The mentality of a bench player

Perth Wildcats guard Clint Steindl has explained the mentality of his fellow reserve players during a game.

In his 110 games for the Wildcats, the sharp-shooter has played a key role in coming off the bench in all but six of those.

He said it’s all about elevating the standard to another level.

“We put it down to a couple of things and, a lot of that is focused onto bringing energy to the group,” he said.

“We’ve had some great games where we come off the bench and provide a whole heap of energy, we’re getting deflections, getting o’ boards, getting hustle plays, extra possessions for the team.

“Over the course of games, you may lose a few possessions here and there that we should be getting, a few 50-50 balls, but the role of the bench guy is to take a step up from when we sub in, where the team was at.

“Bring a whole heap of new energy, give those guys a break, so when they’re ready, we’re gassed, where out of the game and they’ll take it to another level, and so on.

“It’s hard, you do that over 40 minutes of continually taking it to another step, to another step. But hopefully, by game five, last two minutes in the Finals, we’re way up here with what we’re trying to do with our energy and taking the game to the next step for us.”

Of the players who have regularly started on the bench this season, Jesse Wagstaff leads the way in scoring with 7.8 points per game, while Steindl contributes 6.0 per game.

The Wildcats are back in action on Friday at RAC Arena, taking on the Brisbane Bullets.

Tickets available here.