Looked like he might have done something with that first of two back to back dunks in the third quarter on Sat., either that or he just likes celebrating like he's angry / hurt, pissed off.

Better to rest then to aggravate and lose for longer..

Despite the earlier loss to the Crocs, you would imagine the Cats have too many other weapons that can step up in any game.

If there's one thing Perth isn't short on its bigs. They should be able to cover Jawai no problem.

He was definitely grimacing after the first dunk, but seemed pretty comfortable seconds later on the next dunk. I dont think they'd rest him unless he really needed the rest. Not so much because of taking the Crocs lightly, but the team still haas a long way to go to gel and start really clicking. Cats will be that bit more boring to watch, going to be a tough game on the eye this one.

They can't think it's too severe if they're leaving him out of Wednesday's match but expecting him to play 2 days later.

Crocs by 1. Perth sound a bit comfortable if they're resting players.

Travel takes a lot out of players don't forget. What is that, 15 hours in a plane over two days... it's best he stay home if there is even the slightest of niggles

Id say they just think they could beat the crocs with their wyes closed. The travel thing is so over hyped. Not like jawai wouldnt have an exit row...

I think we can cover Jawai easier that we could our guards. Despite the earlier disgrace, I'll tip Perth.

Hoping Hire and Wagstaff can get on the scoreboard again.

Kobe, speaking with different players/coaches of different sports it's not over-hyped!

If I were a punter, I'd take the over 156.5 in a heartbeat! Reckon it's going to be a fun one

Yeah I'm sure there is something to it, but personally i dont think its that big a thing. The guys i know never use it as an excuse in road games anyways.

Huge factor for injuries. Take a 209cm massive dude, fly him 6000km and then ask him to play a game of basketball, fly 6000km back and play again, the risk of re-injury is far far greater than staying at home, not being couped up for hours and just playing one game of hoops.

Great time to rest him IMO, play the Crocs again on Friday - give him the week off, get it right.

There's no way 'Cats lose again to Crocs - well there is a chance if we lose 3 starters again.

Biggest risk of flying Nate across the country & back is to the plane I reckon :p

Biggest risk in travelling to Townsville is not rolling over and dying of boredom in the 36 hours you're forced to spend there :-)

Let's just see whether you do actually get within single digits before we bother rebutting that, hey.
In case you missed all the memos, this is the blowout league, where no one gets within single digits!

I'd say 6 or 7 teams are over the cap. That means that those who aren't spending those amounts can piss off as they keep on dragging the league down. Townsville are an embarrassment.

Plenty to do in Townsville, CT. They have ten-pin bowling now

It's not a preview to the game but i did a little breakdown of the Wildcats big lineup versus small ball teams if anyone's interested. It has Gifs!

http://wildcatsviews.com/2015/11/03/wildcats-going-big-when-everyones-going-small/

@CT: that's some pretty rich commentary to be making on an Adelaide-based forum.

Crocs will get them. Mildcats are weak as piss. I'll be going tonight along with the 500 other fans to watch them do it. And yes we have 2! ten-pin bowling alley's now.It could be worse you could be spending 36 hours in Cairns with its sparkling mudflat beach. Supernintendo Chalmers maybe you can piss off, always H8ing on Townsville ya muppet.

"Supernintendo Chalmers maybe you can piss off, always H8ing on Townsville ya muppet."

Yes I do hate on Townsville, mainly because their inept management has been holding the league back for years. Why didn't they do the right thing and hand back their licence when they knew they would stop being competitive both on and off the court?

Chalmers hates on everyone, so you have no right to take it personally ;) TSV is pretty good for what it is, very chilled out and the food is always great the times I've been there.... the women at the Madcow, immmmm not so much haha

At least I can explain why Kobe24. You just jump in threads to add "typical Cats fans LOL" because you don't actually understand what has been written.

lol

Typical Cats fans....

Whoops, LOL aswell.

Dman m8, pretty sure you can back me up here but walking in on opening night and seeing those sheets of black plastic covering large sections of the stadium seats... it was like seeing one of your mates die in front of your eyes. I almost cried

"Yes I do hate on Townsville, mainly because their inept management has been holding the league back for years."

No, it's been slowing killing them. The league was doing fine holding itself back until this year.

Wildcats should win by 10 or 12, at least.

Redhage will be a beneficiary of Jawai's absence. Wouldn't surprised if he had a big game.

'980, one of your posts has been deleted. It is inappropriate to imply or reveal identities or past aliases. In this case it's obvious and I doubt the target cares, but it's just trolling behaviour and a waste of time.

My heart says close game, but reality is Crocs mentally must be struggling with all these losses and crowd figures, will probably be a blow out. Perth feel they owe them too so wont show much mercy, if they get a sniff could go to 25.

What I don't understand is why teams struggling for crowds, don't get together with the venue, do a deal, and give the seats away.
Cats introduced a new budget category "Nickel" to fill some of the nosebleed seats at the top of the Arena, and regularly run programs to give away tickets, usually targeted at young people. (Recently they ran a promo with "Adventure World".)
Giving away empty seats to kids makes sense. It boosts the crowd, the venue gets to sell food, and you invest in fans of the future. Plus its a great way to reinforce the community programs.

I remember when Townsville use to sell out every game. I'm pretty sure they hold or atleast held at the time the record for most consecutive sell outs. WTF happened?

Derek Rucker, Sam McKinnon and Rob Rose left..

No Conklin...

Perth Uni's don't look too bad..

Greg Hire gettin the biccies.

Oh, Conklin is playing, it's just off the bench..... interesting.

Love the Wildcats uniform, finally someone has an away strip that looks great and makes sense.

Actually, swap the name on the front for Dragons and I reckon I have one... ;)

Aren't the road team supposed to be light though?

Really, where is that written, I thought every team had two options with their home as the third?

No matter, the game is interesting, I think as soon as the Croc's heard Nate wasn't coming their confidence would have risen 200%, will it be the difference though??

"Why didn't they do the right thing and hand back their licence when they knew they would stop being competitive both on and off the court?"

Cannot let that pass as it attempts to rewrite or ignore history

Townsville's recent regular season finishing positions:
3rd in 2010, knocked out by Wollongong in 3 games in semi finals)
2nd in 2011, knocked out by Cairns in 3 games in semi finals
4th in 2012, took NZ (eventual champions) to 3 games in the semi finals
don't know their position in 2013
8th in 2014 BUT only 3 wins from 4th place and playoffs (the most even season in recent memory)
6th in 2015 (last season)

Owner handed back the licence at the end of 2013 (may have been a year earlier, my memory is dodgy). They went into administration at the end of 2015 season. On both occasions, the league wanted them back in. That history says the tried to "do the right thing" but the league found ways to keep them in.

Bear:
"77.1. All NBL Clubs must have at least two alternate uniforms, a dark-based uniform for home games and a light-based uniform for away games. The colour and design of these uniforms must comply with the NBL Uniform Guidelines including the placement of logos and sponsor recognition."

That's from the 2011-12 NBL rules and regulations. However, they may no longer apply or may have changed over subsequent years. The 2011-12 rules are teh most recent I have.

Townsvilles only hope is going to be in transition, yet they seem to want to slow it down 3 out of 4 plays.

What's wrong with Beal?
Usually the last player to be benched, he was the first.
Running Martin & Kenny together.

That is a handy bench Perth has.

Okay, what do we think about that charge on Martin by the Croc's player backing into him?

Technically, I guess it was a charge, but seriously Martin made the most of it didn't he?

Not saying he flopped, but geeze louise how easily did he fall backwards...

Those Townsville coaching staff tops are naaaasty.

@PeterJohn: uniform rules were changed after the demerger.

Looked like there was contact and Damo was there but his fall didn't match the impact.

On another note, Jervis is killing the O boards

Jervis is beast. On anyother team he would shine

Cagey vet move by Conklin there... Looks like the foul was before the end of the half.

Dolla Beal not on the money tonight. Is he crook?
Or did he get on the turps to celebrate his birthday?

Jervis just needs the minutes to be effective. He's hitting the boards hard and keeping his arms up. Great technique for taller guys to emulate.

Conklin really seems like a ticking time bomb, he may explode for either 15 points or techs, I'm not sure which.

Crocs really competitive, dare to dream, would love to see them pull it out at home!

Agreed Conklin looks all out of sorts, nervous tension or something but playing angry.

Not sure who seemed angrier, him or Geisch the ref.

Anon he is role player not by design! Conklin is struggling big time.

Interesting exchange Dennis and Maynard.

Maynard rattled by Martin, and then just got ripped by SD. Love these timeout views!

Cats have gone missing, look shocking in this spurt.

Norton needs to play the whole 4th quarter

They only scored 12 in the quarter. Man Jawai would want to be genuinely needing the rest. If they blow this one, will come back to haunt them come finals time seeding wise. Still think they will switch it on, Crocs as much as they throw the kitchen sink at you in hustle, are due for one of their scoring draughts.

Perth are too reactive as a team, seem to only be able to play to their oppositions level and unable to set a tempo of their own.

Great D by both teams. Good to see Perth copping some of their own medicine, hope they can learn from it, but they aren't handling it well at the moment.
Too many lazy shots, playing for the foul.

This is Clints team.

Nick Kay is absolutely playing out of his skin

Crocs simply want this more, so hungry. Trev got no answers by looks of it.

Gotta be something wrong with Beal, he is not with it.

This will put me off side with fellow Wildcats fans, but does Beal ever play any half decent defense.

Very ordinary game again, only one person on the whole team seems to care, and that is Martin, the rest including the coach don't seem to give a crap. Either attitude chance or we are not winning title.

Redhage career has died in the ass, so many turnovers these days.

Cue the sack beal posts..

Jervis cares also, you wouldn't know though because Trev won't give him any minutes

Sack Gleeson!

Impressed with Jett tonight. No idea why Perth are playing him tight on the perimeter though.

Every player just hit the deck for the Crocs, not much more a coach can ask for. This is great to see, for any fans who love the underdog.

Did I mention nick Kay is everywhereee

Crocs played some nice D on us tonight. They've played well on our reluctance/inability to shoot.

back to the discussion from the other week of betting against your own team.....cha ching

What an odd performance by Perth, I just cant understand how this has happened. Trev has not changed anything up at all.

Yep missed Knight, and Jervis does but he sits on the pine , so can't really be critical of him. But rest just go through the motions.

Hey atleast Prather is physically fit enough to play the game! But agreed he hasn't got any ability to take over a game at all, just a role type guy.

Ouch! Damo

The Crocs win again without Schenscher, and without Conklin taking 20 shots.

This is the way we should be playing.

Conklin doesn't play hard in the hustle areas and he doesn't rebound or defend so you lose that when he is playing really big minutes like he has in the past.

I prefer this role for him: just needs to focus on scoring.

Nothing filthy about that, inadvertent... not one Cat went after Conklin, for good reason.

Ouch, doesn't look good for Damo. Conklin flails his arms about again.

9 rebounds in a 2nd half shows you how much effort they have put in. This team ain't winning a title this year unless something changes.

Hope he's still got all his teeth after that

D Martin lost some teeth ouch!

Not Conklins fault at all.

Well done Crocs - wanted it more

Was probably an accident but this flailing of the arms business needs to stop. He always does it. It's stupid.

Pretty disgusting performance by Perth. A real sense of arrogance and cockiness tonight. Let's be real..they rested Jawai because they expected tonight would be an easy victory. Absolutely no heart or determination tonight. If i was a fan i would be very very upset.

Dennis against Perth keeps reminding me of Radford against Perth. Inside knowledge proving effective?

Macdub agree, Jawai was rested and its damn disrespectful, your asking for trouble with doing things like that.

About 10 rows behind wildcats bench and wildcats staff looked like they picked a tooth up out of damos hand

Insipid effort.

Yeah thats true, and realistically no one even knows the extent of whatever injury it is, but i just couldn't imagine them resting him if it was NZ or United...

ha all the H8ers saying Mildcats will win. Crocs are the poorest, under supported and clearly the worst team in the league if you go by what that muppet "Supernintendo Chalmers" say's, and they still win agaist the flagship club. Suck on that all the H8ers!

The thing that gives it away to me was that they said he was expected to play in Friday night's home game. So clearly it's nothing too serious.

I don't think it's a big deal though. They wouldn't rest him for no reason at all, let's face it. I'm sure the Cats will be keen all season not to overload him, but they also won't want to overload Knight either. They made a judgement call, and it may well have cost them a win tonight. (but the way we played, who knows. We might have lost with him too, and further aggravated the injury, which would have been a far worse outcome)

If that win doesn't get people to come along I don't know what will in Townsville?

Super impressed with Kay and Steindl this year and Jett is coming along too.

Be interesting in Perth on Friday.

Word is Martin broken jaw and swallowed atleast one tooth!!!! Poor bugger that was a bad connection.

@anonymous. They won by 30 the other night so did they decide to quit playing for Gleeson today? Fickle fans.

Jawai didn't play and Beal had a shocker. Relax people. It's not panic stations when you lose a road match and you have a man mountain Boomer to return to the line up. Whether you're playing the bottom team or not.

Perhaps the lesson from all of this is mostly that the Crocs just match up well against the Cats.

What nonsense.

I didn't see the game tonight but let me tell you one thing. I've seen 6 of the 7 United games and attended 4 of them, and I'll tell you that what the Cats produced against the Hawks, and the way in which they went about dismantling a quality opponent was at least as impressive as anything United has done this season.

So write them off at your own leisure.

Crocs played great D, and Cats didn't handle it. Hopefully they learn and improve.
In that last quarter, Crocs simply wanted it more. After the Cats monstered the boards early, they were barely competing in the last.
Knight seemed a bit out of it towards the end, missing easy shots, and not competing for the boards.
But yeah, in the absence of Jawai, they should have played Jervis more, and Redhage less. I just don't think he's up to playing 25 minutes any more, especially when he's not having a great night.

Why are some people suddenly acting like this Cats team should be invincible?

I really hope the rumours of Damo breaking his jaw are false. He's too good a dude to have this happen to him.

I do think Conklin should reign in the arm flailing that he's started to do the last few weeks.

Oh and it probably should be pointed out that the game vs Hawks - ie possibly the most impressive individual performance of the NBL season to date- was the *only* game where the Cats have actually had their full team.

So much of this is about matchups. And the early indications suggest that the Cats match up ok against United and the Hawks.

No one should base their opinion purely on one game. I've seen a fair bit of the Cats and when Beal is firing they will be tough to beat. And Beal is a good player- he does often fire! And has done so in finals. So again, write off the Cats at your leisure.

Can't believe I'm doing cats PR here.

What are you on about, #125? What have those two things got to do with me having an opinion on things?

No excuses for the Cats tonight. They played without intensity. Poor effort.

But its still the first third of the season so nothijg to worry about.... yet. Just need to close the gap in the difference between our best and our worst.

Give it a rest LV. Your "common sense" perspective, or whatever that was meant to be, has no place in this thread.

@6PRSportsToday
Trevor Gleeson says they will put Nate Jawai on Conklin on Friday night and he can pick on someone his own size.

Jawai on Conklin Friday could be nasty. Conklin will pros need to update his health insurance just to be safe!

Credit to the Crocs, they out hustled the Cats big time. Looks like they will be Perths bogey team this season.

That hit on Damo made me feel sick. One of the most respected players in the NBL and fingers crossed he is ok.

No way in hell Conklin intended it, Damo was just in the wrong place at the wrong time but I do agree that he has been flailing his arms around a bit and needs to tone it down. Didn't look like he even went over to see if Damo was alright either which is a bit disappointing.

I would hate to be Conklin coming to Perth on Friday lol There's going to be 10000 + fans screaming for his blood.

Conklin has probably forgotten what crowd noise is, playing up in that empty shed all the time.
I'm sure we'll give him a good demonstration on Friday ;)

(FWIW I didn't think it was intentional either. I'll still happily boo him though)

Here's my take on the HORRIFIC game

http://wildcatsviews.com/2015/11/04/perth-wildcats-vs-crocs-it-happened-again/

"Let's be real..they rested Jawai because they expected tonight would be an easy victory."

This sentiment is floating around a bit but it's pretty silly. Perth just lost to the Crocs in Perth, no way did they think it would be an easy win in Townsville.

The fact some people would fly 6000km to play and then back again to play while carrying a niggle shows why it's a good thing fans don't run teams!

"This sentiment is floating around a bit but it's pretty silly."

It sure is.

Next game I suppose we will leave a different player out of the team who is 100% healthy, because ... well, just because we can! Totally logical right? That's what sports teams do, after all. They omit important players for no actual reason.

Jawai was noticeably limping last game. He might have been able to push through and play this one, but why risk further damage.

Well, there's 'for no actual reason' and there's 'without it being 100% necessary'.

If it was the deciding game of the grand final, Jawai would have played. At this stage of the season, you can be more cautious. The question is how cautious they were justified in being and what they would have done against different opposition.

Would they have rested Jawai if they were playing Melbourne?

Luuuuc, before telling me to keep my thoughts out of the comments, tell me what I said that wasn't right.

2ndly you are a Cats fan, yes? Were you watching the last game? You do realise Jawai hurt his (already sore?) Quad on that dunk and was limping, yes?

I would expect that 12 hours of plane travel would have an impact on a sore 140kg man, especially one who's required to partake in elite sport shortly after touching down. Wouldn't you?

Even if they did rest Nate, surely the rest of the team could have stepped up. Something that did not happen, how can you go from beating a much better team on paper like Illawarra to losing to a couple of Americans and a bunch of kids. Just goes to show if you have the right attitude you will win. Townsville had the right attitude to the game whilst the Wildcats just thought it would happen. You cannot turn up every 2nd game like the Wildcats have been doing and be a serious threat, their mindset needs to change.

LV, I think you'll find he is agreeing with you, and he facetiously said your comments have no place in this thread because a whole bunch of other people were talking crap.

Ah right- sorry, didn't pick up on that, hadn't had my morning coffee yet when I read his post!

One comment on this game, 'confidence is king'

It certainly is, Bear.

Crocs had plenty of it last night when it mattered. Even when the Cats started putting some scores on the board, the Crocs just came right back at us with intent and were clearly not in the mood to be stopped.
If they take that same mindset into tomorrow night's game there's no reason they can't win that as well.
The Crocs might be an ordinary looking roster, but they clearly don't fear the Wildcats right now.

The game was summed up by the play where Kay chased down Prather and knocked the ball away, Steindl got a touch on it, Kay dived on the floor, Conklin dived on the floor and set up a Jett three-point play. Townsville just wanted this one more.

Clip here: https://twitter.com/GruggenSam/status/661874262278471680

At the end of the day, Basketball (like many sports) has a huge mental & emotional component.
For whatever reason, the Crocs keep losing their opening quarters, and as a general rule that has put them on the backfoot.
However they pulled off a miracle the first time against Perth.
They gave them heaps of confidence they could do it again, especially when down by less.
They stepped up their D, they shut down Beal, and in the end they wanted it more.

Whilst I am warming to Prather, I am getting pissed at his repeated attempts to showboat, stick the Jam, go the allyoop, etc. This isn't College, just put the ball in the hoop and get on with it.

Also Knight and others constantly playing for the foul inside. They go inside and draw contact whilst half-heatedly tossing the ball against the board, just expecting to get the call.