Magnay to play first minutes

Trevor Gleeson has confirmed star recruit Will Magnay will see his first minutes as a Wildcat in their top-of-the-table clash with Melbourne United on Thursday night.

Magnay suited up on Sunday, but did not get on the court in the Wildcats win over the NZ Breakers.

He completed two full training sessions with the team this week.

“We got a couple of days underneath his belt now, to get some legs underneath him, and he’ll still be on reduced minutes, but he’ll certainly play some court time,” said Gleeson.

“I’m guessing that he’s going to fatigue pretty quickly, so we’ll just keep an eye on it.

“It’s just about getting the rhythm, the timing and the synergy out there on the court. He’s got to understand our philosophy on offence and defence. It takes a little bit of time.”

Melbourne United are on top of the NBL ladder with 22 wins a six losses, while the WIldcats have a 20-7 record.

While a Wildcats win will see them level-up with Melbourne on losses, Gleeson said top-spot isn’t an immediate focus.

“We always want to make the playoffs, when we do that, then we challenge for the top-two. That’s always been the case, and if we’re in a good position obviously we’ll try to get top,” he said.

“Melbourne are very talented, they’ve done a great job recruiting, they’re playing some great basketball out there and it’s really going to test our defence to see if we can hold up.”

Bryce Cotton goes into the game coming off his first 30-point, 10-assist game.

He’s scored the second-most points against United in NBL history, just 10 points behind Adelaide’s Daniel Johnson.

In 2021, he averages 23.0 points in the Wildcats three clashes with Melbourne.

Perth have won the most recent two of those.

Tip-off on Thursday is at 7.30pm at RAC Arena.

Tickets available here.