This will be really interesting.
Last game we won with supreme effort combined with the cohesion of a team that knows each other pretty well. If we can maintain most of that and effectively mesh Cotton in as well then we're a chance for sure.
Head says don't tip the cats on the road even when we're playing ok. Heart says (hopes?) we're cleared for takeoff and ready to begin our attack on the playoffs.

Cats will be much stronger than previous games. Martin is missing game fitness and this might be the thing against the Cats. Kings limited by coaching skill it would seem.

Close, but no cigar for the Wildcats. Cats will get their whiskers trimmed tonight

Expect all the guys to cash in on Cotton's distribution prowess.

Kings wouldn't know what will hit them until it is to late.

I expect a subdued Kings today.

I was surprised at the odds offered and obviously helped myself to what I can afford needless to say.

It won't be this tote come Monday against Brissy. Be smart.

Not bad bro.

Knight will flop to the floor and very seriously injure himself (then miraculously mend before next game).

Kings by plenty.

This game is so anticipated there's two threads

Interesting to see how many minutes Damo can play. He's been back training, so unless he pulls up sore there shouldn't be any limitation. But will of course lack game-fitness and touch.

And obviously the big one, Cotton's debut.
Not hoping for too much in the first game, but as he settles in really hoping he can replace JJ's scoring.
(If he can do that and handle the ball, twill be great.)

What is also going to be interesting going forward, with Damo and Cotton, is the impact on McKay. He's a great finisher when he gets fed inside, so this could really bump his scoring up.

Damo and Cotten will come off the bench. I'm thinking damo will play 15 mins plays hard in 4 3-4 spurts.

PG - Kenny
SG - Hire
SF - waft staff
PF knight
C McKay

Damo and Cotten will come on after 5 mins replace Kenny and hire

OMG yes Prather maybe shows we are now loaded, hire out Prather in starting 5

Ugh MT in the building... I'm prediciting atrocious officiating...

I'm a little surprised to see Damo starting

Martin pulling the trigger early.

I have no idea why.

Dream start for Bryce :)

Cotton looking good so far. Very patient and in control.

That continuation tho???

Prather seems to be sitting out for a while

Gleeson's rotations are very questionable

Kings rotation starting to show its depth. Gaze substitution pattern is the best I've seen all season.

That's impressive stat on Newley that Shane Heal put up, he's almost 2:1 assist turnover ratio. That's PG like stat!

Great pick up Gleeson with cotton

Stats have Cotton down for 0 assists...I swear he had at least one to Mckay in the first quarter.

Oh crap. #3 for Prather

Prather been sick

Prather looking a bit sluggish tonight. Being on a road double perhaps Gleeson is managing his minutes where he can.

As good at Martin is at defence; he does get away with a lot of contact and body banging that other PGs would typically get called for. Not taking anything away from him..he is a defensive beast..just an observation.

Double crap. #4
A frustration foul due to getting no love whatsoever from the refs this game :/

McDowell-White showing his hyped up talent. Kid can definitely play.

Yeah he looks right at home out there

Wagstaff's done in this league. Not worth the $.

I think they've been correct on the travel calls. Players just need to stop travelling.

Prather has had a bad game. Look out Brisbane.

Sydney don't seem to have worked out that if they want to win they have to get the ball in the basket. Plenty of opportunity but terrible shooting.

Cotton looks a little bit too good for this league

It'd be mind-boggling if Cats lose this one.

Gaze needs to think long and hard about his offense. The shuffle and living by the 3pt isn't working.

Will done our championship coach, always had faith you in you.

Bye bye JJ welcome cotton

Where are the Gleeson haters???

Cotton is definitely in the Randle and Ware class. Once he settles in, the Cats are going to be real tough. They'll definitely tear someone a new one if everyone fires.

settle down cats fans, they almost lost the game still... Lucky Sydney were ice cold in the 4th... Perth still make it look so hard to score...

Lisch & Newley look burnt out... with the Kings lighter schedule and maybe a small reduction in minutes, the Kings could be back this year?

Looked like the Kings played 4 guys for 30+ minutes tonight, where as the trend for most other teams seems to be less minutes, more player rotation & quality time rather than lots of time.

If/when Lisch & Newley spark hot form again, the Kings'll be dangerous again.

McKay was AWESOME tonight. Played his role to perfection. Inspires effort. Love it!

Shuffle does not work. I think we posted Powell up once, and Whittington once. Lisch is having to create his own offense on isos, Newls just drives outside the offense... it just doesn't work.

Defensively we gave up some easy ones and Cotton shot the lights out, but if we execute on the other end with the talent we have we aren't sitting at .500...

Mcdowell-White had a bad turnover but otherwise he looked like our 3rd best player of the night but probably only logged 10 or so mins?

As I said 8 weeks ago, the Kings need an import PG, who can drive, create and shoot from anywhere on court. So who do they get??? Blake and then Jackson. Other teams get Randle, Trice, Ware and Cotton. My prediction 8 weeks ago: it's Bye bye season, due to a totally unbalanced team, a weak bench, running an outdated shuffle offence, and poor shooting.

The cats need to start taking care of the ball better and limiting their turnovers. Damo will get better, Prather seemed fatigued or injured tonight but he will get better and if wagstaff can show some shooting consistency like he did last game against the hawks then they will be a title contender.

I for one have been a detractor of Gleeson but cudos to him for scouting cotton. Hes the type of player they've needed all season. Hopefully Marvin will learn to leave the recruiting decisions to the coach. What a difference the right type of player makes.

You're pretty spot on @Jumpshot, but Lisch & Newley are in that same class as penetrators, however the shuffle O doesn't give them an open drive from the top. I'm sure if the court was opened up or flattened out Lisch & Newley would wreak havoc penetrating & creating.

Brissy will also suffer the same consequence on Monday.

Well done Gleeson, great scouting with cotton. Should of let you get him at the start of the season. Instead they went with Neilson choice of JJ.

In one of the NBL news article, Gleeson mentioned that he's been scouting Cotton for 2 years. Obviously from what you saw tonight, he was always going to be on demand somewhere and it was just pure luck that he was available at this time of the NBL season. If Cotton had chosen to play somewhere safer than Turkey, he probably wouldn't be here.

Gleeson meet with cotton, in April.

Cotton is a great pickup. Patient on offence, great passing ability and he looks to be a much better shooter than I thought he would be. Those threes and most his free throws were nothing but net. Looking forward to watching him play again.

McKay was huge tonight and Brandt was more aggressive in the post.
Was Prather not well tonight, he looked really flat all game.

Wow!
Highest score by a Cat on debut. Very impressed.
Did everything we wanted from him, and more.
Mostly just amazed at his instincts. For a guy who is completely new to the team, he was also picking out the right guys at the right time. Only credited with one assist? Seemed like more.

Interesting to see whether he gets even better, or whether teams will become better prepared.

And lets not forget "Show-Time"! Massive game from him. He's been steadily improving, and as I'd hoped, he looks so much better with Damo and Cotton feeding him.

Just seemed like everyone was being used better, and playing their roles better tonight. (Except Prather, but great that our best player can have an off night, and everyone else stepped up.)

Cats then daylight.

J/K.

But, Cats vs United for the GF if they can both get healthy and remain so. Big IF tho since two United starters are now injured.

Jack Toft & ROFLcopter great prediction for the game kids. Kings got crowned by a newbie, Prather had a shit game, Damo not match fit & Matty still healthy.
Haters be shiting themselves, now top 4 have all played more games than the Cats. Plus Cats have a heap of home games.... What ya gonna do !!

Cats have 10 games remaining. 5 of them are at home.

"Cotton will get absolutely lit up by Cadee"....you heard it here first.
I heard it... but didn't see it douch bag.
Cotton single handedly killed a loaded team !!

It just shows how competitive the league is. Add one good player and suddenly Perth are back in with a shot.
Still a long way to go.

I wouldn't get too excited just yet Marvelle Harris put up similar numbers in his debut we'll see if Cotton keeps it up when other teams have had a chance to scout him.

Very good debut though, highly efficient.

Wildcats probably never should have played Casey Prather tonight because he was in the hospital today in the bed next to Nathan Sobey with gastro.

Too much Nando's chilli sauce?

Cotton looks the goods.Perth take over as the new standard bearer for mine. Only saw him not in control twice. When he tried to shake and bake Newley and when he threw it off Martin's foot. Apart from that he let he game come to him and did not force plays.
Time and space he seemed to have.
Prather was dreadful. Why is he ever allowed to dribble at any time other than a slash to hoop or transition. Those handoffs from Knight were just UGLY. And so unnecessary. the guy is one of the best athletes in the league go back door and throw the ball somewhere near the hoop and he will get it.
MacKay picked up the slack though. He was super and immediately showed what a mobile, agile big can do with Cotton on the floor.
Down the stretch Gleeson should play the 3 guards Martin, Cotton and Kenny with Prather as his 4 and Mackay who has some ball handling skills.
Kings need to post up Newley when they need a bucket. I like their defence although it does not have the intensity of earlier in the season.
They're probably scraping for 4th though now.

Unfortunately PER, (like MEL and ADL), have no depth. So their run to the playoffs will depend entirely on about 3 players; if anything happens to any of them it's all over.

Teams like NZ and CNS however, have great depth, just not any real superstar power up front (Penney aside).

It's an interesting mix in the league and I guess that's why it's such a close and entertaining season.

Wilson Sting, Melbourne have no depth?

Wilson Sting "PER, (like MEL and ADL), have no depth", "Teams like NZ and CNS however, have great depth" lol Where you drunk when you wrote that?

If I was Sydney I would still get rid of Jackson and replace him with an import point guard even though that guard wouldn't qualify for finals.

1. They will have a much better chance to make the finals
2. Their fans will get satisfaction of seeing home wins.
3. It would be a good test to see if that import is good enough to be selected next season.
4. Jackson offers them nothing

I think Sydney would still be able to compete in the finals with the import providing relief for the rest of the players during the regular season as well as giving them a must needed spark.

Perth then daylight

Cotton looks awesome

Also good to see Daryl White is a Pelicans fan

Those odds are amazing

Lol Bookies

Wildcats are shocking in QLD and are shocking away from home. Brisbane plays tighter and will not give Cotton room to move. Prather looks seriously out of form, and Martin may play limited minutes depending on how his knee pulls up.

I'll say Martin either plays very limited minutes or none at all.

Brisbane $1.40 Wildcats $2.20 Line @ -6.5 $1.85

can someone pls explain the differences between the kings offense and other teams offense. It all looks pretty much the same to me. Perimeter passes, pick and rolls , slashes to the basket.

I think everyone is caught up in "the shuffle", but what is it the Kings are doing different!!!!!

We haven't won away from Perth since our last game and also the game before that.

Kings shuffles on the same line but move around like crabs. Think of Frogger.

Well you're right, but the other thing to remember is it wasn't like Perth was an awful team before. The losses were mainly tight ones. The margins are slim though that when you add minutes to guys like Cotton and Martin and you remove minutes for a guy like Wroe it can be the difference between winning and losing.

If I was Sydney I would still get rid of Jackson and replace him with an import point guard even though that guard wouldn't qualify for finals.

Martin may play limited minutes depending on how his knee pulls up.

"Wilson Sting "PER, (like MEL and ADL), have no depth", "Teams like NZ and CNS however, have great depth" lol Where you drunk when you wrote that?"

Unfortunately no, i've gone dry for January, so I'm happy to stand by my comments. When I say no depth, I'm referring to the bench players, and they look ordinary for PER, MEL and ADL (and SYD for that matter). There's nothing wrong with the depth of their starting fives, but one or two injuries or some players in foul trouble will really test them.

Melbourne's bench: Boone, Wesley, Barlow, Odigie, Moore, Tomlinson. Very solid.

Perth: Brandt, Wagstaff, Hire, Redhage, Kenny, Wroe/Bragg. OK.

Problem is, injuries to guys like Martin, Knight, Goulding, Blanchfield and Andersen mean that lots of these guys have had to step into the starting 5 which has led to mixed results. But if both benches were consistently playing as, well, benches yoy would probably respect the depth of both teams more.

"One or two injuries" to the wrong people will test pretty much every team in the history of basketball.

Wagstaff and Hire are good example of what I'm talking about, both have played roles in successful Perth teams for many years. Are they starting material? Maybe, maybe not (definitely not with Hire). Same with Wesley, who played a big role in 2 successful years in NZ. Tomlinson led the league in assists, leading a playoff team. The league has improved, he hasn't. But still a role player. Boone, Moore both experienced vets with solid international resumes. Kenny has played plenty of Tall Blacks including a World Cup. And was huge last yr, holding the fort for Damo and helping Perth win the title.

Decent benches. Full of starters? Maybe not, but that's not a knock.

"They're not allowed to."

Why not?

There was a rule preventing Harrington coming into the Kings lineup with only a few games to play a couple of years back IIRC. Pretty sure the rules are there needs to be atkeast 8 games remaining to be bring in an import. I may be wrong that's what my understanding was.

everyone is talking SHUFFLE as the reason for the Kings demise, BUT no one knows what the SHUFFLE is!!!!!!!!!!!