Vlahov calls for Cotton support

Perth Wildcats legend Andrew Vlahov has issued a rallying cry to Bryce Cotton’s teammates after the guard’s fourth MVP award, and says they need to do a better job at protecting their superstar import in the more physical realm of Finals basketball.

Vlahov spent his entire NBL career with the Wildcats and won three titles with the organisation. He was also named the Grand Final MVP in 1995 and has had his number retired by the club.

The four-time Olympian was also one of the strongest and most notorious enforcers in the competition.

“The games in which the Wildcats have struggled, Bryce has struggled, and that’s not Bryce’s fault,” Vlahov told SEN WA. “If I was to be critical of the current Wildcats team, I don’t think they look after Bryce enough. Back in our day Ricky Grace was a targeted man just like Bryce is, and they thought if they could get to Ricky then they’d have a chance at beating us.

“Our job was to not let anyone get to Ricky, and to ensure whoever was guarding Ricky was always looking over their shoulder at either (Scott) Fisher or myself ready to set a decent, robust screen.

“At the end of the day the Playoffs are going to be played extremely physical, the referees are going to put their whistles away and this is the challenge for the Wildcats. The last two games they’ve had very, very poor defensive cohesion, so they need to bring that back together, but they also need to step up and make sure anyone that wants to play physical with Bryce finds out that if you mess with the bull you get the horns.

“I would say Hyrum (Harris) does a pretty god job of that right now but he could probably take another level up, he’s that kind of player and he’s got the type of physique to do it. Keanu Pinder would be another one.”

The Wildcats secured a second-place finish at the end of the regular season, which is the highest the NBL’s most successful club has finished on the ladder since NBL20 – where they were second behind the Sydney Kings.

That season is the most recent Championship the Wildcats have won, and only Cotton and club captain Jesse Wagstaff still remain with the club from that title-winning side.

Vlahov says the upcoming NBL Finals are currently anyone’s to win.

“It's probably the most open field to win the Championship I have ever seen,” he continued.

“The two teams at the top – Melbourne and Perth – arguably have a slightly easier barrier through, but I don’t think that’s an advantage. I think the hottest teams in the competition right now are Tasmania and Illawarra and I expect both of those teams to advance into the semi-finals.

“Anyone that’s ever won a Championship will tell you it’s won at the defensive end. We can play offence with the best of them, but if we’re undisciplined offensively and don’t have a defensive structure which we can rely on teams will exploit us, like Illawarra did and like Tasmania did.

“When you have a superstar like Bryce Cotton on your team you’re a chance to win no matter who you’re playing.”

The Seeding Qualifier which will determine the Wildcats’ Playoff opponents will be played between Tasmania and Illawarra on February 28 at 7:30pm AEDT, and will be broadcast live on ESPN via Kayo.