Supporting cast no more for Perth’s rising stars

When star import David Duke Jr suffered an elbow injury against Adelaide, it appeared the Perth Wildcats would struggle with their backcourt depth.

Enter Elijah Pepper and Ben Henshall.

Since Round 15, when Duke Jr (and Jaron Rillie soon after), both young Wildcats increased the statistical outputs significantly.

Pepper’s averages rose in points (8.2 to 14.9 per game), rebounds (2.8 to 3.9), assists (1.3 to 2.3) and steals (1 to 1.2), while the latter had increased his output in points (7.7 to 10.9), rebounds (2.8 to 4.5), assists (1.9 to 4.9) and steals (0.7 to 1.1).

This hasn’t gone unnoticed either, with club MVP Kristian Doolittle singing the pair's praises at the recent NBL Finals Launch.

“They [Pepper and Henshall] were very important to our success [in the back end of the season], and they will remain to be for the remainder of the season,” Doolittle said.

“For us to win a championship, I feel like they'll have to have high contributions on offence, and make timely shots for us.

“I feel like whenever they're on, the opponent’s defence has to pick their poison on what they want to take away, because they have to respect everybody [including Pepper and Henshall] on the floor.”

Club captain Jesse Wagstaff has been impressed with the continued growth of the backcourt duo.

“I kind of forget how young they are, because Ben’s been around the program a while and even when he was a youngster in high school, he was still kind of around the program,” Wagstaff said.

“I've seen him for a number of years, and to see his growth has been great.

“Obviously, Pep as well has been phenomenal in recent weeks too.

“He's shooting the ball at a high clip, while doing some little stuff as well that probably goes unnoticed too.

“He's a big, stocky guard that can get on the glass and defend, which is probably an underrated part of his game.

“They've been great, and allowed us to not rush Duke back. They are both vital pieces of the puzzle and a high part of what we do.”

The Wildcats tip off their NBL26 Finals campaign on Wednesday, March 4, with the Seeding Qualifier against South East Melbourne at John Cain Arena from 7.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.