Jawai is the best player on that team. If allowed he will become the best centre in the league.

Whether or not Nate starts, I'm guessing his minutes will be limited for a fair while (whether due to fitness or foul trouble). I'm sure he'll be starting sooner or later though. Our backcourt is weak as hell, so having a weapon like him on the court is something we will need to take maximum advantage of IMO.

Redhage & Wagstaff at the 3 have both gone badly in the past, and Hire also seems to play better as an undersized 4 than as a slow 3, so it's going to be real "interesting" so see how Gleeson copes with the front court logjam. Hopefully not as "interesting" as when he had a similar issue with the Tigers with that ridiculously top-heavy roster :-/

Suffice to say that my expectations for this season are not high.
On the positive side, we've never been better placed to be able to deal with the inevitable Matty Knight injuries ;)

There's 3 guys locked in.
Martin at 1, Beal at 2, Knight at 4/5.
So it depends on whether they want to bring Jawai off the bench, or start him. And how Prather fits into the line-up.
They have 7 guys (8 if you count Jervis) who legitimately could be starting. So could come down to structure and team balance against different teams.
Early predictions would have Martin, Beal, Prather, Redhage, Knight. With Jawai off the bench (get his fitness up to speed, he will be starting by mid-season I'd imagine).

Starting Wagstaff over Redhage has been every Cats fan solution to every problem for the last five years. While the thought of having a scorer like Redhage coming off the bench excites me (a la Catt in 2010) I still don't think Wagstaff has shown enough to deserve a guaranteed starting spot.

The thing about Wagstaff is that he hasn't improved since coming into the league 5 years ago I expected him to be the better player out of him and Redhage by now but that is still debatable.

it's going to be real "interesting" so see how Gleeson copes with the front court logjam. Hopefully not as "interesting" as when he had a similar issue with the Tigers with that ridiculously top-heavy roster

I wouldn't be too obsessed by the notion of a starting 5 this season. Most coaches like to have 7 or 8 players that they use heavily and this will be no different. Plus, as we keep mentioning, their will be injuries.

But, with everyone fit, in terms of who will spend the most time on the floor, the "starting 5" will look something like this:

1) Martin
2) Beal
3) Prather
4) Knight/Redhage
5) Jawai/Knight

That said, at times you'll also see:
1) Martin
2) Beal
3) Redhage/Wagstaff
4) Knight
5) Jawai/ Jervis

At the end of the day, you need to fill 200 minutes, and I think it will break down something like this:

Martin - 30
Beal - 30
Prather - 30
Jawai - 24
Knight - 20
Redhage - 18
Wagstaff - 18
Jervis - 14
Hire - 10
Kenny - 6

Or, to look at it another way, why would you go undersize and Play Knight at centre for so long, when you have Jawai and Jervis?

But you're right in the sense that Jervis will come into his own when injuries/fatigue/fouls hit. Despite what I said, I've kinda gone for averages, when in reality he, Wagstaff, and Hire will obviously play less minutes when everyone is fit & firing.

"Dunkin dan you must have rocks in your head to call our backcourt ' weak as hell'. Damo and dolla are two of the better players in the league and complement each other well i feel."

I agree that they're both excellent players. I love Damo, and Beal can be very effective with the right support. More than happy to have them as my starting 1 & 2.
But one of them is currently injured and historically injury-prone. My idea of a quality backcourt is one that will stand up for 40 minutes per game for a whole season, rather than one that starts looking shaky the moment a sub is required for a breather, foul trouble, or an injury.

I'd be surprised if we get away with it. If we have a lucky run with injuries and our 10th roster spot is a good selection then maybe we will, but we've taken a very risky route IMO.

Ask any Cats fan whether depth has been as important as quality over the last half a dozen years. We've started a lot of seasons with a nice pair of starters. In the 60 minute scenario above, those other 20 minutes need to be accounted for and 20 minutes is a long time in basketball.

Seeing now that Kenny is the other man, I'm glad that at least we've got someone with some experience. From that selection, clearly the plan is to rotate some bigger guys through the wing positions and back the mismatches to work in our favour more often than in the opponents'. I hope it's successful because there is no Plan B with this roster.

Martin 1
Prather 2
Redhage 3
Knights 4
Jawai 5

Beal - sixth man to replace any of the starters. Bring some offense off the bench.

"I hope it's successful because there is no Plan B with this roster."

I disagree, I think we have the abilty to go outside:
Damo
Beal
Redhage
Wagstaff
Knight

This lineup can go with outside ball. Redhage and Wagstaff can give us good outside scoring at the 3 and 4. People have been quick to say we have no 3pt power, but I see 4 guys who can shoot the 3 there, and Knight can spread the floor with mid range too.

If its fast paced, we have
Damo
Beal
Prather
Redhage/Wag
Knight/Jervis

These are 2 alternate lineups we COULD use if we wanted to change from the inside ball.

Having said that, Id start with:
Damo
Beal
Prather
Knight
Jawai

1st sub early to take Beal off, slide Prather to the 2 and prepare for Beal to sub Damo later in the quarter.

"I disagree, I think we have the abilty to go outside:
Damo
Beal
Redhage
Wagstaff
Knight"

30.7%
33.5%
36.8%
32.3%
25.0%

I don't think that "Outside" lineup would strike fear at the perimeter into many opponents, and Redhage as a 3 hasn't worked out well in the past even during his prime.

Besides, I think the best looks we are going to get from outside will come when Nate is dominating his man inside. Inside-out is the way to go, and I'm counting on Prather to keep defences busy whether or not his range extends out to the arc.

Most people seem to be far more optimistic than I am, and hopefully they're right and I'm wrong.
The other important factor in play is our head coach. Personally I've never rated him. This season he will be tested. Let's see what he's made of.

I think we have the ability to inject Jawai and Jervis isn't games and say "play hard" and not be too concerned if they pick up a couple of quick fouls. Wildcats seem to get away with being more physical and if a 5 minute injection of either or both these players pays off with intimidation then it looks like good coaching but if it doesn't work then we have able replacements waiting on the bench but saying that...

PG Damo
SG Prather
SF Wagstaff
PF Knight
C Jawai

In case of say the Kings I'd have man on man with Prather guarding Childress, Damo on me dreadlocks and Wagstaff on Cadee... It might be a risk but it's what makes sport great is seeing how things will turn out and seeing both how things can go right and how they can go wrong

So you are going to sit Beal?

Having Beal, Wagstaff, Redhage and Knight on at the same time will definitely spread the defence if the spacing is right, all those guys have to be guarded closely in their preferred spots in the floor.

Wait, what? Wagstaff guarding Cadee??

outside shots dont have to be 3 balls. Those percentages dont tell us how many outside 2 jump shots redhage/knight hit

this is how I would start the team.

PG: Damo
SG: Beal
SF: Prather
PF: Knight
C: Jawai

Like stated before Redhage doesn't work at the three and will have trouble guarding players like Josh Childress, Todd Blanchfield and Kirk Penney. Wagstaff simply isn't a starter, especially not at the 3 spot. You really do only have one player who will actually be able to play the three on the offensive and guard the three defensively, and that player is Prather. Also I wouldn't be surprised if Nate doesn't start just because of his fitness, and instead he plays 10-15 minutes a game

As I said, my numbers were averages. When Knight is fit and firing he'll play more minutes (as will Jawai) when they're injured, fatigued, or in early foul trouble, Jervis will play more.
Knight AVERAGED around 24 minutes per game, and that doesn't count the games he missed through injury.

A lot of people seemed fixated on the notion that Redhage, Wagstaff and Hire, can't play the 3 spot.
Umm, have you ever watched the Wildcats?
Cats play a lot of ball with 2 forwards and a centre.
Hire WAS their backup SF last season, and when he was injured and they would at times run both, especially after Ross was injured and replaced by Luke Martin.
Maybe they're not "quintessential" SF's but the Cats often prefer an extra post player.

That said, as mentioned, the MOST common "starting" lineup will see Prather in the 3.

Reckon Jawai will come off the bench to start the season then move into the starting 5 midway through.
They do have a logjam but had no choice considering Greenwood pulled out.

I think Jervis is being seriously under-rated in this discussion. Personally I think for team balance Perth would be best starting him, and going with:
1: Martin
2: Beal
3: Prather
4: Knight
5: Jervis
As Jawai's fitness improves perhaps shift him to start, but I think you'll get best bang for buck having Redhage, Jawai and Wagstaff off the bench.

Agree with Mr Sting.

They should start:

Martin
Beal
Prather
Wagstaff
Knight

But I think they'll start Redhage and bring Wagstaff in early. All subject to Prather being half-decent.

Think we could possibly see different starting 5's depending who they are playing. Jervis and Jawai may get the start against the likes of Khazzou or Ibekwe. Knight to start against smaller mobile centres.

There's a compressed schedule this year with teams playing 2 games most weeks so having too many big guys is not going to be an issue.

There's a lot of discussion at the moment regarding the make up of Perth’s team after the Jawai and Kenny signings.

If I was coaching:

Jawai
Redhage
Prather
Beal
Martin

- Major minutes off the bench to be allocated to Knight and Wagstaff.
- Hire and Kenny to play smaller bench minutes.
- Jervis to be used when injuries, foul trouble or both to Knight or Jawai make it a necessity.
- Martin and Beal to play 30+ minutes a night.

My prediction for this team is that they will be a strong team at full strength. But any injuries to Martin, Beal or Prather will put them on the back foot.

Is there any team in the league that isn't going to be affected by injuries to a starter? If Cedric Jackon or Daniel Johnson goes down, both teams are screwed. While the Cats had their worst luck with injuries last year for a long time, they still made the semi-finals and narrowly lost in both games. You're going to need to do more than worry about a couple of injuries to beat the Cats.

I don't think Jawai will start or play major minutes.

Quick Question: Whats with all the 'Wildcats' based Topics lately? Never got anything like this last year or the year before.

I imagine the controversy surrounding Greenwood's departure and then the rumours/signing of Jawai generated a bit of interest.

Why would Perth not start Jawai? Just wondering what the rationale is.

I acknowledge that he is unlikely to play big minutes, particularly in the first half of the season, but I'd be starting him. I think he has the potential to dominate a game, so I would want to maximise his minutes. I also think it gives the Cats their best chance to get off to a good start in games.
I'd be playing him something like the first 3 and last 3 minutes of each half, plus the 4 minutes split across the quarter time breaks (or as many of those minutes as he is able to be effective in), and having Jervis play the rest.

I think he could start later in the season. They will feel him out, see how many minutes he can take. According to the interview I read he wants to slim down a lot too.

DD, why would you have Jervis playing the rest?

You're wanting to play Knight at the 4?

Redhage and Wagstaff are both more suited to the 4 than the 3. Perth would be better off playing Jawai and Knight at the 5, Redhage and Wagstaff at the 4, Prather and Hire at the 3, and then let Beal and Martin play as many minutes as possible at the guard spot.

From a team balance perspective, playing Jawai/Jervis, Knight and Redhage/Wagstaff at the same time- I don't think that would work very well.

LV, yeah I was oversimplifying with that. Knight can obviously play the 5 as well if the matchup works well, which I'm sure it will at times. My point was really just about Jawai's minutes rather than how his gaps are filled in.

I just think Perth have an issue with an unbalanced roster.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how you slice it or you dice it, you'll have one of these issues:

- A good player who is deserving of minutes, sitting on the bench and not getting used (Jervis- under my plan).

OR

- Several players playing out of their best position, often at the same time (Knight, Redhage and Wagstaff- under DD's plan).

Needless to say but neither is a good situation.

And sorry- I should have added- the issue with having Jervis on the bench isn't that you have a good player not getting used. The issue is that you have a good player not getting used in one position, while you're using possibly substandard NBL players (Kenny) in other positions and/or playing guys into the ground to the point of exhaustion every night (Beal/Martin).

Whereas your plan - DD- will probably get used, but I just don't see Redhage, Wagstaff and Knight being as effective at the 3 and 4 positions respectively, as they would be if used as they have been predominantly used for the past few years.

LV, I've been saying very similar things for the past several days. I don't think there is any disagreement that the Cats roster is waaay top-heavy.
It's going to take some very impressive coaching to make it work.

Dan, I think the best teams in the last 10 years have been those with a fairly smart, core group of players who know their system well. Teams fall apart at either end if players don't know where they should be, and I think physical skill or basketball ability rarely overcomes that.

Perth have a centre who's been MVP calibre in past seasons. They have two forwards who, along with said centre, have kept their team in finals contention each year - they're fairly prototypical of the successful NBL forward in 201x - hustling, play both ends, can shoot the three, there to win, selfless, follow instructions, etc. I think someone would have to be pretty outstanding to break into that quickly.


FWIW, if I could pick from the Cats' frontcourt to build around at another team (e.g., Adelaide without Johnson or Petrie), I'd take Wagstaff. If picking to improve Adelaide as it stands now, I'd take Knight, Jervis, Wagstaff in that order before Jawai or Redhage.

I wouldn't start Jawai initially. He'll be coming up against teams with a plan to get him fatigued and in foul trouble, fresh oppo guards capable of doing so, and refs who are often quick on the whistle early in games.

Bang, bang, Jawai's on the bench for the rest of the half.

If you bring him in midway through the quarter, those plans aren't fresh in the oppo's minds, players are a bit fatigued themselves, some lesser bench guards might be in the game and the refs have often settled down.

Plus, Jawai is a tough cover for starting centres, but a number of back-up centres will find him a nightmare.

Isaac, you forgot flopping as amongst the list of some of their finest qualities!

I can buy the reasoning if it's a matter of him not being integrated properly into the team yet.
To me that is as much a personality/ego/pecking order issue as a basketball one though. The "new guy" just walking into a starting spot amongst a group of veterans might ruffle too many feathers. Fair enough.

The bulk of this season's roster is settled, and chemistry should not be an issue. Nate is obviously going to take a while to mesh in. But that remains just as true regardless of which part of the game we're in, so that aspect is kind of a wash to me.

Paul's point about "those plans aren't fresh in the oppo's minds" is a fair one. I don't know if reality will reflect the theory, since it's kind of impossible to not be highly aware of Nate's presence once he checks in, but I'll pay it.

Overall I'm still not convinced though.
Do I expect him to start game 1? No of course not. But I think that he will pretty quickly establish himself as our starting centre.
I just feel that we'll be a much more potent team with him on the floor. Our front court is bursting with capable players, but Nate gives us a point of difference. I think that (unlike all the others) he's a guy that will be hard to contain one-on-one, and we desperately need that to get our offence going.

It's as much about the fresh bodies trying to draw fouls and ansty refs ready to call them early in the game.

Ughh... those ansty refs whistling all those lame flops...
:p

Lucky he's playing for Perth then I suppose?

Williamson shot 26% from three last time he played in the NBL. Matt Knight and Tom Jervis were the only two players for the Wildcats last season to attempt a three and shoot worse than that, and Knight was pretty close at 25%.

He only shot 32.4% from three for his career, too. That's lower than the career numbers for Redhage, Beal, and Wagstaff, and only a tenth of a percent higher than Damian Martin.

Yeah I'd have Wagstaff on Cadee, your questioning suggests that Sydney will constantly go to the mismatch and I don't see that happening... They have too many selfish players like Garlepp and we we don't know what we will get from Thornton but he has a history of getting up a lot of shots.
Cadee is notorious for standing around and waiting for the game come to him... If he was active then it would be another story.

I think Beal would be a greater asset coming off the bench, last year he was conservative to the detriment of the team and he was hardly going to be benched for U'u.

This squad is highly changeable and I think if anyone thinks they can get court time by not playing hard then they deserve to be on the bench

I'm happy for Redhage to slide to the bench. He'll be around for another three or four seasons that way, providing the instant offence off the bench, for a very low points rating too.

In case of say the Kings I'd have man on man with Prather guarding Childress, Damo on me dreadlocks and Wagstaff on Cadee... It might be a risk but it's what makes sport great is seeing how things will turn out and seeing both how things can go right and how they can go wrong.

A lot of people making "points" as though they think the Cats have not considered them.
Keep in mind that they have a much better idea of how they plan to use players, especially Prather.

Also some silly talk about "running players into the ground"...
NOBODY uses a full 10-man rotation, why would you? If everybody is fit, then barring foul trouble, you play your best players to their capacity, rested as needed, and fill the gaps. Most coaches would be more than happy to use a strong 7 or 8 man rotation.
The reality in the NBL, is that apart from playing "bench minutes" the depth of your bench comes into play when you have injuries. Sure, you go and sign player 'X' as your designated injury replacement, but for local players its those already in your squad that fill the gap.
If Nobody gets injured or into foul trouble, then Jervis, Hire and Kenny are going to play limited minutes. That's the life of a bench player in the NBL.

Furthermore, part of the Cats success, both on and off court, is that we try NOT to throw out 80% of the team and rebuild from scratch every year. This means that you start with the player you want to keep, and look to fill the vacancies from what's available.
If you were building from scratch, with a perfect range of candidates available, you'd have your starting centre (Jawai) able to play at least 30 minutes, replace Knight with a more mobile PF who could also play big minutes, have an import bigger than Prather as SF, replace Wagstaff with somebody who can backup the 3, and Hire with a backup SG. But that's not how the Cats operate, and there is NO perfect range of candidates out there.