Blanchfield responds to coach's call

Perth Wildcats recruit Todd Blanchfield said he was under no pressure to improve his output in the lead up to Thursday’s game against South East Melbourne.

Blanchfield went into the game averaging 11.0 points and with his coach calling on he and other Wildcats scorers to provide more assistance for Bryce Cotton on the offensive end.

He delivered, hitting a season-high 22 points on eight of 12 rebounds in the Wildcats 31-point win.

“I didn’t really feel too much pressure. I work pretty hard on the areas I find I’m pretty good at in my game,” he said.

“I think it was a matter of time before I really started to feel comfortable and find my spots in the system to where I was going to be able to get the shots where I could feel most comfortable.”

Blanchfield is one of six players new to the team from last season, and he said given the team had limited pre-season opportunities, it takes time for the systems to click.

“We had such a disjointed pre-season and Trev’s system is a little more complex than the average system you play in, and it does take a bit of time to learn,” he said.

“But I’m definitely starting to feel a little better each game, and it was nice to be able to come away with a win.”

Blanchfield, John Mooney and Bryce Cotton combined for 55 of the Wildcats 106 points, with 12 players contributing to the scoreboard.