better – and that’s normal for a game day.

“Then at 6:30 (9:30pm AEDT) the ball goes in the air and we’ll see what happens.

“Everyone’s fine considering how physical [the] moment of a Game 2 semi-final is. Everyone’s pulled up pretty well, we’ll travel back and have a light day so tomorrow we’ll be all guns blazing.”

Both Playoff Series’ are heading to a decisive Game 3 for the second season in a row. In NBL23 it was the Breakers and Kings who triumphed over the JackJumpers and Taipans respectively, before their five-game Championship Series classic.

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Rillie says he believes any of the four remaining teams this can lay claim to the title, and games like Wednesday night’s upcoming fixture are why he got into coaching.

“Melbourne pretty much from start to finish were the number one team, but ourselves, Tassie and Illawarra have been performing at a high level throughout the season,” he said.

“Could the champion come from any of those four teams? Absolutely, and this series is reflecting that right now.

“These are the moments, and I’ll speak for myself, that you want to be involved in sport for. There’s so much at stake, but how do you perform in that forum and go from there?

“To be able to come home and play in a Game 3, that’s why I like to coach, that’s why I took the job for the Perth Wildcats, and that’s what excites me about being the head coach of this franchise.”

Perth’s Game 3 clash with Tasmania will tip off at 9:30pm AEDT on Wednesday night, live on ESPN via Kayo.