This is one of those "no shit, Sherlock" theories that people don't bother to bring up purely because of how obvious it is.

I'll remember it on Tuesday when he lights NZ up for 35.

Find a bin. Get in it.

@Bolt the OP is not referencing one game. It is about the toll the workload over the season may have on Cotton. Cotton is absolutely going to have to be fresh come playoffs, especially if they get Melb in a 5 game series.

You could argue that the Mooney/Blachfield combo has actually been superior to Kay/White, definitely more consistent over the journey in my opinion. The biggest impact is the loss of Martin and their overall bench depth has dropped off. Surely it's not too late to add another import so keeping Cotton fresh will be a big part of any success this year. I’d back Gleeson in to do this. Still title favourites.

*surely it's too late

OP, "Bryce Cotton" isn't a very good topic title. A single point of failure references exactly the situation you're describing - the suggestion that the team depends on him, and if he fails (like a cog in a machine), then the machine goes down with him.

I agree with the OP
I raised it previously.

Cotton plays a lot of minutes, in a season that is compressed with extra games.

That is asking for trouble given what has happened in the last couple of rounds.

Until yesterday his game has still been excellent. Not as efficient scoring-wise, but still regularly burning opponents whenever he was double-teamed.
Yesterday he ran into an elite defender, was well contained, and we were found lacking in options elsewhere to compensate for it. Which is pretty much the scenario that I (and I'm guessing many others) had in mind at the start of the season when speculating that the Cats were no certainties to make the playoffs.

Ridiculous topic title although it does highlight how much jealousy and bitterness there is on here about the 'Cats recent performance.

Maybe Perth have a better program that no one is injured?

No Cotton, no Perth.

If he naturalises and Perth brings in another import that will help immensely.

With the current lineups, I'd back United or SEM (at full strength or close) in a 5 game series against Perth.

According to the Sunday Times... Cotton's citizenship is likely to be finalized in the next few weeks.

Its still the same concern that was talked about at the start of the season and they've done okay so far. With the league reducing teams to 2 imports and with the loss of Kay it was always going to be tough to strengthen their shooting depth. Cotton has had to shoulder more of the load and he's been shooting better than ever. Hes the fittest player in the league and and they'll manage his minutes towards the end of the season. Steindl is an x factor for them. If he can rediscover his consistency of last season it makes them much more dangerous.

The question should be what else could they have done to address the issue? Maybe they could have gone harder to lure good Aussie talent like a broekhoff. What is Motum doing? If Cottons citizenship comes through their greatest need would be a Center or a 4/5 that can shoot from range would be ideal. I doubt they would be getting an import guard unless they find a quality Aussie big from somewhere.

Everyone knows we are due an all Victorian grand final.

Saw that in Sunday Times too re Cotton citizenship. Would have to be in place by game 27, Perth have now played 20 games.

The rule hasn't changed. 25% which is 9 games.

The OP is a cockhead.
Cotton will bounce back he doesn't have two shit games in a row.

Perth fan

The OP is not saying Cotton won't score points next game. The OP might be proven right. Cotton won't be able to be rested as they need to get homecourt advantage. Having to put up a lot shots, deal with heavy defensive tags and score minimum number of points to win will have a toll. Although Cotton being the star he is, will probably do it all again, be finals mvp and go down as one of greatest NBL players ever.

Relax and chill...Perth will win chips..

Lol.

With 2 imports Majok was always meant to start with Mooney playing at PF.

Majok starting centre? Hahahahaha. #deluded

Majok is a big loss. Would have been better than Bairstow or Travers as a starter.

Not 1 person has compared Majoks injury to anyone else's, stop making things up.

He WAS the starting C, and Perth had to adjust the starting 5 without him, pretty simple and factual.

That's the thing though people crap on about his citizenship constantly.
It's not going to happen in time for playoffs.

Cotton is a legend. Had a rough couple of games but any team in the league would have him in a heartbeat. I have been watching him for what 4-5 years now and I reckon I could count his bad games on 1 hand. Last year I could count Casper wares bad games on 10 hands. Good to see Casper bounce back this year too.

White and Lo Buluk are spuds. So other than Norton who is a defensive player, Perth have no backcourt support.

I completely disagree with the OP's premise.

All other things being equal, Cotton is the perennial MVP. Obviously he is a great (NBL) player, and the Cats make full use of that. Naturally you take that out, and it hurts the Cats. That's not a theory, it's just reality. Even if they could somehow replace him with Ware, it would still be a net loss.

But to say they are to(sic) reliant on him, is incorrect. Of all teams, the Cats play a very structured team-first system. they are best able to compensate for the loss of a key player.

It's not as though they made a concious choice to rely too much on Cotton. Each team (except Sydney) was only allowed two imports. Perth got the best two in the league, so you can't do much more than that.

At which position are Blanchfield, Wagstaff and Steindl playing most of their minutes?

3, 4, 3/2

What about Travers? I wouldn't be confident overplaying Steindl.

Travers is a 4.

Yeah, he can play a bit of point forward.
Playing SF is still a work in progress, but I could see it being fast-tracked over the next few weeks. That's going to come down to him being willing & able to hit threes. Not sure he is there yet.

Travers would play the 3 in some teams, but doesn't demonstrate the consistent outside shot to play big minutes on the wing in Trev's system. But he does get some time there.

Steindl runs hot and cold. The strategy seems to be to bring him in off the bench, run a few plays for him, and see if he gets going. When he does, he'll get good minutes.