It can't be said enough. NBL refs are the worst in all of professional basketball.

I'm not certain the refs have had an influence, been a cracking game.

Cats motoring, the two Mac's out hurts JJs big time.

Very entertaining so far. BC cooking.

BC enjoying himself today

Tassie transition D abysmal this half. Not like them at all.

Oh my

JJs look exhausted, not surprising, cats on fire though.

Island colinised at this rate

Cats by 22 at halftime. Rillie got his critics but cats looking outstanding.

Ok Cats, show yourselves the money this half
$$

Awesome 1st half, but i fear if they stop Bryce they stop us.

No cats are more than just Bryce, yes he's clearly magnificent but he’s got good players with him, starting with Windler, Almansa, Doolittle etc.

Rucker resides in Cottons butt hole.

Good is a strong word. It's a pretty ordinary cast around him, IMO.

Good thing Rucker isn't in charge of the reviews

Really shits me watching this, SEM flogs the JJ's in Tassie, Perth are destroying them in Tassie yet my heartless 36ers somehow manage to lose to them there. Just shows how piss weak the Sixers really are.

Good to see Scott Roth play his DPs for a change

Clearly Roth has given up on this game with the 5 he had on the court to end the third.

Hummer is a complete bust

Cats as a team are playing very, very well, yes Cotton is the leader of the band. Even Roth in the end can't make all rough diamonds into studs, you still need quality with them. Magnay and MacDonald massive outs. Hummer been very useful but he’s more blue collar.

Only one of these JJs DPs that I see having a decent career in the NBL is Stoddart

Garbage time doesn't get much more garbagey than this :/

To be fair most DP's don't turn out to be much. Unless they're 36ers DP's then they turn into something elsewhere Kyle Adnam, Ben Ayre, Michael Harris etc.

After a great start the game fizzled out. Cats get top two they are a chance. JJs I can't see causing much trouble in finals, to much left for to few at present, should qualify as the chases are not travelling that well.

Are our commentators so dumb that they don't remember that EVERY YEAR the Wildcats have to do a string of away games due to RAC hosting tennis?
The Cats plan and build their season around it. Players like Wagstaff have spoken about it before.
Yet commentary talk like it's weird and unfair because they get 3 or 4 in a row at home to finish the season.

Hummer is just woeful, why bring a undersized "blue-collar" guy in when they need other things. As Charles Barkley said
"If you go out with a girl and they say she has a great personality, she's ugly. If they tell you a guy works hard, he can’t play a lick. Same thing."

Windler with 2 steals/4 blocks alongside a 15pt/10reb double double. Perfect complimentary player, one of the most underrated defenders in the comp too.

JJs with a ridiculous fixture over the past week - I assume due to their appearance at the FIBA Intercontinental Cup earlier in the season?

Are our commentators so dumb

Just back from the game .....very unlike JJ game as pointed out no transition defence.


Masterclass from Cotton


Roth played the kids from half way through the 3rd.

It's hard to keep lifting when main pieces are out for long periods.

Yep without Magnay and Seany Mac the load was to big for the others. Doyle tried to take the game on but ......

PW, that intercontinental cup was done before the regular season started, no reason that would properly affect their regular season fixture, and as you say the insane fixture

It doesn't make sense then.

Perth has the best offence in the nbl right now when they are humming but my issue is is can their defence get it done in a playoffs? To their credit after that humiliation against the Hawks they have focused a bit more on that end which is a great sign

It won't.

Macdonald is the only guard currently on the JJs roster that seems to be able to impact the likes of Cotton and Davis. So, him being out injured is huge for the JJs. This is why Kenyon leaving left such a big whole in the JJs roster and is something they have never really fixed. Brought in Sword this year to try to be that guy but that didn't work. Now Kenyon only getting limited bench minutes at SEM.

On a completely different point, Archie Woodhill did a couple of things during his minutes that seemed to surprise Roth. Surprised me too. So, he may have earned himself some more minutes as the season progresses. Stodart definitely worth persevering with. Does a lot of things right. Cats very conscious early not to leave him open to shoot from the perimeter. The 25 year DP age restriction date seems to be 31 December before the year in which the season starts which would make him eligible for DP again next year.

It depends who they meet, SEM and united looking good on D, I'm not certain about the rest, they get into a shoot out with home court advantage, they will be hard to stop. Hawks also good on D.

The cats plane and simple are not judt a one cat show. They are well rounded team well coached. Have plenty of experience plenty of spirit and belief in the system and have confidence. Led by superstar who just leads.

Cats are a well coached offensive team, they showed that when Cotton was out, but I can't agree they're well coached at the other end. I don't think they're well coach in the small aspects of the game that had been one of Perth's great strengths under Beveridge and Gleeson.

Interesting thoughts on DPs here, I find the role is just a 'cheasp roster player' as clubs seem to have very little focus on developing these players with only Adelaide and MU seeming to be able to produce or source some that go onto careers.

Some DPs seem to not even fit purpose of the roster, Brisbane for example taking Savage when they already have White (undersize guard) & Norton, Kuen who doens't seem to big enough or tough enough.

Be great to see the NBL Clubs have staff to put the Development back into DP. And grow rosters internally.

Tassie did do a great job with MacDonald as a DP to be fair

I don't think many clubs take DP's seriously. Joey Wright used to when he was the Sixers coach and unearthed guys like Kyle Adnam and Ben Ayre but not many kick on.

The Sixers had Fraser Roxburgh imported from another state for a couple of years recently he barely played at all. Fiston Ipassou is now in his second stint as a DP with the Sixers, I don't think he's gotten on the court yet this season and I don't think he played either a few years back in his first DP stint.

Last season the Sixers had a DP Harvey White who followers of the state league said struggled to get a game in the league side and often played in the reserves, what hope has he got of being an NBL player if he couldn't hold down a regular spot in his team in the local league?

Keanu Rasmussen now in his second year as a DP is starting to show something though.

JJs also had Issac White as a DP in 2023 after initially bringing him in as an injury replacement player when no other club wanted to contract him after his 2 years at the Hawks. So long as the player is under 25, teams can use DPs to keep players on their roster and in their system to develop with a view to elevating to a full roster spot down the track. From memory, the JJs offered While a one year deal in 2024 but he got a multi year offer from Brisbane and continues to do well there. Roth genuinely seems to look to find DPs to develop in the JJs system and then play them if good enough (examples being MacDonald and Stodart).

I'm pretty sure there used to be a rule back in the day pre-LK that if you had played on a full roster before, as Isaac had done with the Hawks, you couldn't then be a DP again regardless if you were under 25.

I remember Kody Stattmann, now a DP with Cairns, was on the Bullets roster and when he got let go then spent a year at SEM as a DP and now the same at Cairns so at some point during LK's time that DP eligibility criteria went out the window which is probably not much of an issue in the grand scheme of things.

Another two Alex Mudronja on the roster at the 36ers then got a DP gig at the Hawks which turned into a full roster spot there and then became a DP again at Cairns last season I think. Biwali Bayles was another on the full roster at the Kings got kicked off the team due to disciplinary reasons and was throw a lifeline by the Hawks as a DP last season.

As in all things, some dp get picked on who they know. A few can do ok if they get a decent run at it and have friends in higher places so they get time to develop. No names but I knew a DP coming out a club that wasn't as good as others in his team, he had a reasonable career while some of the other guys never got a look in.

The reason why the best credentialed state league players aren't necessarily DPs is because it simply isn't worth their while.

If they are studying and working then being a training player on top isn't feasible because it is a full time position for minimum pay.

Being better at a lower level doesn't necessarily mea you'll be better at a higher level. Clubs will try to pick DPs based on them having tools/athleticism etc that might translate to the NBL.

Yes, although many will still decline the offer for the reasons stated above.

Joey Wright was mentioned but the player examples used had a glaring omission - Chris Goulding at the Bullets. GOAT DP.