Perth Wildcats coach John Rillie insists his team didn’t run out of legs throughout the closing quarter in opposition to Tasmania regardless of giving up a nine-point result in lose 102-94.
The Wildcats entered the sport realizing their 4 of their starters spent not less than half-hour on court docket throughout Friday night time’s win over Illawarra, whereas the JackJumpers unfold their minutes when Sydney stormed to an enormous lead earlier that day.
Bryce Cotton performed each minute in opposition to the JackJumpers, after spending 38:29 on court docket on Friday whereas Corey Webster and Luke Travers didn’t come to the bench within the final quarter in opposition to Tasmania.
But Rillie stated fatigue wasn’t the rationale they gave up their lead.
“No. What I wold say is we probably had eye on the scoreboard and the clock versus the pace we were playing to get that lead. We bogged down a little bit versus moving the ball and letting opportunities come our way,” Rillie stated.
“That was something I emphasised before the game. You’ve got to move these guys around. They’re a great team defence so you’ve got to move them around so you can attack them in dufferent ways. That was the reason we got a nine-point lead.
“The way I want to play is if you’ve got a six to nine point lead, we’re looking to get it to 11 or 13. We’re not keeping an eye on the clock.
“I want to build on that. I felt like we let them dictate the pace of the last three of four minutes. To their credit, they hit some big shots.”
Both groups attacked and scored greater than 50 factors within the first half. Despite Tai Webster (hamstring) nonetheless being sidelined, the Wildcats had six gamers in double figures.
TaShawn Thomas prime scored with 19 factors and 10 rebounds. Cotton and Webster each scores 17 whereas Brady Manek (13), Travers (12) and Jesse Wagstaff (10) additionally had scoreboard influence.
Milton Doyle led the best way for Tasmania with 21 factors whereas Jack McVeigh and Rashard Kelly each had 17.
The Wildcats are 14-12 and should nonetheless beat both Cairns or Sydney at residence within the final spherical to lock away a spot within the play-in match. The Kings and Taipans sit first and second on the ladder and Rillie stated everybody understood the importance of what was coming.
“It’s a huge week for the Perth Wildcats,” he stated.
“We have to appreciate every possession instead of thinking we’re going to accumulate points over the course of 40 minutes.
“I’m not naïve. To play superb basketball for 40 minutes is really tough. But instead of being sporadic with spurts of it, we need to come with a consistent level of effort on it.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
