The problem forcing Wildcats to "reshape"

Four straight losses and six straight games conceding 99 points or more: the Perth Wildcats’ defence has become a serious problem.

Round 8 of the Hungry Jack’s NBL27 Season brought losses to both Brisbane and Cairns, leaving John Rillie’s side seventh with a 5-6 record.

Their defence is now rated ninth in the League (125.4), ahead of only last-placed Illawarra (127.5), and Wildcats star Kristian Doolittle knows it’s at the heart of the slide.

“Every game has been a microcosm of a bigger problem,” Doolittle said after Sunday’s loss to the Taipans.

“I feel like each team that we’ve lost to has beaten us in a different way. Tonight it was the three-point shot.

“Unless we plan on scoring more than 100 ourselves, we can’t keep letting other teams score 100 points.”

Rillie was just as blunt in his assessment of his side’s recent performances.

“We’re just not playing good enough as a group,” Rillie said.

“We show good patches at both ends of the floor, in different moments.

“But overall we’re just not playing good enough for long enough, and we’re seeing the results of how we’re performing right now.

“That’s the trick when you’re in these moments, right? You can go inward and try and solve the problem by yourself, or go inward to see, can I be selfless to help our team get out of this?

“We’ve got to have a better collective in moments, and that’s when the 50/50 moments start to swing in your favour.

“We did a good job of that early in the year. We had a desperation about ourselves. That’s what we have to reshape right now.”

Perth’s next chance to end the losing streak comes on Thursday night, when they host Tasmania from 9.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.