Cats were better against 36rs but the defensive beast that is Melb is a whole other level.
How Websters are getting time over DNP Henshall is staggering.

Yeah, if I was able to get honest answers from Rillie, my very first question to him would be what is holding Henshall back from getting a chance?

I know there aren't a ton of minutes to go around - M.Harris has proven his value and he barely gets a look too - but BH seems like a guy who is already capable of contributing, and who would also benefit from the experience of being out there even if he gets beaten. Is he stinking it up big time at training?

Yeah the poor kid must be frustrated. You'd think after dropping 24 on debut he showed enough for Rillie to keep him in the rotation. I don't understand his over reliance with Tai Webster

Should be a quality game. Wildcats play well at JC Arena. Looking at the matchups JLA/Hukporti v Pinder/Sarr will probably decide the contest. Delly back and should go straight to Cotton. Usher off the bench looks to provide a better team structure for the Wildcats. Not a clear matchup for Travers which could make the difference.

Sarr is young, playing well but the size JLA and Hukporti should be to good for Pinder and Sarr. Cotton is the key, Illi will probably go to him, if they call fouls on Illi like they do on PJC he won't last long. I just can’t see how Perth get close unless Cotton goes ballistic.

United by twenty. Refs let them play, award straight up D and in front, don’t find shit fouls

Wildcats play well at JC Arena.

Let's hope Hukporti knee is alright, he doesn’t deserve another unlucky knee injury. Travers looks like concussion.

Cotton with two absolute bricks to start the game. Odd for someone of his stature.

Flop show is on from CG

Clarke is on fire, good start by both teams

Looks like the refs are doing their best to let everything go in this one.

Which work place could you abuse people like coaches abuse refs. I think the refs have done very well so far.

It's got to a point that Melbourne United games are almost unmatchable if you aren't an MU fan.

You can maybe get through with gritted that if you turn off the commentary.

Nothing wrong with Gazey commentary. Perth hanging tough.

Perth's offensive just looks so much better with H. Harris and Doolittle on instead of Usher/C. Webster

Sheesh talk about letting it go!

No Travers, no Clark, no worries so far.

Delly put away the 3 mate

I can't agree the refs are doing well, in fact the opposite. It's flat out atrocious.

Cats best chance to win here, Clarke and Travers out. Doolittle showing more every game. I'm enjoying the game.

To what Dunkman intimated earlier, the officials have done extremely well not to tech anyone to this point. Would've been thoroughly deserved if they'd done so though.

Krebs can't shoot, can’t guard Wagstaff isos yet somehow the worst thing about his game is being a brown man with blonde tips.

Grown man*

Usher having an absolute shocker.

It's a very tough game to ref, coaches should be able to talk to refs but not abuse, it could be part of the problem that they are always second guessing themselves.

This is a good game, if cat’s going to win today is their day, united with three starters out during the game.

LOL, you're gonna use your challenge on that???

Screeningnick - funny because I thought the same thing earlier. Nsync hair for reals lol.

With the injury woes United have had tonight, Bowen has chipped in with an underrated performance on extended minutes.

Cats giving away way too many stupid fouls in these last few minutes.

Confusion reigns...

Usher gets beat one on one quite a bit, for a guy who thinks he's going to win defensive player of the year.

I take it all back, Usher's great.

Gazey, from the outhouse to the penthouse, usher.

What's with the terrible far camera for the most import moments of the game?

United fooled everyone and had Delly drive to the basket. Nice ATO.

And yes, camera angles have been quite wonky tonight. Must be a green producer on the game.

Best coach's challenge ever.

I am absolutely baffled. Who was the challenge successful, Sarr clearly hit Delly on the arm.

Called a pushing foul, they missed the arm wack.

I think that's a fair foul on Delly. Rillie returns with a great ATO of his own.

Delly from rags, to riches and back to rags.

Crazy game

God damn, Usher misses both freebies. Only needed one. OT. Wow.

What a crab

United should get extra cheeseburgers for that level of free throw choking

How the hell did Perth not win that in regular time, with those injuries stacking the deck in their favour?

Oh my, highly entertaining, usher back in the outhouse. Lol. Sarr has been great. Pinder not so much.

Sarr had a guard on him, fricking post him up

That defense by Goulding was hilarious

Usher lol

Brainfades galore from both teams in this one

Usher needs to u-turn

Perth aren't pretty to watch, but they did enough.

Melbourne imploded in OT - I loved their hustle, but I hated the way they played and their poor shooting. Delly main offender.

Wow ignore the refs and all the bad - what a game.

United went Delly Iso in overtime and couldn't score the ball.

Doolittle showing why he was signed, Wagstaff and Harris the glue guys Perth need. Less Websters = more wins.

Gotta give John Rillie credit for that game, thought he outcoached Vickerman (never thought I'd say that).

Doolittle, Cotton, Sarr been great for Perth. United injuries hurt but they didn't play smart, Bowen very good considering he had to replace Travers. Delly overall was average, so were the rest team.
Refs were fairly good, it’s not easy. Stop coaches abusing them, maybe give the coaches one review a quarter.

Yeah boyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!
Take 2 starters away from our opponent and we can compete with anyone in this league!!!!!

SACK RILLIE!!! This team is not put together well!!! Whoops wrong week

How did Doolittle not get mvp, Cotton was good but just look at their indexes and plus, minus. Cats are back.

Perth deserved that W.
Although they were scrappy, they still managed to be more effective on offense. Their D was solid too.

Melbourne's offense in the 2nd half was ordinary and dismal in OT.
Delly forced way too much.
JLA was fed once in OT.
How are you not feeding your big more when perth is playing good exterior D?

Forvall the mistakes the refs are accused of making, they also cop a heap of incessant shit from the coaches.
Not a good look, especially when associations struggle to sometimes get refs.
Contrast that with Roth and his players who rarely if ever complain.

Corey's role gets reduced further to 5 minutes and he puts out a -10 plus minus. Eech.

The cats did their absolute best to lose that game but United were just worse executing offense in OT. Fatigue would have been a factor with two and a half players down on rotation. Jordan Usher LOL what an enigma. His worst is so far from his best that he shouldn't even be playing in a pro league

Terrible officiating just about ruined an otherwise great game.

Yeah boyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!
Take 2 starters away from our opponent and we can compete with anyone in this league!!!!!

Travers out, Clark out, Hukporti limited ... more like "take 3 starters out", isn't it?

No, because Hukporti wasn't out.

Sarr was very impressive in the 4th and OT and should've been MVP.
Rillie still making baffling choices such as minimal Harris after half time but Webster minutes are being cut so that's a positive.

I wasn't watching the game closely but I had the impression he wasn’t played as much or moving as freely after Travers went off, KR. That’s why I said 'limited’.

Happy to be corrected.

When Melbourne was last in Perth they lost Doolittle in the first couple of mins with a knee issue. It was a close game that the cats lost.

So yeah with those 3 injured it was an easier win but at the end of the day it is a win that counts.

Goes to show that you need players that can play a role as opposed to players who want to be "the guy", something Perth have too many of.

Limit the minutes to Corey, Tai, Usher and suddenly you have a team that wants to play together.

I still believe the team can do without Usher and bring in a pass first defensive point guard. You could then run with a lineup like this.

PG - Import / Tai Webster (shudder) / Corey Webster
SG - Cotton / Corey Webster (shudder) / M. Harris
SF - Doolittle / Henshall / M. Harris
PF - H. Harris / Wagstaff / Doolittle
C - Pinder / Sarr / Okwera

To me this looks much better than having another big, or Usher on the court. It also limits the court time for the Webster brothers meaning less "look good first, win second" type of players on the court. You could limit Corey minutes even further if needed by slotting M. Harris into the lineup if he is hitting his shot. and Tai Webster could also have less minutes with Cotton sliding over to the PG given how many minutes he already currently plays.

In happy with the W

But let's not over react

Tai played hard sometimes so hard it was stupid

Taking on 3 people and forcing shots inct a recipe for success

Especially with Pinder wide open at the cup or dunkers spot

Cotton still forcing had shots missed Pinder on multiple switches where he had Delly or illy on him in the post to force tough shots

Alot of selfish plays that won't win games when teams are at full strength

Bws1blood, this is why removing Usher for a pass first PG makes sense to me... it means you got a starting 5 of guys who will play team basketball... the bench have a couple loose cannons in the Webster bro's but you dont need to give either a tonne of minutes by releasing Usher for a PG.

JR loves the Webster Bros, its fact! They are not going anywhere!- Shame on Henshall- heard he is getting frustrated, after seeing the minutes Toohey is getting and thinking he is better than him (prob true) Cmon get Benny into rotation!

Henshall and Toohey played on the same team (Centre of Excellence) last NBL1 season... Henshall lead that team in scoring and assists and was clearly their best player.

No reason why he can't provide the same impact as Toohey.

Fudge your on the money

It is truely frustrating to see guys with such low IQ

I don't hate Tai's effort but U kan be a pg and not look for the easy or smart play

I think a pure PG would work magic for this teams culture as well

Bryce still not making right decisions is beyond frustrating

Pinder looks ready to demand a trade if he could and head right back to cairns if the opportunity presented itself , his usage rate has to be 50% of what it was in Cairns

Henschall has every right to feel frustrated

Pinder missed a few open lay ups, he wasn't that good, cats were better when Sarr went to the five at both ends. Doolittle wa the best player yesterday

Pinder took half the shots and Dolittle did

How's bruh supposed to find a rythm ,they using him like this was Adelaide Pinder ..not a 2 X MIP

They sacrificing pinders for cottons chuckin be realistic

Cottons "chucking" led to 53 points over last 2 games. Helluva chucker

Lol on Cotton chucking. Other than the Websters, Pinder, Harris were players in player in the minus. Pinder had three offensive rebounds on one play and the ball still didn't go in, yes its different coaching but it is also a very different team, if you really think that the team should be run around Pinder and not Cotton, Perth will struggle.

If Sarr is still projected top 3 in December he'd be crazy to not shut himself down. Would really have nothing to gain and everything to lose. Firstly an injury would obviously hurt his stocks, but the whole roller coaster that is now the Wildcats would be a concern to his people. Rillie is riling people up the wrong way and who knows if Sarrs role will change and affect his perceived attitude by scouts if he's suddenly benched or his production decreases. He's going to be a high pick based on potential but attitude plays a big part now in draft selection.
And it's interesting to see the opposite in terms of Flowers. He's shown flashes, but is probably doubting his decision to come here. Firstly CJ the Muppet proclaims him the starting pg instead of the sensible statement of how he'll need to earn his minutes in whatever role the team needs. Absolutely fails in the preseason at pg and now is riding the Pine. At least he seems to not sulk and plays hard in the minutes given to him albeit rookie mistakes, but his draft stock would be at an all time low.
The Breakers have to be the gold standard of bringing these kids in. Hampton may be viewed as a failure in his time here based on his hype and production, but he was still a first rounder and may be another Heat reclamation story. Dieng, Rupert, Besson and now the Latvian kid all have contributed to some extent, not languishing on the bench. And those teams were/are better than Sixers. So the next young kid coming over will want to go their than probably any other team except maybe United or even Sydney.

Your a cotton meat rider if your not honest with yourself to realise how his X ushera chuckin The 4 games before the last two didn't put us in this hole

No it shouldnt be based just around Pinder but there should be a more even spread and U play to your strengths
.U cant be 2 for 20 and taking dumb shots at the end of games

You're allergic statistics, and therefore reality, if you think Cottons few bad games this season are an accurate representation of his overall scoring ability and value to the team over other players.

Bws1blood, I think the 'chucking' you refer to was due to the fact that nothing was being run for him like it was in the past (again see my post referring to a pass first PG). Putting the ball in Cottons hands and saying "get us a basket" has never been a great recipe for success, he got hot at times, would get fouled on step back 3's but it was never his go to way of scoring. The way Cotton is best used is coming off screens for catch and shoot 3's which doesnt happen nearly enough with the way the roster is constructed this season.

Allergic to statistics

The only person who is allergic to stats is the person avoiding looking at them and holding him accountable to them

I'm sick of the mindless defense of what someone has done previously , to justify taking just flat out bad shots

Instead of making the right basketball reads

People will hold Tyler Harvey accountable but not Bryce because he is a MVP

No one doubts or factors in Bryce as the number 1 option on this team , that doesn't excuse taking bad shots , missing open guys ,mismatches , simple reads

Just to take bad shots , when your not in rythm and stinking up joint

That's what causes losses , what he did the past few years is irrelevant to his shot selection in the first 4 games

and if U want to be allergic to stats should we pull up his shooting numbers during that run of games

That is game killing stuff ,no matter who it is

Getting Bryce the ball in right positions is only part of the issue

Yes he needs better opps to shoot

That does not mean U cut your arm off to spite your nose

It doesn't mean U take horrible iso shots , or ry and force shots when double or triple teamed

That isn't helping the TEaM that is helping yourself , one could make a argument U need to shoot to find a rythm

But not when you have winnable games and your shooting 3 of 17 or 2 from 20 and have the game on the line

He didn't shoot great even against United he just got to the line and made a couple big plays but so did usher and he wasn't having a great game either

Like is already said winning cures everything

But this W is going to be totally overrated and it will come back to haunt this team in the season

The main pluses I will take from these Ws is better coaching from Rillie , the line up change ,and better effort

But this team is still not a TEAM and way to selfish , and no one is being held accountable

@ Big Fudge I do agree with you , they have needed to do a better job at that in some part , but as I mentioned above its only been part of his bad shot selection

It happened again n again in the United game as it has all season the amount of passes to Pinder in a PNR , when either Pinder has a 1 on 1 situation , is open or has a mismatch off the switch is mine boggling

It's really like tiny Pinder may have done something to one of Bryce's relatives , because he hardly EVR will get him the ball in those situations

On another note I liked seeing the line up of Pinder Dolittle and Sarr in the limited time I saw it

That could be a scary line up of rillie utilises it more in close games

I do think Pinder needs the ball more, dont get me wrong... not even for a scoring standpoint but if he can help collapse the defence then it will free up some shooting outside.

I liked Doolittle playing at the 3, he is getting better with every game.

Gleeson summed it up during commentary, Cotton (and pinder will be the same) need plays designed to get them in good positions to score.

like Fudge mentioned, to just give Cotton the ball and say score for us buddy, youre the greatest, is telling him he must chuck.

highlights again how i underrated gleeson while he was here. he used to be able to get Norton down in the low block to score easy baskets.

rillie stuggles to get cotton open shots.

pinder rolls so well to the basket, would to see him in more pick n roll as well.

The whole team was playing like a pick up rec league team, everyone was calling their own numbers pinder included. Surely at some point a guy like BC figures if this is the "plan" Rillie is implementing I have a better chance at hitting a bad shot compared to Usher.... also you can't just ignore how many times BC got missed when he finally actually got open, Tai and Sarr looked him off multiple times in a few of the losses. That is on the coach, when players start going iso the coach is not implementing a system to get them into their spots. BC usage was already way down too... but hate cause he is forcing it, like having the rest of the team force it is a better option....