The more basketball the better for Wildcats

The Perth Wildcats will play seven games over the next three rounds of the NBL, and the message is simple from their coach: Keep them coming!

It kicks off with a battle with the Illawarra Hawks this Friday night at RAC Arena.

With the Wildcats now having won nine of their last 10 game, Gleeson said the more basketball the better.

“When you’re playing a good brand of basketball, you want to keep playing as many games as you possibly can. When you have injuries, or you’re out of form, you don’t want to play, you want have time to get recuperated,” he said.

“We’re playing a really good brand of basketball at the moment so the more games we can play the better.”

Brian Goorjian’s Illawarra Hawks will be looking for an improved performance against the Wildcats, after Perth comfortably beat them during the NBL Cup.

Strangely, it was the only game of the Wildcats last 10 where Bryce Cotton scored less than 20 points.

In that time, he has averaged 27.9.

Illawarra have won three of their last five, and Gleeson said you can’t underestimate a Goorjian-coached team.

“They have two guys who can shoot the ball from half court in Harvey and Jessup, they’re really good. Adel is an NBA player, and then you have Frolling who is improving every game and Ogilvy who has been around for 10 years,” he said.

“They’re super talented, without a question, they’ve done a really good job recruiting this year, and they’ve got a pretty good coach too.”

Both Perth and Illawarra have been the toughest in the NBL to score against over the past three games.

The Wildcats held Adelaide to just 57 shots last Monday night – the lowest in the competition this season, despite the 36ers shooting 58% from the field. 

Illawarra’s last the three opponents have scored 75, 69 and 69 points.

The Wildcats will be without Kevin White in Friday night’s game, with the guard returning to NSW for the birth of his second child.

Tip-off is at 6.30pm, with tickets available via Ticketek.