Like Starks he showed some impressive physical skills, the trick will be finding how to use those successfully in the NBL. Too early to make a judgement on that, but wasn't terrible last night.

Prather is a big upgrade from Deandre Daniels, but is still a big downgrade from Ennis.

There are certainly glimpses of what he can do, like push the ball and pressure the D.

Early days of course but he seems like a solid pick up.

Yes that is true....both Lisch and Beal took a while to get their rhythm.

Good player. Not too sure about the fit though however was signed based on Greenwood as I have mentioned!

i like his drive and aggressive nature to the basket. From what ive seen he is slashing to the basket well which is what was lacking last season at times.

Dont worry about guards, with Damo and Beal, Prather will get to play the 3 and will do it nicely. I think he will thrive in the role when damo returns, as teams wont be able to sag off beal/marto/redhage/wagstaff like they were on kenny or they will pay the price. With redhage slowing, and wagstaff loving to sit at the 3 line, our PF can play outside and give prather room in the key (if jawai vacates it).

After watching last nights game, im convinced we picked the right guy more so than a sit out 3 pt shooter. We just need damo back. Take any star local out of a team and they will be deficient in areas, and you can make scenarios where a different built player would suit a side more. Think of abercrombies absence with NZ, goulding out for melb etc, it changes the way a team can play for sure.

One game does not a season make, but then again he played exactly the same way as he did in the preseason games, right down to the big dunk attempt that went flying off the rim, so there's no reason to think much is going to change with him this season.
As we've been saying all along about him, Greenwood's departure makes him no longer an ideal fit position-wise, but hopefully we can still make it work. I like his energy & athleticism, and think we need that. Can't shoot for shit, but that seems to almost be a requirement to be a Cats guard these days. Between him, Damo & Kenny we must have one of the worst perimeter shooting backcourts ever.
Stay healthy, Beal!!

He must have thought he saw Ray Allen on the bench wearing red.

I think people need to get off his back and stop hoping for the second coming of Ennis. Don't get me wrong, I loved Ennis and would have him back in a heartbeat. I just think Casey needs the chance to settle in. Ennis came in with deficiencies in his shooting- he got better. Casey had a lot of upsides despite the glaring jump shot issue. Hopefully he is a hard worker- which is what all the cats staff are saying- that the shots will start to drop. It is exciting to see a guy willing to slash to the basket and create a few highlights. Just give him time. Beal needed time and look how that turned out.

he's only a youngster so as he gets more mature and more confident he will be a big asset.

He's here for like 4~5 months, not sure how mature he's gonna get.

Dont worry about guards, with Damo and Beal, Prather will get to play the 3 and will do it nicely.

umm, just to fill you in, we don't want him to play the 3.

Let me put it another way, even assuming Damo is back and firing, if Prather goes down with an LTI tomorrow, what do we look to replace him with.

I'm also not sure how anybody could possibly conclude that he's an improvement on DD?
Anything I've seen Prather do, DD could do a LOT better. DD's downsides were that he lacked the strength to post-up, and that he didn't have enough outside game to really play the small 3 role. Prather looks to be a smaller version of the same.

Thing is, these guys on one season deals are hired guns. Its not the way I like to see things run, but that's how the Cats have decided to utilise one of their import slots. But if you're gonna hire a gun, he better be able to shoot.

Beal is the Real Deal,
a man-made highlight Reel,
he can shoot and Steal,
the win he can Seal,
like a cold-blooded river Eel.

"I'm also not sure how anybody could possibly conclude that he's an improvement on DD?
Anything I've seen Prather do, DD could do a LOT better. "

Prather can dribble the ball without turning it over. Thats a massive improvement, not just for the player, but for the teams offence.

He was very good in college, I'm sure they think he can be a very effective player, but it's his first real pro gig so there will be ups and downs.

He played his part in a huge opening round win so I think think anyone will be sharpening knives just yet.

He'll get better as the season goes on. With Jawai in the lineup we need to surround him with shooters. He's attracting double teams every possession. If Prather can continue to hit threes, we'll be ok. He should good defense in his first game, shut down Ebi Ere

Should add, he wasnt a great 3 point shooter in college, but went 1/3 against 36ers. That would be enough to make teams pay for doubling Jawai

www.wildcatsviews.com

"umm, just to fill you in, we don't want him to play the 3."

Oh really? So we got ourselves an import just to fill in whatever minutes were remaining from the 2 guard spots after Martin, Beal & Greenwood??


"Prather can dribble the ball without turning it over. Thats a massive improvement, not just for the player, but for the teams offence."

He also looks focussed and vaguely invested in what's happening on the court, and gives effort for more than 2 minutes per game, so that's an improvement as well.

Prather was never a 'hired gun' dazz, do you really think the scouts and coaches thought he would be an overnight superstar?? He wasn't a superstar in college nor in the d league, he's obviously a player they hoped to develop.

He's here on a one-season deal.
Yes, they hope he develops, but the payback period is SHORT, as in within the season.

"umm, just to fill you in, we don't want him to play the 3."

Oh really? So we got ourselves an import just to fill in whatever minutes were remaining from the 2 guard spots after Martin, Beal & Greenwood??

Ok, you must have missed this, Greenwood LEFT and was replaced with Jawai.

I don't know if the Cats anticipated Jawai (or perhaps another local front-court player) but even at the time they went looking for Prather they said they wanted a swingman could could play on the wing.

With Jawai, we now have a logjam in the front court.
Including Prather, we've now got 4 guys who will rotate through the 3 spot. What we need is ONE of those to show some aptitude to rotate through the 2. (As I mentioned, last game we at one point had Hire in the 2.)
Prather is the obvious candidate, not only because he's the one they recruited to have that ability, and because he's the only one that even looks like he might, but because he's the easiest replaced.
(He's not only an import, but a 10 point player.)

At the end of the day, if Prather ends up playing mostly in the 3, and a result Hire, Redhage & Wagstaff all drop in minutes, then fine, but that's NOT what we have seen so far.

I'd give Casey a big pat on the back with a giant foam hand if I could.

I thought he was adequate enough and wasn't trying to be a star aka Thornton from Sydney. As the season wears on Casey will make errors and will also grow from them and take bad shots but we need to encourage him being aggressive slashing to the basket and I think we will have a much better player come finals time