Gleeson wants quality shots from quality possessions

Perth Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson said he isn’t worried about his team’s three-point shooting as he prepares for a home double against Illawarra and New Zealand.

Perth has hit less than 30 per-cent of its long range shots in its last five games, but earlier in the season it was a strength, making over 40 per cent on five occasions.

On average the Wildcats take 29.2 three-point attempts of a total 71.4 shot attempts in a game.

In wins they hit an average of 10.1, while in their five losses they’ve averaged 8.0.

The coach said it’s about taking quality shots.

“We practice our shots all the time, sometimes you’re off, it’s very unusual you’ll have four shooters that don’t make a basket like we did in Adelaide, that doesn’t happen too often,” he said.

“Some nights you’ll have all four get hot and you’ll score 120 points. The guys do a lot of work on their shooting, it’s not something I’m particularly worried about, I’m just worried about the quality of shots. Making sure they come out of our offence, that we’re playing unselfish, we’re making the extra pass.

“When we do that we’re getting high quality possessions.”

The Wildcats will also need to focus on defending the perimeter in Friday’s clash with the Hawks, who average 9.3 triples of their own at 35.4 per cent.

“They have three really good imports. Harvey and Jessup can shoot. Simon really crashed the glass against us last time, so we know they had a good win last game, coming from behind, they have their tails up, so we’re expecting a strong showing.”

Gleeson confirmed John Mooney was fit and available following an ankle injury scare on Tuesday.

This weekend’s games will be the first time Perth will host a game without capacity restrictions at RAC Arena since the 2020 semi-finals.

Tip-off on Friday is at 7.30pm, and tickets are available here