I need a few more threads on the topic to really make my mind up one way or the other.

Think Wildcats is chasing Christian Wood

The last time I saw so many old threads was at a 70s theme night.

I previously thought they should replace White, but with how little they are getting from Jervis and the drop in Brandt's game I think they need an inside presence. It's a tough one because they also need to improve their shooting, but I think a better inside presence could create better looks to achieve that, and also help them generate more from their D.

Perth 2-0 v Cairns
0-6 v anyone else since end of November.
Stevie Wonder can see a third import is required.

DW PW, they're only parasite kids. I've learned that the particular anon trolls here won't respond to reason and keep jousting. So just like ignorant pricks irl, you just walk away/ignore them.

Yeah they need something extra, Perth. White is only just okay, but I feel he should be better. Imagine if they had Devondrick Walker for this season. Did Perth not try to get him back? Problem with Brandt is that he seems to go missing when the team does. Was a ghost in the second half of last season when he needed to step up and cover the loss of Knight. I would probably get myself an import centre if I were Perth, and use it as a threat to Brandt's long-term starting spot. Mike Dunigan prime candidate. Kay and Norton keep plugging away, I'd be happy enough with their consistency if I were Perth.
As much as I hate to say it, they will be fine. Home court first round is a probability rather than a possibility imo

People talking about Overpaying Cotton are full of shit.
You don't know how much he's getting, so its pointless speculating. For all we know he could be giving fantastic value for money.
With all the hype about White, there is no evidence he's playing for peanuts. He would have been on about $30k USD a month in Korea. Considering how much finals are worth to Perth, it wouldn't be worthwhile to cheap out.

For all those saying "he's not the problem" you're missing the point. He's part of the problem, and he's the one they can replace. Not saying they'll find a replacement, but if they haven't been actively looking then they should be sacked.

As for a third import, well in part the money available depends on who they replace, and whether the new import must be part of the bench cap.

I think I'm kinda with Paul on this.
Before the start of the season, I assumed we'd get a legit SF as a starter, and thought we should use the 3rd spot on a shooter for the bench. But between having an injured and undersized Brandt, and then Jervis, Wagstaff, Hire, and Vague not contributing enough, it seems we need another big.

Agree Manu a big is what Perth need. Kay has been great but needs help up front, in hindsight bringing back Jervis wasn't the right move.

@D2.0 Good summary.

Re: Cotton's salary - it has been published as $600K in print and even mentioned on TV by Lachie Reid.

Yeah, PerthWorld is obviously not a Loyal Perth Fan, as apparently Being "Loyal" means never making changes, never letting players retire, and believing we'd still be winning championships with Vlahov and Grace playing, coached by Bruton.

Over the weekend here in Perth there were whispers that Cats in fact did have a big we were looking at, but the deal fell through.

We definitely need to find one quicksmart, I think the deadline is 20th Jan? Jervis needs to be dumped.

Long has unlocked the cheat code for bigs in the NBL, shame he's the first import big to come along and realise that cheat code is in fact, "don't foul". Guy had 2 of the most monstrous games I've seen from a C in a long time.

Long will be playing for the Wildcats next season.

[As much as I hate to say it, they will be fine. Home court first round is a probability rather than a possibility imo]

Perth (12-7) has 9 games left

4 of those 9 games are against United (11-7) and Sydney (11-6). 1 home and 1 away vs each. How these 4 games go will ultimately determine where Perth finishes.

The other 5 games- 4 of them are in Perth. Perth should win 3 or 4 of those 5, so if they can win 2 of the 4 vs United and Sydney, that gives them 5 or 6 wins and a finishing record of 17-11 or 18-10.

United (11-7) is sitting in 3rd spot but has only 4 home games left and 6 away games.

In other words, with their run of home games, Perth is definitely in the box seat to finish top 2.

I'm not sure about that - he seems to be untouchable especially this time last season when anyone who criticised him got hounded.

If Gleeson goes then it'll be Nielsen team. Gleeson is a great recruiter though, that's why the Wildcats keep him.

Other coaches to poach would be Brisbane's coach.

"I don't think too many Perth fans would have an issue with a coaching change."

ROFL

So sure, we couldn't possibly replace an underperforming player, but absolutely lets sack the Coach. FFS.

And who exactly do you imagine doing the sacking?
Georgiu?

Bwahahahahahaha

He'd need to grow a pair, get a clue, and find the other half of his brain.

"When does Gleeson start getting in the frame for being cut."

When he hasn't won three titles in the past five seasons and had the team in the top three the entire season, I'd guess.

"Interesting Senator11.

What were the details of the big? That would mean sacking a local I would assume?"

Not sure, the rumblings were coming from a few guys who are known in the AFL fantasy scene here in Perth, tend to have a few contacts and don't tend to make things up so thats as much as I know.

On Gleeson being sacked, he's been too successful to get the sack. I think this will bite us at some stage when Nielson gets offered a head coaching gig and leaves. Would rather Gleeson left on his own accord and let Nielson take over in the next few years.

"He'd need to grow a pair, get a clue, and find the other half of his brain."

Perfect description of our placeholder GM. Love it.

--

#726695 some yes but were attacked by the majority for being haters.

--

If no changes is correct then that is appalling, yet no one is really firing up. Weak fanbase.

It is a trend. They're downing tools for the second season running and not willing to spend, with a yes man GM in charge.

Georgiou is too busy sitting on the bench for Lynx away games trying to look relevant

#726720 that's interesting - what a waste of time and resources.

#726720's tidbit was interesting and goes to show where priorities lie.

Yep, we're soft.

At least I'm not the Troy Georgiou of this forum #starfish

"Um yes. Are you unfamiliar with how professional sports works?"

What a moron

Clearly you have no idea of the current power structure in Perth.

I legit laughed at the Burswood Superdome line. The rest of the post is so on point though, very nice.

If a new import is needed. Who will it be. Who is available

"Having a third import or "scorer" isn't going to solve that."

... or a change of coach either, according to you. So what, do nothing?

Anon #726776 calls Anon #726770's analysis "not on point" yet did not directly address any said points. Now that's lazy.

Anon #726776 also brings up the second half fadeouts and that a new import isn't the answer, yet there was a stat by posted with White (and Hure) out of the twelve man squad as not scoring at all in fourth quarters up until last week during. Lazy of you not knowing that.

You couldn't make this stuff up and I'm seriously thinking that some front office people are posting as anons since they're so defensive. Earlier today someone else brought up our GM issue and gets insta replied being called a moron. Hmmm...

yet there was a stat posted by NBLstats last week with White (and Hire) out of the twelve man squad as not scoring at all during the fourth quarter*

The players can't control the trash that is on the court every single 3rd quarter. That is Gleeson's job, and I a lineup of Vague, Hire, Wagstaff, Steindl and Norton can fuck right off. That is moronic.

"Having a third import or "scorer" isn't going to solve that."

So, the team is shit, but making it not shit won't stop it being shit?

Basketball games ebb & flow, its part of the attraction. Removing your teams worst 10 minutes, and then saying "see we'd have won but for those 10 minutes" is just a pile of nonsensical, infantile, wank. Take Cairns worst 10 minutes from each game and they'd probably be on top of the ladder. Does that mean they don't suck?

Further analysing those 10 minutes is even more pointless.

Sure, if our existing players played better, we'd be a better team, go figure.

Ultimately it's hard to motivate guys to give 110%, when the Club doesn't appear serious about winning a championship, and when they see their teammates cruising.

The wildcats play best when they don''t get lazy and try to bomb away from 3 point land

In a previous post, around 3 weeks ago, after a couple of losses by Perth, I posted a question, "has perth peaked too early and now as all other teams are reaching their peaks ... etc.

A couple of replies said I was nuts, so I left it at that.

I wish to state that I was not writing Perth off for this season, just that they may have peaked too soon. The season is not nearly so far gone that Perth can not finish on top, and win the whole damn thing. It took 5, 6, 7 weeks for the other 7 teams to get into the season. Perth were already ready, and, I think, they are just being caught up by the others and, in some cases, surpassed. So, IMO Perth's poor form of late is not entirely their own fault. I think that the other teams should cop quite a bit of the blame. So there!

On a lighter note. Isn't it great to see a front runner that gets caught mid season, tries to rectify that, and the season unfolds to reveal that they have ....??? Do we all live happily ever after? Now that's Fantasy Basketball.

Is Trev responsible?
Absolutely, its his team, he picked White, he's chosen to stick with White, and it was his decision to go with only 2 imports.
It's also on him that Wagstaff has hit retirement mode several months too early.

At the end of the day, Perth's season won't be a bad one, I just had much higher hopes given our off season signings.

No team is perfect, every team has problems, as a fan you just hope they'll fix the easy ones.

Our problem is that we needed Marvin to reign in Trev's ego, but now we have a CEO who can't take a dump without asking Trev which door to use.

Trev has always relied on his bench being able to almost hold their own (and beat an opponents bench) whilst his starters rest. He's also relied on having clutch players who are able to bring the game home.
Unfortunately our bench sucks, and guys who should be reliable under pressure just aren't.

And as I said, we'll have a good season.
It's just frustrating when numbnuts point to our win:loss and ignore our record against the two teams that matter.

The team is in a horrible slump, not uncommon for any sporting team during a season. They haven't figured out how to fix it, beating Cairns is not fixing it. There are options.

1. Sack coach - even though I'm not a Gleeson fan, this is not going to happen and nor should it.
2. 3rd Import - legitimate option that they should consider.
3. Senior players step up - Terrico, Cotton and Kay need to the be the offensive focus, all 3 need to be aggressive. Steindl, Norton and Wagstaff need to step up their offensive game off the bench. The rest need to provide the usual Wildcats hustle. Kay should be getting fed the ball inside every second time down the court to attack the basket or dish to Brandt or an outside option, Jervis should not even touch the ball on offense, his job should be crashing the boards on both ends and contesting shots.
4. Do fuck all - watch another season slip by.

Personally I think option 3 is enough, whether they can pull their heads in and do it is to be seen, if they can't, get that 3rd import. If they go with option 4, as a fan I will be pissed.

They won't sack Gleeson, probably won't find third import and hopefully won't sit and do F all so that leaves option 3.
Wagstaff, White and Jervis all need to step up and Steindl just needs to be more consistent.

AD, if that's true why am I hearing that Trev wants to make a change but the club won't let him?

"AD, if that's true why am I hearing that Trev wants to make a change but the club won't let him?"

Where are you hearing this? He's been on the news multiple times stating they won't be making any changes (that was at least a week or so ago, so maybe he's said something else since).

"If they go with option 4, as a fan I will be pissed."

I've felt like this for at least a month.

Personally I think option 3 is enough,

"wouldn't Option 2 be more suitable?"

Most likely, but I do think we can do it with our current team however a lot more has to go right for it to happen. What happens if that import is dud (either gets homesick or fouls like a mofo). Then we just wasted a spot and the team chemistry is slightly messed up. Adding a player at this stage can go either way, Cotton was the ideal guy to bring in at the time, but they can't get this perfect each time they do it, hence why I'm ok with option 3.

He's been on the news multiple times stating they won't be making any changes

"AD, if that's true why am I hearing that Trev wants to make a change but the club won't let him?"

Interesting...
I obviously had not heard that.

I'll be doubly pissed if that is true.
Gleeson remains the best coach we've had, and its still his c on the b.

I suppose it may depend on what the change is. Any clue as to that?

The problem with a "3rd Import" is rather obvious, we have to bump somebody, and that's not a popular move.

Lachy Reid hinted on Ten News tonite that 3rd import discussed tomorrow with TG interview
Maybe something or someone is coming

Bumping someone WOULD be unpopular.

1) Hire. By all accounts a good community person and a clubman (ex-captain). Not supremely talented but gives 100% and his play is loved by the fans.

2) Wagstaff. One club player, stayed loyal to the club despite being probably starter level in other teams. Also loved by fans, though his stats are down.

3) Vague. One of the rare local talents Wildcats have promoted after 3 seasons as a DP, axing him means zero local talent promoted since Hire. Brings back memory of Mathiang Muo.

All 3 would make fans unhappy unless they are bringing in a stud.

Unpopular but not making finals even less popular !

All they need to do to make finals is beat Cairns on Friday.

Yeah, sorry, Cairns on Friday and then Illawarra in February. 14-14 should get it done. If they can snatch another one they're definitely in; I can't imagine a 15-13 team missing out.

Wildcats won't bring in a 3rd import this season. They are just breaking even, numbers are down on budget. Fans are not turning to the games.

Wildcats in the offseason will get rid of Jervis, Hire, Wagstaff, and for 19/20 they'll bring in a 3rd import while keeping Terrico. They will fight hard for someone like Shawn Long who can play centre and switch Brandt to power forward.

Shawn Long, Cotton, White will be the Wildcats 3 imports for 19/20.

Hire could always fall back into the coaching role Waxy played.

Brandt will no way in shape or form play PF, plus that's Kay's spot.

Vague is our investment for the future, Wagstaff tends to have a down season up season.

Jervis will go and I wouldn't waste my time with a 3rd import unless it's a legit Centre to help battle Boone, Bogut and Long.

Coach doesn't rule out a 3rd import for this season. Very reluctant to speak about it.

Alot of negotiations to do. Wildcats will wait until the final minute (minimum games needed to qualify for final for import) before pulling the trigger. If Wildcats keep losing then they'll negotiate with likely players on a payout.

Rabbit70 are you just making statements or is this from a press conference/interview?

vs. MEL on 20/01.

@ Adelaide on January 17th.

Wildcats won't bring in a 3rd import this season. They are just breaking even, numbers are down on budget. Fans are not turning to the games.

421 per game isn't too bad considering the crappy midday games.

They'd have three days to get the import signed, cleared, into the country, and on the floor.

If they're going to make a change it has to be after the Cairns game.

The Money angle doesn't make sense to me, unless for some reason we're talking huge bucks.

Can you imagine how much a GF series with HCA advantage would be worth to the Wildcats? They'd probably sting me $100 a game for my seats, and I'd be willing to pay.
Cotton, whatever you believe, has not come cheap, nor has signing Kay & Norton in addition to the existing players.
It's like the bought a Ferrari, then fitted retreads, and won't pay for new tyres.

That said, I feel that as this point, there will be no change. I would say that unless it is already being processed behind the scenes, its not happenning. If we were going to muck around and potentially go short whilst waiting for a clearance, or jet-lag, tomorrow was the game to do it.

Not to fussed about tomorrow night's game. If we lose, I will hand back my gear and walk out in my undies.

But the next round will be telling.
If we can rebound and beat the sixers in Adelaide and then United back in Perth, then the finals start to look interesting.
If not, we start planning for next year.

Dazz in his undies lol Perth better win.

Perth is a 'special' case, in a nice way.

Making the SF is minimum but not considered successful, making the GF would be the minimum definition of 'success' with winning it all as their 'standardised definition of success'.

So they have to invest to get to the GF, right now, even if they make the playoffs, I don't see them beating United or Sydney (when playing with these fade outs and scoring droughts).

There will be no third import. We have the players who can perform. We just need to focus and keep our energy up for 40 minutes.

We have a number of home games so we will be ok.

We are scouting hard on our opponents.

You'll see a mind blowing performance on Friday night.

Trev

"It's like the bought a Ferrari, then fitted retreads, and won't pay for new tyres."

This.

Not Happy.

Perhaps the most annoying thing is that we do have the players to give this thing a shake, and had we not collapsed into a stinking pile of crap, we would still have been in a good position.

Throwing away the game against Sydney, then shitting our daks against Brisbane, Hawks, and NZ. Those losses will come back to bite us in the Ass.

Problem is that there are too many players Trev can't rely on, and that doesn't suit his coaching.

Hey AD some dumbo needs an explanation on who you were alluding to with Ferrari.

Agree with anon #141, everyone thinks a 3rd import is the solution, but it could do more harm than good which I've said previously.

They'll destroy Cairns tonight to send a message, whether they get the message themselves we'll find out when we play the Kings.

Couple of nice bets for tonight.

Perth win/over 168.5/Cotton 20+ points @ $6
Perth win/over 168.5/Kay 15+ points @ $6.50

"Agree with anon #141, everyone thinks a 3rd import is the solution, but it could do more harm than good which I've said previously."

Solution is to put the ball through the hoop more times than your opponents.
Sure, theoretically, any group of people can do that, but reality is thats not how it works.
But its a moot point. Barring a miracle.

Can only hope things go our way, and the guys get inspired either playing for their futures or playing for a ring.

On the plus side, it keeps things interesting.
Melbourne should be favourites, but who knows.
Sydney shouls be there is the wheels don't fall off. Brisbane the outside roughie, and Adelaide making aa late run. Never wright off Joey.
Perth are the smokie at this point. On recent form they're no chance, but anything could happen.

No change which makes the thread pointless really.

"He knows you can also get superstars who can fit into the team and play with the team, right?"

Uh, what do you call Cotton?

That Gleeson quote also seems like it's directed at someone, maybe they did have a 3rd import lined up and his demands were over the top?

Thin skinned Hire strikes again

"Solution is to put the ball through the hoop more times than your opponents."

Wasn't there an nbl team in the 80s that went with that as their whole philosophy. No D, but high scoring games.

Problem is, Perth are not built to be a high scoring team. When they’re good, their defence drives the whole thing. They also don’t have a good spread of scorers, so if just 1 has a low scoring game, the slack isn’t usually taken up.

So if we have the players to be a contender, but as a team the form is currently very poor, how is adding a third import going to fix that? Especially at this stage of the season, and presumably a budget import, it would probably do more harm than good.

"Wasn't there an nbl team in the 80s that went with that as their whole philosophy. No D, but high scoring games. "

Sorry, but you are misunderstanding the comment.
It also applies to defence. If you hold your opponents to 70 points, then you can win with 80.

:o

"Perth were in advanced discussions with former Rocket Terrence Jones"

If true, that must be to replace Wagstaff?
I've always thought it possible that he was not in the 5-mn cap (being in the 3rd year of his contract) and surely that must be to allow them to even think about signing an ex NBA star.

Remember in 2016/17 when they backed Jaron Johnson then cut him the second time? It's happened before

It may not be a good look but if it's necessary then so be it.

3rd import isn't happening from what I read.

Front office have only themselves to blame for stalling, they're the ones who've created this situation. Amateur hour.

Wow rumours gone wild.

" hmmm that could work. at least it would clear enough $$ to sign someone half decent"
Their salary stays in the cap, it won't clear anything.
Small issue, i know, but hey...:)

A lot of names have been thrown around before, I'm sure there was nothing serious backing it up.. however, Terrence Jones would be ideal from what I have seen of him. Having said that I’m sure many players out there could fit the bill

So in the next day or so all these endless posts and speculation will be put to bed.. one way or another that has got to be good surely.. the website host will be grateful for the extra storage space lol

Surely cutting players at this point of the season doesn't remove their salaries from the cap? (Or at least I'd hope it wouldn't)
Like JR says, at least absolute clarity is thankfully not far away.
We play our 21st game in 3 days time, and our 22nd game 3 days after that.

If they're not in the team why should they count against the cap?

Wouldn't we still have to pay them even if we cut them from the roster? Isn't that how contracts work?

Just got a phone call. It's Terrence Jones.

Wildats hooked up with Isaac Humphries who told Jones how nice Australia is.

Player to miss out is most likely Greg Hire, who would do anything for the team, including stepping down.

Devondrick Walker is the man the Wildcats want for next season though.

You have to pay their salary but it doesnt count towards the cap.

I thought that typical NBL contracts for imports were constructed differently in that regard, and did build in that type of allowance. (but I'll admit I have no idea of the full facts here)

Devondrick Walker is the man the Wildcats want for next season though.

I hear Jesse Wagstaffe is pushing to get Josh Childress onboard.

Cats got an extension. A change gone come.

Import and local player contracts are different.
Imports can be sacked, for example up to a certain period and the contract is null and void, however, local players are signed differently.
Even in case of an injury they continue getting their wages till their contract runs out or they return.
Anything you pay a player counts towards the salary cap, that's why it's called salary cap, players get paid when they're injured, ergo it counts.(and if a player gets cut, but still gets paid the same applies).
This is why maybe the team is reluctant to pull the trigger, whoever would come on board their pay would come on top of the existing payments and there are no guarantees that he would work out.

FFS this isn't the AFL. Rules are pretty much whatever they can get away with and.or get LK to agree to.

My bets guess is that the 5-man cap comprises Hire, Vague, Stiendl, Jervis,
and Norton on a backended contract.
Or possibly they somehow squeezed Wagstaff in there, but I think being on the end of a 3 yr deal he would be on decent coin.
So yes, there replacement options are limited.
Obviously if they replace Vague or Hire, it doesn't free up much salary. Jervis might be on a but more.Wgstaff presumably the most.
Obviously if Wagstff was not within the 5-man cap, then replacing him would give them a free hit. Only way they could afford an ex-NBA type.

"Surely cutting players at this point of the season doesn't remove their salaries from the cap? (Or at least I'd hope it wouldn't)"

If they're put on injury waiver it does.

And talking about Salary Cap, lets not forget that even when it was a hard cap, there were ways and means around it.
Especially when it comes to an import.
Player can be on league minimum, but hey Grandma got a new hip.

And yes, we'll keep talking about this shit, because the alternative is unpalatable.

Anyone know Joey's email address?
Cos getting him stirred up into another Brain Fart is are only hope against Adelaide.
As for Melbourne, I'm tossing up between going to the game or scheduling my prostate exam.