Wildcats throw down MVP gauntlet: Doolittle v Davis

Kristian Doolittle and Kendric Davis have locked horns going back to their college days and Perth Wildcats coach John Rillie has full faith in his gun defender to try to quell the influence of the Sydney Kings' MVP fancy.

While the talk is all about Davis challenging Rillie's former charger and Adelaide 36ers dynamo Bryce Cotton as the MVP, the way Doolittle is playing right now wouldn’t have him out of place in that discussion.

Over Sydney's current nine-game winning streak, Davis is delivering 25.0 points and 8.7 assists for Sydney.

Now with the Wildcats to play the Kings on Sunday at Qudos Bank Arena, Rillie is giving Doolittle the job and has full faith in what he can do defensively as they resume hostilities.

That dates back to when Doolittle was an Oklahoma Sooner and Davis was with the TCU Horned Frogs in 2019.

"What I'm looking forward to is that they have a player that there is a lot of speculation around being an MVP and I have a guy in that changeroom that I think's pretty good defensively," Rillie said.

"So let's go and see what happens. It'll be straight one-on-one and I know Davis is from Houston so maybe like a little one-on-one like Doo said the other week, Blacktop, and let's just see."

The Wildcats have now won nine of 10 games after Friday's 94-75 home win over the Brisbane Bullets with Doolittle's rocketing to 21.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists in that stretch so he's firming for the All-First Team all the time.

While Rillie maintains Doolittle not only should be considered for the Damian Martin Trophy as Best Defensive Player, but would be a deserving winner, his offensive arsenal is improving all the time.

That was on show once more on Friday where he shot a super efficient 10/14 from the field, 4/7 from three-point territory and 4/5 at the foul line.

"I think he's very comfortable with who he is as a player, but offensively what I like is that in his time with us he has chipped away and added to his game over time," Rillie said.

"He came in and he was very comfortable in the mid-range or backing smaller guys down where now with the way his three ball is evolving, he has good confidence in that at the moment.

"That's really a great weapon for him because when you've got to respect that, then that really opens up the rest of it for him."

As for the challenge ahead of the Wildcats now on Sunday, Rillie is looking forward to finding out more about his team as they head in having won nine of the last 10 against a Sydney team on a nine-game winning run.

Given the teams currently sit first and fourth, there's every chance it might be a Playoffs preview as well while also important for the Kings to try to stay top two or the 'Cats to further consolidate fourth to maintain their lead over Melbourne United.

"They've beaten us very convincingly a couple of times and they are playing very well right now, and there's a lot of hype about what they're doing and achieving," Rillie said.

"So we get to go over there, go on the road, see where we're at and we've been seeing where we're at against all these different teams in these moments.

"There's no better opportunity than going and playing the hottest team in the league right now."