Perth coach John Rillie has defended famous person Bryce Cotton and critcised the media for not asking about Tai Webster’s absence after their Wildcats’ shock 100-82 NBL loss to Illawarra.
The Hawks arrange one of many greatest upsets of the NBL season with a 12-0 opening which they became an unassailable 38-18 quarter-time lead on the WIN Entertainment Centre on Friday evening.
Centre Sam Froling scored 21 factors and was unstoppable early, earlier than imports Gary Clark and Tyler Harvey mixed to chase away any hope of a late Perth miracle.
American Jordan Usher top-scored off the bench for the Wildcats with 17, whereas Illawarra’s magnificent defence lowered three-time league MVP Cotton to a paltry seven factors at 11 per cent.
Cotton had averaged 30.1 factors in the course of the Wildcats’ now-snapped six-game profitable streak and stays nicely positioned to be the NBL’s scoring champion for a seventh time, second solely to Melbourne Tigers legend Andrew Gaze with 14.
When requested about Cotton’s quiet evening, Rillie shook his head in bewilderment.
“Everyone likes to get on Bryce when he doesn’t score points but he had seven assists, zero turnovers,” he stated.
“Man, it’s unbelievable what some people think when they shut one guy down for one night.
“Let’s rejoice his success a bit extra.”
Webster, Cotton’s usual starting backcourt partner, was absent through illness and wasn’t mentioned in the post-match press conference, which Rillie finished by sarcastically talking to himself.
“I’ll ask a query,” he started. “Missing Tai Webster – was that necessary to you guys?
“Yes, I think having Tai Webster absent tonight was very key for our team. Thankyou.”
With Cotton quelled and Webster lacking, the Wildcats have been ambushed.
Froling’s pick-and-roll partnership with Harvey gave Keanu Pinder suits within the paint because the Hawks moved into pole place early.
Teenage prodigy AJ Johnson blew by Kristian Doolittle and threw down a thunderous dunk over Alex Sarr earlier than seldom-used reserve Will Hickey adopted some hard-nosed defence on Cotton with a banked prayer on the quarter-time bell to cap one of many most interesting quarters in Illawarra’s lengthy historical past.
Perth tidied up their rebounding within the second time period and outscored the hosts 47-38 within the center two quarters.
They threatened to steamroll their option to a come-from-behind victory, however Harvey and Clark had all of the solutions as Illawarra dominated down the stretch.
“Bryce is a great player, an MVP candidate, and we made it a tough night for him,” Hawks interim coach Justin Tatum stated.
“We prepared for him, we sent multiple guys on him and our guys were locked in.”
“It’s going to be troublesome for a scorer to get into his groove if guys are actually connected to him.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
