Reality Is
Years ago
Let's be honest if your team is starting Lucas Walker your simply not a real NBL contender! It don’t matter if you have arguably the best player in the league (cotton) but there was a reason Walker was pretty much out of the league as he is a bench guy best.
Walker and Wagstaff are both best suited to bench roles. Obviously that was what they were pegged for on the assumption that Matt Knight was healthy.
The other concern this season was Damian Martin also is showing signs of wear and tear. So the Wildcats two top priorities should be securing some Aussie talent at those positions (and some youth preferably). If they're able to do that, we might see them back in the mix next year.
FM
Years ago
Believing that Matt Knight would be healthy was like betting that Bruce Reid call bowl 20 overs
anon
Years ago
Lucas Walker just under 9 and 6 in 20 min defending well and shooting at a good clip. Certainly not the reason Wildcats are not in GF. Start or not still a very good contributor to his team. Plenty of worse starters in L.
Cats fans breaking down the weak roster at epic pace.
WookieE
Years ago
wtf is Bruce Reid? I knew a Ben reid once, he was a huge knob, not sure if he could bowl though...
Walker is by no stretch of the imagination why the Cats didn't make the Grand Final, as mentioned above, his numbers were pretty good... The fact that they were some of the best from the local talent is why they didn't make it...
They pretty much relied on Cotton and Tokoto all season... Bryce could only do so much and JP suffered from disinterest at times... Where was Wagstaff and his ability to actually score from outside most games?
Wildcats fans imploding. Fantastic. Waxy helped the team this year and has done the hard yards to get into the side, let alone start.
Unfortunately all the blinkered fans like Reality hasn't got a clue fail to understand how hard it is to even be there at that level.
hawky
Years ago
As above, brilliant to see the wildcats supporters imploding. Waxy should have been commended for his year, not blamed. He was effectively the 9th - 10th man who worked and played well enough to become a starter.
Isaac
Years ago
I'd forgotten about Bruce Reid! Brought back memories.
He was a 6’8"ish fast bowler for the Australian cricket team. Imagine a skinny Dean Uthoff.
Well Knight was obviously meant to be starting.
But between Walker and Cooke, Cats really needed a bonafide starter there. Asking two role players to fill the Knight role didn't work. Nor did Steindl
Bruce Reid Legend, especially 12th man send up. Held together by sticky tape.
Back to Walker. Often teams have players that may not have starter quality but are a good fit with rest of starters. And then can bring better player off bench so production doesn't decrease when rest of starters go out. Was Ginobli a better player than most starting in front of him. All Walker had to do was hold his own, play great defence and make easy shots.
sixtiesrockstar
Years ago
Wildcats recruited Walker when they already had Wagstaff and Hire manning the bench. A big problem considering the calibre of player they would be matching up on (Creek & Childress ran riot in against them with rebounds and scoring) in finals.
Luuuc
Years ago
Except that you are comparing bench guys to starters. It would be rare for a bench guy to be recruited on the basis of their ability to match up on All-NBL calibre opponents.
As already pointed out, Walker was a reserve, and his appearance in the starting 5 happened because the quality of his play early in the season justified it. This was widely acknowledged at the time in case you missed it.
"[Insert name of player] can't be starting" is a pretty silly thing to say in isolation. If said player is killing it then not starting them would be foolish.
Is he likely to give us Matt Knight-level production next season, thus obviating the need for us to recruit a starting PF? Probably not.
Why is Lucas Walker a beast all of a sudden?
Well Hodgson is playing for Australia so anything is possible.
At least Adelaide saw sense and moved Hodgson to bench
ME
Years ago
Some people have grudges against players for no sensible reason. Walker earned his starts and improved dramatically this season. He is versatile, strong, and the only thing he really lacks is a particularly high basketball IQ. Basically you're talking shit mate. I'm not the guy's biggest fan but him starting had nothing to do with anything.
Most fans are knowledgeable in their own minds. So many people with so may opinions that's the way it is.
Waxy has worked his arse off and deserves everything he gets. Starting spot, well done.
Hard work deserves rewards and that has happened.
Deimos33
Years ago
Also remember he is moving around the court well seeing he is 33, and his stats are pretty good compared to other seasons.
You need to be a registered user to post from this location. Register here.
Advertise on Hoops to a very focused, local and sports-keen audience. Email for rates and options.
An Australian basketball forum covering NBL, WNBL, ABL, Juniors plus NBA, WNBA, NZ, Europe, etc | Forum time is: 1:21 am, Mon 3 Feb 2025 | Posts: 968,026 | Last 7 days: 754
