Well Cooke Jnr should see some minutes then....

More info on Friday's game

Weather - 28 degrees and Sunny
UV index - 9 (Very high)
Wind: 29k/h
Humidity: 48%

Tale of the tape

Syd V Perth

Number of Players in bubble wrap: 11 v 0

Number of Knights out: 0 V 1

Perth by 300.

Perth by 300

Kings by 5.

You lot call it a boilover... I call it back on track.

daylight

Welp, hoping my Kings can do better on the road than Brisbane did at home...

Zing!

Kiss of death from the Homicide prediction. Kings going to score 4 points in the 1st Q.

Blanchfield doing a bang-up job early for the Wildcats.

I've said it before, small ball is going to put your post defenders in foul trouble. Combine this with home cooking at Perth, you're going to struggle defensively in the second half. Perth is going to blitzkrieg them in the 3rd qtr.

Every time the camera finds the Perth crowd I feel like I'm watching some soccer game in the Eastern Bloc.

Vintage Cadee tonight, him and Blanchfield both doing their best to keep the streak alive for Perth.

Tokoto's length reminds me of Whittington. Good to see at least Gaze abandoned the small ball rubbish with Humphries playing more.

Haha Wildcats finishing the game using bench team with 3 quarters to go.

Tokoto's got the Whittington length without the Whittington brain, which is a winning combination.

Cadee has about 7 or 8 games like tonight in store to make up for the Hawks game last round.

Cadee, Blanchfield, Leslie, Thoseby and Pineau are rubbish.

Humphries needs to learn that he doesn't have to block every shot. All of his fouls were block attempts from poor positions. I wonder if that can be taught out of him or it has become so ingrained that its exploitable.

16 point margin at halftime that would probably blow out to 30 by end of 3rd as the Cats amp up their defense.

I want to see more on balls from Sydney

Eh? Lack of research into long-term effect of concussion? What's he on about? Almost 90% of NFL players have brain-related injuries. Boxers as well, Muhammad Ali was a pretty good example of long-term effect.

I have a respectful dislike for Knight as an opponent, but I sincerely hope he retires for reasons not at all related to basketball. Just not worth it.

Good call SteveK2. He looks impressive otherwise. Just needs to learn that sometimes the threat of a block is just as intimidating/off-putting as an actual swing

Bloody hell Matt Knight has had 13 concussions over his career for the love of god mate just retire.

After tonight's performance, Blanchfield should be DNP'ing on Sunday.

That's what they just said in that Matty Knight story at half-time.

Blanchfield was looking Europe ready a few years ago. Instead, he went to United

I'm actually going to go back on what I said about Cotton's kicking of the legs on jumpshots. It's actually something that should be penalised rather than rewarded, like it is in the NBA.

It's dangerous and not exactly a natural movement. I'd call it an offensive foul rather than shooting foul

I'm worried for Knight. He has the heart of a warrior but he's done enough for this great club and should retire with honour before his health is affected

For clarity, the leg kicks are offensive fouls in the NBA

Aww Newls trying to spoil my 30pt lead by end of 3rd prediction!

Referees are missing (hell, probably by design) so many travels when players change pivot feet when changing direction on a drive to the hoop. Hard closeout situations, for example.

Can't think of many, if any, plays like that being called this year

When they play a decent team like Perth, you can see the clear difference. Ellis, Newley and Kendle are the only ones playing with speed and determination. Leslie needs to make room for a real PG. We need an import centre and Lisch back.

Kendle is playing like a man trying to build his CV in prep for when the Kings release him - just firing it up every opportunity. Which is fair I guess.

I don't even know if we need an import C, just an import guy 6'8+ who rebounds would be OK. Put him at the 4 with Ellis at the 3, Humphries at the 5, Newls at the 2, and Blanchfield in the SEABL.

At least half of that 24 point deficit came from the Blanchfield/Walker mismatch. You'd think that they would've learned the last time with Vukona. Right now, playing Blanchfield out of position at 4 is a bigger concern defensively than Ellis at 5.

I thought Brandt would've murdered Ellis tonight but he actually managed to keep Brandt away from sealing him down low with a bit of help.

Leslie's struggling, I'd put that squarely on Gaze's inability to coach on the fly. Quite obvious by the 3rd quarter that Gleeson's tactic was to take away Leslie's penetration by swarming him.

He's an import, he feels under pressure to score so he settled for what the defense gave him which is jumpshots. You'd think Gaze wouldn've caught on earlier and turn the table on Gleeson for that obvious tactic.

By the end of the game, Gaze still haven't reacted by drawing up plays to exploit the extra attention on Leslie. He left Leslie out there struggling to penetrate. Pretty poor coaching.

So many things wrong with watching Perth play...

If it's not the refs (tonight they weren't too bad), Lucas Walker might play well. In Perth colours. That's hard to watch

And you always have to put up with Shawn Redhage's commentary.

I reckon Tokoto might well end up in the NBA next year.

Whoever thought Kings could play small ball should be sacked immediately. At least half of that 24 point deficit came from the lack of defence in the paint - as clearly seen from the Blanchfield/Walker mismatch. You are allowed 3 imports. Would have been smart to get a true PG, PF and Centre. Trice, Holt and Boone were all free agents during the off season. Once again management have no idea.

The thing about Tokoto is that he's a specialist. A little longer and a tiny bit more hustle than Prather gives him a better chance of making the end of a roster.

Prather is the better player, but Tokoto's best skill (manic defence) is probably better than Prather best skill (hard to say what Prather's best skill is actually, because he's so well-rounded).

Prather is a better basketballer, but Tokoto has more of the NBA skills IMO, minus the 3 point shot.

How long till Kings pull the trigger and bring in somebody good...

Well that was ordinary.
I like watching my team win, and sometimes a comfortable in is more fun. But there was nothing left in that game from very early.
I have not been following the Kings this year, what has happened?
Did they blow all the money last year?
And what was with the Midget starting five?

I thought Brandt would've murdered Ellis tonight but he actually managed to keep Brandt away from sealing him down low with a bit of help.

@ Steve2K, just responding to Humphries trying to block every shot, on the bench is Singh, Garlepp and Pineau, is there any chance that Gaze has told him to try and protect the rim and if you get fouls then so be it, we have plenty of big fellas sitting on the bench?

I thought Humphries was good tonight and I look forward to seeing him develop further.

Coming into that game I said Wildcats by 40 and was laughed at but it felt like the equivalent of a car race where the pole setter got a big gap lead and cruised to victory, it was a fun enough game but Kings really had nothing.

Silly question but has Humphries scored more at Perth Arena than AJ Ogilvy... I just remember lots of low score for AJ

can Gaze coach??, Still not sure as no one could win games with this roster. If Gaze had anything to do with the recruiting, he has destroyed his coaching dream!!!!

is there any chance that Gaze has told him to try and protect the rim and if you get fouls then so be it, we have plenty of big fellas sitting on the bench?

That was a slightly more intense training session for the cats last night.

Now the real season begins. Can they get wins on the road?

Kings need Lisch back asap so they can bring in that import big. Add those two and it's a decent line-up, with more guys able to play in natural positions.

Of course everyone bar JVG could see that before the season!