'Happy he's on my team': Cotton's praise for new Wildcat

Cotton and Usher, who has aspirations to win the NBL's Defensive Player of the Year award named after club great Damian Martin, have gone head-to-head on the court during week one of the Wildcats' training camp.

The 31-year-old said he was "definitely" happy with to have the exciting American import on his team.

"He guarded me for a couple of segments, he's definitely quick and strong but I'm happy he's on my team," Cotton told SENWA's Scotty and Goss.

"He can all the Defensive Player of the Year (awards) he wants, it has nothing to do with me.

"I'm definitely happy with him, he's athletic, he's a great defensive defensive and the energy that he plays with is something that we're going to be able to feed off, plus he can knock down the outside shot."

Usher said earlier in his week during his first press conference as a Wildcat training with Cotton would take his game to another level.

“He made some tough jumpers on me that I got kind of frustrated at. But that’s what he does so I am happy to have him on my team,” Usher said.

“He’s a lot lower to the ground than me so I’ve got to get even lower to him and expel a lot of energy. He’s going to get me better at defending and I’ll make him an even better scorer if that’s possible."

Cotton said he had been impressed with the energy since pre-season officially kicked off at Bendat Basketball Centre on Monday.

"The energy is something that's taken me aback, guys are very locked in from the beginning," Cotton said.

"The biggest thing that's helped is JR (Wildcats coach John Rillie) had the younger guys back a few weeks early, so to come in with the vets they've kind of hit the ground running. 

"It's been great to keep up the pace with them. It's early but I'm liking what I see."

Cotton also opened up on his off-season, which included starting a basketball fitness program with renowed WA trainer Gerard 'Body Majic' Majda called the Bryce Cotton Challenge.

Listen to the full interview here