Hey was just let go from the Chinese Team that signed Corey Webster. Good role player and will block the lanes nicely!

So Webster has made two NBL teams better at the same time. What a talent.

Yeah I know!

Huge signing.
Didn't think Perth would make the change but glad they did.

Need to contact LK to find out why we had to cut Hunt...surely Plumlee qualifies as a next star LOL.

Great signing Wildcats. hopefully he'll play well stick around a few seasons.

It's very unusual for Troy G to pull the trigger mid-season! He really does hate LK and wants back to back championships!

Never trust Cotton's recruiting judgement ever again.

In Trevor we trust.

Thanks Wilbur! haha

I am a legend at the club!

Great signing. The Nbl needs more quality white imports. Perth just about title favourites again.

Yep, Email says hes playing Friday vs Hawks

Singler, Braun and now Plumlee. Good crop of white imports in the league today.

Plumlee has to get a better average than 8.6pts and 6 rebounds a game to be considered a success, otherwise it's egg on faces with Plumlee sauce.

He needs to play 25%, ie all remaining 7 games.
So he will "play" even if injured for all 7. Not sure if he even has to take the court, or simply be listed on the scorecard??

I couldn't find any Chinese stats, but the guy had a decent career in the NBA, so must be decent. 31, so a couple of years left in the tank. Not sure if he's still carrying that knee injury?

He's a 211cm PF, so that bodes well. Should be more than capable of holding down the centre role in the NBL. Should really add to our defence also.

I don't think anyone would argue with the need for a change, but pleasantly surprised they actually made the call.

Feel Bad for Hunt. I think with a bit more time he might have adjusted better. I think 3~4 years ago he would have been a good fit for the NBL, but the league has moved on.

Unfortunately Plumlee is a 54% F/T shooter, so that part of his game is not an improvement.

"The Nbl needs more quality white imports."

WTF!

Who cares what skin colour he is!

His Chinese stats aren't amazing his first game he had about 20 points (highest while in china) but they fell (as well as minutes) each game there after- they signed Dez Wells at the same time and he took majority of the shots.

So he will "play" even if injured for all 7. Not sure if he even has to take the court, or simply be listed on the scorecard??

I couldn't find any Chinese stats, but the guy had a decent career in the NBA, so must be decent.

GAME CHANGER!

Good signing. He had a similar career to Josh Boone in the NBA production wise, albeit over a longer period of time, and comes to Australia at a similar age t Boone when he first arrived.

Shiz is lit. We goin all the way

Good times.

This is huge- what the Wildcats need, what I've been saying all year.

At this late stage, surprised it happened though.

He played 18 games in NBA last year and 7 games in China this year- what else has he been doing over the past 2 years? Injuries?

A guy who could not cut it in the Chinese league...Massive signing...not

Will not do or be better than Hunt... Strange move considering they did not even give Hunt any real opportunity, on the few occasions they did, he was a good player.

All you doomsday merchants aren't doing very well hiding your saltiness.

Always happy to see a Duke boy on the court

It usually takes import bigs about a third of the season to learn how the NBL officiates (ie. you will be called for a blocking foul unless you curl up into the fetal position when a guy drives towards you), so it's risky, but should be up to speed by the time the semis start. Should be solid, I'm not convinced he'll be dominant but he doesn't need to be.

Racist trolls should be banned.

Salty spelt with an "A".
I think he is a massive upgrade on Hunt.

Strange move considering they did not even give Hunt any real opportunity, on the few occasions they did, he was a good player.

It looks a bit strange, considering how his performance dropped away in China. But I assume this is another case (like Cotton) where Trev has been keeping tabs on somebody and so paid attention when he was cut from the Chinese League.

But have to wait and see.

Could be interesting, he may in fact play limited minutes if still nursing an injury.

I have no real basis on which to evaluate his recent performance, but at rough guess, I don't expect him to be a substantially better player than Hunt, I just think he will be a better fit.

With Jook playing well, we now have two good options, depending on match-ups.

Also, and maybe he knew he was on the way out, but Hunt's defensive intensity has been lacking. Even if Plumlee's stats are no better, hopefully he can do a lot more on the defensive end.

Perhaps most importantly, this has the potential to take a lot of pressure off Kay, and allow him to get back to his natural game.

This is a risky move, on reputation it seems a positive move but we don't know whether Plumlee will be a defensive anchor as expected. I don't think this will move the needle significantly, it should be a slight upgrade, but not one that moves Perth to clear favourites.

Full strength Kings will beat full strength United or Wildcats.

"I'm pretty sure the rule used to be a hard and fast they have to play in at least 7 games to qualify for the playoff roster but I think in recent years the NBL have relaxed the rule a bit to being on the bench with the team a minimum 7 games knowing sprained ankles and stuff can happen."

Even if "play" means actual time on court, its not hard to sub him on and off.
Also, I don't know about the NBL, but I know in other leagues players have been given injury waivers. Anyway, I'm sure they will have read up on the rules and know exactly what they have to do.

"Plumlee is still getting $12million from Memphis this season. Maybe the Wildcats got him cheap"

Yeah, crazy isn't it. And that's $12.4M USD!
They take on a player they don't want, and have to pay $12.4M, just so they can trade out somebody else. How much was Parsons on for that to be a great deal??

From memory he wasn't too bad as a rim-rolling and rim protecting big, and good on the o boards, mind you this is probably going back 6 seasons, and he injury free at the time. Can he at least play the Angus Brandt role? The tough question will be how he adjusts to the NBL officiating as that usually takes some time to adjust for bigs. I don't think they're asking for too much offensively from him.

How can they be favourites?

They are amongst the favourites of course but their form is inconsistent and Damien Martian is injured.

My guess is quickly.
NBL refs love nothing more than showing import bigs who is boss, but I think he'll adjust fine.

[How can they be favourites?]

I've been saying Perth is only 3rd favorite

United had a clear advantage over Perth with Long. Although Perth had beaten United 2 out of 3, United clearly were the better team across the 3 games- especially factoring in injuries (Game 1) and jet lag (Game 2)

But If Plumlee is in good shape, this makes them basically equal favs alongside Sydney. Sydney very slightly ahead, only because they should retain the minor premiership and home court

This is a guy who started 35 NBA games 2 years ago. He's 31, not 38. If he's fit, is a big upgrade on Hunt. Substantially improves Perth's chances- IF he's not carrying any injuries that will significantly slow him. That's the main question mark here. In terms of fit, Should be fine. Gleeson knows what he's doing

On form, United would be fourth favourite as their consistency has been poor, particularly on defence. I think they are 2-7 against Cairns, Sydney and Perth, which shows the work they need to do to be a genuine title threat.

[they are 2-7 against Cairns, Sydney and Perth]

They're 1-2 against their likely semi final opponents in Perth

Until today, I was quietly confident they had something over Perth, since they've clearly been the better team over those 3 matchups and have since added Kidd.

No longer the case though. Todays news is a game changer. Perth have upgraded their weak link, probably.

I think Gleeson probably suspected this Perth team wasn't a genuine threat to Sydney and as this great Perth reign has shown signs last season and this season that it's coming to an end felt they needed to upgrade on Hunt.

Sydney still deserve to be favourites once Lisch, Louzada & Moller all return from injury but Perth are trying to go for broke here with the this signing in what might be their last season of contention.

Cairns as impressive as they've been are unlikely to be a serious contender they're too young and not seasoned enough and will probably get swept by Sydney or Perth and I think Melbourne are a step below Sydney & Perth and will have to drastically reshape their roster next season.

"They're 1-2 against their likely semi final opponents in Perth. Until today, I was quietly confident they had something over Perth, since they've clearly been the better team over those 3 matchups and have since added Kidd."


When 1-2 is what you're clinging to you know you're struggling! They've been destroyed in the possession game by Perth twice, so on that front alone - ignoring the obvious reason as you choose to - they can't have clearly been the better team. If they can't fix that they won't win a series.

There is potential for Melbourne, but Vickerman knows they're a step behind at this point and 2-7 against the other top four teams tells the story clearly.

Realistically, it has been "Sydney or Perth", or "Perth or Sydney" for a while now, with a strong chance of Cairns upsetting a SF and/or MU getting their shit together.

This COULD be a massive game-changer.

If The Sydney Swingers get their whole squad back, they will have superb depth. BUT, you can only play 5 at a time, and when Bogut is off, their frontcourt is weak.

If Perth get Martin back healthy, and Plums fulfils his potential, and it all clicks, they will make a serious run at the GF.

United is about +20 across 3 matchups against Perth this season (2 of which were in Perth). +10 overall and that includes junk time in Game 3, after United had it wrapped up.

United was leading for most of Games 1 and 2 but somehow lost both.

Game 1, United was missing literally almost half their team (Goulding, Barlow, and a 3rd import would, in usual circumstances, play at least 80 of 200 available minutes. McDaniel missed too). Game 2 was played on a Sunday in Melbourne after United played in Sacramento on Thursday.

United has two main areas to work on- defense, and finishing games. With 7 weeks left to playoffs and hopefully a healthy roster for an extended period for the first time all season (something that other teams like Perth, Cairns, Brisbane, Adelaide have enjoyed already), there's still plenty of time.

The only team United should truly fear is the only team who's beaten them by more than 7 points this season- Sydney.

"United is about +20 across 3 matchups against Perth this season"

That was meant to say +20 in meaningful minutes

United was leading by 20+ last time, but only won by 13 after Perth made some ground in junk time.

I was feeling good about this likely semi final, but my confidence has been reduced by the inclusion of Plumlee. Time will tell though.

[United have been rubbish all season. Just winning a few games when someone gets hot]

You could say that about many winning basketball teams.

The Chicago Bulls were much the same in the 90's, they just won a few titles when Jordan got hot.

United hasn't been able to close games- they're 4-7 in games decided by 7 points or less. 7-2 in all other games.

This could be an issue in the playoffs. Trimble doesn't seem a great closer- he's still a kid, so perhaps not surprising.

We should withhold judgment until United's had a few weeks with a settled lineup- something they haven't enjoyed yet at any stage this season. Funnily enough, other teams in that boat- eg: NZ, Illawarra- have also underachieved according to pre-season expectations. Is that surprising?

[Funnily enough, other teams in that boat- eg: NZ, Illawarra- have also underachieved according to pre-season expectations. Is that surprising?]

This is off topic but a point worth elaborating on

Teams who have had relatively settled rosters this season and/or few injury issues

Perth- on par with expectation
Cairns- exceeded expectations
SEM*- on par
Brisbane- on par
Adelaide - on par

5 teams - 1 exceeded expectations, 4 on par

Teams who have had significant injuries, and/or constant roster changes

Sydney- On par with pre season expectations (Were way above but after slipping to 14-6 we can't say that anymore)
United- Below expectations
NZ- Below expectations (my expectations anyway- based on their first few games of the season)
Illawarra - Below expectations

4 teams - 1 on par, 3 below expectations

* although Wesley missed a lot of games, Crockett was a decent replacement and they've otherwise been quite settled

Obviously this is all quite subjective but it just shows quite clearly what everyone knows - injuries and line-up consistently is important

I guess Sydney at 14-6 is still perhaps above expectations given most would've predicted they win 17-19 games

Doesn't change the overall point though, they're the only team out of 9 who bucks the trend

(eg: There's no team with a settled lineup who are below expectations, and no other team with injuries who have exceeded expectations).

If I'd had to tip yesterday, I'd say MU don't make it out of the SF.
That has only strengthened.
But they have a good squad, and if they can get some consistency rolling and things start to click, they could easily upset that prediction.

As the saying goes, all roads to the championship run through Perth.

Not feared but we know they always lift a gear for the playoffs.
I'm predicting 12ppg and 8.5reb for Plumlee ( that's probably being modest).

How many alleys per
Gonna be carnage

martin
cotton
white
kay
plumlee

ELITE

best 5 in the L

[
He's giving his opinion that Perth won't win. He did the same last year. He was wrong.]

Nice, nice.

I'm onto you. I see your angle.

You're trying to prove you haven't been reading a single thing I've said?

Let me spell it out for you

- Plumlee will *probably* make Perth much better if he's fit

- Perth are a better chance of winning the title than yesterday

- I'm no longer that confident United will beat them in the 2 vs 3 semi. Not too confident at all

For the record last year Perth was $6 for the title, pretty sure I encouraged hoops forum members to consider a bet because it was great value. I just couldn't bring myself to bet

Dislike is not the same as lack of respect

Pay more attention!

Read my first post above I said it was huge

Also said they're basically equal favorites now

Perth will make the grand final at the minimum.
Chances of winning have increased with Plumlee.

Can he pass? Was one of the least desirable players in the NBA for the past few years, never playing and always being trade filler. I hope he's a force as the league could always use more good players but he really hasn't gotten any playing time the last few years in the NBA.

Pickup more important for a semi final series imo. Perth always a chance in a 5 game series. 3 game series is live or die pretty dam quick.

Plumlee should slot in nicely with perths more structured system.no point looking at China stats as he was the type of player to feed off others, don't know anything about the team he was in but I'd guess Perth would be an improvement

I thought LV's McCarron report during the GF series was stupid.

Then came comparing United to Jordan's Bulls.

Trimble had no issues closing against Melbourne last year, which ultimately and ironically gifted Perth first place and the championship banner.

He'll have a high basketball IQ from his time at Duke & in the NBA and won’t be expected to come in and be a superstar, just fill a role at both ends. He should do this very well.

Hopefully he can adjust to the refereeing quickly and stay healthy.

Those expecting massive numbers will be disappointed, in his prime he never averaged double figure scoring (averaged 4.9 in 16.4mins in the NBA). As a comparison Shaun Long averaged 8.2 in 12.7 mins.

Out of interest, form against the top four:

Sydney 4-4
Perth 5-4
Melbourne 2-7
Cairns 6-2
New Zealand 1-7

This is off the top of head so hopefully correct!

And the Bullets withh wins v Perth twice(?), Sydney and MelbU.

Definitely correct as far as United goes.

But, United has lost to Cairns by 5 ,7 and 2, and to Perth by 1 and 2.

Perth and Cairns have barely had an injury all season until Noi went down for Cairns.

Whereas United having Prather in and out constantly, Pledger missing 6 weeks, plus Ili, Barlow, Goulding all missing multiple games here and there. This is why that 2-7 record doesn't worry me- if United has a full roster with a settled 3rd import for the first time all year, that should make 5 or 10 points difference. The only team who’s really dominated United is Sydney. 2 out of 3 comfortable wins, and the one game United won they were lucky with Weaver’s ejection, Taylor fresh off the plane and Didi injured at half time.

NZ in a similar boat- they lost some close ones early, when they had major injury issues.

Plumlee is an upgrade for the wildcats.

comparing him to Long is a joke, both are different styles of players with Plumlee sticking in the league because he plays D and fits within team concepts.

Long is all offence and his O isn't good enough to stick in the NBA when he can't play D within Team concepts or systems let alone as on the ball.

He may have missed the Perth game and the NBL vs NBA games.

Perhaps only 1 regular season NBL game.

"- I'm no longer that confident United will beat them in the 2 vs 3 semi. Not too confident at all"

You're assuming United finish 2nd or 3rd, just as likely to finish 4th and get romped by the Kings.

"Perth and Cairns have barely had an injury all season until Noi went down for Cairns"

Damo is arguably one of the single most important players to any team in the NBL, and it has shown in the last few weeks.

"Those expecting massive numbers will be disappointed, in his prime he never averaged double figure scoring (averaged 4.9 in 16.4mins in the NBA). As a comparison Shaun Long averaged 8.2 in 12.7 mins."

Wildcats have a history of using their bigs, in the NBA Miles was not even 2nd, 3rd or 4th option on any team, he now will play big parts of the game as the #1 option when we need it. I'm not expecting massive numbers, but I'd bet he averages a double double with a few blocks per game.

[You're assuming United finish 2nd or 3rd, just as likely to finish 4th]

United's been in 3rd position for at least the last month and will probably stay there.

["Perth and Cairns have barely had an injury all season until Noi went down for Cairns"

Damo is arguably one of the single most important players to any team in the NBL,]

Yeah, and he's missed the last 2 games.

As I was saying, Perth and Cairns barely had an injury all year until Noi went down for Cairns....

Perth has - along with Cairns, Brisbane and Adelaide - had a very smooth run.

Those 2 games were vital and we lost both, similar to losing every time Damo's gotten injured in the past, it could've been the difference between finishing 1st and 2nd, barely any injuries yes, but this one hurt as much as any.

Prather played 7 games in two different groups with another injury in between. In those 7 games, he was on his way back to full health (which never eventuated), coming off the bench and playing 18 minutes a game. How much difference do you think it would've made if United had a healthy Prather all year?

Look at NZ with Hopson over the past few weeks- how much difference would it have made if he was healthy all year?

How many games has Perth won against NZ and United this season, when Prather and Hopson were missing?

If Perth had comparable injuries they’d probably be 4th on the ladder right now, at best.

Wildcats have a history of using their bigs, in the NBA Miles was not even 2nd, 3rd or 4th option on any team, he now will play big parts of the game as the #1 option when we need it.

I'm not expecting massive numbers, but I'd bet he averages a double double with a few blocks per game.

Plumlee will bring presence, toughness

Much of the difference won't be directly measurable

No Wildcat 5 man has been a big time scorer in recent years. They don't need to be.

I wouldn't be surprised if Plumlee averages almost identical numbers to Hunt say 8 & 6 I wouldn't expect more than that out of him.

His value vs Hunt will be he's taller, longer, more athletic and his name and reputation alone will alter some shots and have guys second guessing going into the lane.

12ppg. 8.5reb. and more of a defensive presence is my prediction.
Better length too will block and alter more shots.

Hard to guess without knowing his fitness levels

But I wouldn't be surprised if, by playoff time, he's getting 10-12ppg, 8 or 9 rebounds.

His size is a factor- Cats frontcourt was, until now, pretty small. Lacked the same presence they've had in prior years with the likes of Jawai, Brandt, Jervis

We'll get a decent idea of what he brings on Friday, I don't seem him as having trouble with foul calls like some imports as he doesn't seem overly reckless in defence.

Will be eased in on Friday v Illawarra you would think.
Having 5 of the remaining games at home will help him settle with the team and get regular training.

Watched a fair bit of his NBA highlights now and he will get into foul trouble here, no way will our refs let him shot block like he did back in the USA.

Josh Boone has been a decent scorer in the NBL, but isn't really a "scorer" as such. He’s fairly limited offensively but still managed 15ppg or so over the past 3 years.

Eased in...

http://www.wildcats.com.au/news/article/plumlee-to-debut-on-friday-night

At least he came over from China which is the same time zone as WA I'm pretty sure. No jet lag.

Hard to tell uch from highlights, except that he likes to dunk.

^Kings supporter.

they h8 us cause they aint us

Others teams could've upgraded.
Perth broke no rules.

Perth look after their players which is why they rarely leave the club.

If you look at their NBA stats over the past couple of seasons, it appears that Plumlee compares favourably to Bogut.
Not suggesting that their CAREERS bear any comparison, and Bogut is FOUR years older, but in terms of their impact, it could be similar.

Of course it all depends on fitness. Bogut has been playing on crook legs for years, and still earnt a recall to the NBA last year. That would possibly nullify his height advantage. Except Plumlee has had knee injuries too...

In DEN@DAL today Mason Plumlee was a defensive sub on in place of Jokic to contain Doncic from potentially winning the game. Result was Mavs not even getting a shot off with 10s left.

i thought we got miles bro

United's been in 3rd position for at least the last month and will probably stay there.

Today's Denver/Dallas game has nothing to do with Miles Plumlee signing for Perth.

So many racist comments!!!!!!!!!!

Corey Williams has said my team will win the championship. While we hope that is true, we still have alot of work to do.

The Purveyor of Dunks: How will Miles Plumlee fit with the Perth Wildcats?
(Pickandroll.com.au article)

On the Plumlee scale from Mason to Marshall, I'd rate him a Miles.

The league still has a points system, it just uses assigned $ value instead of assigned points value. The difference now is there is no hard cap, you can go over it if you're willing to stump up the cash.

The Plum will be better for the run today.
Give him a week of training and he will be right as rain.

Actually really liked what I saw, although part of that is just personal preference. Nice to see a big body defending the paint.

But the best thing was that he seemed to know his role and was already playing it.

With him and Jook, we have a couple of slightly different options, and once he gets settled, we should be able to get close to 40 minutes most nights.
Also means that Sydney will struggle every time they have to sit Bogut.

"United's been in 3rd position for at least the last month and will probably stay there."

This did not age well...

The Plum will heap lead us to the title.

,[
This did not age well]

By stay, I should've said finish. The only spot that actually matters is where you finish.

Given UTD has a home game against Cairns and a better percentage, still a likely to finish 3rd

United surely won't continue this poor form forever

"Given UTD has a home game against Cairns and a better percentage, still a likely to finish 3rd

United surely won't continue this poor form forever"

I feel like you're trying to jinx them...

Whatever black magic caused Barlow and Trimble to combine for 1-12 from mostly wide open threes tonight, is a stronger power than any of us mere mortals!

Kuany was upgraded for a borderline Boomer.
Hunt for Plumlee is a straight import swap.

"Sydney sign Cooks- outrage by opposition supporters.
Perth sign Plumlee - great signing, not certain I see the difference."

If you don't understand the difference, Then stop posting and embarrassing yourself.