Heart over height for Wildcats

Perth Wildcats head coach Scott Morrison knows that if his team is to be successful this season, they’ll have to find ways to defeat taller opponents.

The Wildcats built a fast, versatile roster, but with a number of teams adding significant height, the Wildcats will need to find ways to win the battle on the interior.

This week, Perth will be tested by the Brisbane Bullets and their giant centres Tyrell Harrison (214cm) and Chuanxing Liu (225cm).

“I’m concerned about all of the teams heights. I realised in Tasmania that we’re going to be smaller most nights, so it’s kind of a choice for our guys, if they can take care of the defensive glass and be tough on the interior, then we can use our strengths down the other end, by spacing them out, by flying around, attacking off the dribble and using our speed,” he said.

“(for us) It’s about the intangibles. Heart, toughness, working together. Things like that. When it comes to rebounding, those things fall into play. You have to work as a team to make sure you’re blocking everybody out, you’ve got to be tough, and you have to have heart to have the desire to try get the rebounds.

“I believe Charles Barkley was famous for saying something like, it’s not about your height it’s about your heart with rebounding, and we just need to have five guys that show it and we’ll be ok. That will allow us to use our strengths which are speed and versatility, as opposed to maybe height on paper.”

The Wildcats expect to be boosted by the return of Todd Blanchfield in Sunday’s clash at RAC Arena.

Blanchfield underwent pre-season surgery on his knee to repair damaged cartilage in September and was expected to be sidelined for between three and four months.

Morrison said he will add another dimension to his lineups.

“He’s a guy that you have to account for regardless of where he is on the floor, and we’ll get him involved in some actions. We have some stuff we’ve been running since I was hired that suits him really well,” he said.

“Hopefully we’ll use him as a spacer, as a guy in the actions, and his length will also be valuable on defence as well, as we’re a smaller team that depends on our guards and our wings to be long and active, so he fits the bill too.”

Blanchfield averaged a career-high 14.7 points per game in 2021.

Morrison expects Matt Hodgson (calf) and Michael Frazier II (thigh) to remain unavailable for this week’s game.

The Bullets possess two of the best players in the NBL in Nathan Sobey and Lamar Patterson, who inished third in NBL MVP voting in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

Perth will be looking to make it three wins from three starts to begin the 2021/22 NBL Season, after Round One wins over Adelaide and Cairns.

Tip-off on Sunday is at 2.30pm.

Tickets available here or watch live on ESPN or Kayo.