Rillie praises unselfish Cotton after Adelaide heroics

Cotton prolific scoring run with a game-high 49 points, his third 40-plus point haul in a row.

The four-time NBL MVP was the first player to complete that feat in more than three decades, since the legendary Andrew Gaze in 1991.

He sparked the Wildcats to overcome a six-point half-time deficit to prevail 115-105 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

But it was the trust Cotton had in the likes of Ben Henshall, Dylan Windler and Todd Withers, who all hit crucial late triples, that caught Rillie’s eye.

Windler and Henshall had eight final-quarter points apiece to finish with 15 and 13 respectively, while Withers delivered a dagger to his former team in the last 90 seconds of a memorable return to Adelaide.

“He’s in a nice rhythm, a nice groove,” Rillie said.

“The points are a product of what we’re doing as a team on the floor, but then also the trust that he had in his teammate in the fourth quarter.

“He’s on a tear the last three games but here he is, getting in the paint and kicking it out to his teammates.

“To me, that’s the beauty of the way that he’s playing, so we’ll continue to play that way and see what happens.”

It comes as 36ers coach Mike Wells described Cotton as “the hottest player the planet right now”.

“Credit to him. He’s the hottest player on the planet right now. It’s a remarkable job of what Bryce has done. Hats off,” Wells said.

Cotton spoke about how much he missed the game during his recent month off with a rib issue which “felt like an eternity”.

“It’s just missing the game. That month I was out felt like an eternity,” Cotton said.

“Seeing how hard our guys play every single night and just wanting to be part of that, I was very anxious to play that whole month. So I guess it’s just a lot of pent up emotion and energy.”