Wildcats Wary of Dangerous Snakes

As Perth prepares to face the third placed Cairns tonight, Wildcats coach John Rillie is wary of the Taipans’ hunger and MVP contender Keanu Pinder.

The Wildcats are on a three-game winning streak but Rillie is predicting a tough match-up to secure a fourth. The Taipans are high on confidence after Saturday’s comeback win over the Tasmania JackJumpers.

Perth has had their heads down training for a week after their game against the Breakers last Friday was postponed due to COVID.

The extra training could give the Wildcats the upper hand in tonight’s game against Cairns, but it won’t be easy in Far North Queensland.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The final game of a monster Round 11 – can the Snakes rise to the occasion for their third game of the round, or will the travelling Wildcats prove too strong? ??<br><br>Catch the action live from 7:30pm AEDT on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/31oC2qWEL2">pic.twitter.com/31oC2qWEL2</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1604997508945412096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“They have Keanu Pinder in the middle who’s playing at an MVP type level so their perimeter firepower is high octane, but Pinder is also a load down low as well,” Rillie said.

“Cairns are a dangerous team. They’ve been playing very well consistently throughout the year, their style of play, they like to play fast, position-less basketball, getting up a lot of threes.”

If there’s one player who is up for the test to match Pinder’s contribution, it’s none other than three-time MVP Bryce Cotton, who is averaging 23.3 points and 4.6 rebounds this season.

The two teams go head-to-head at 7:30pm AEDT tonight at the Cairns Convention Centre.