Wagstaff wants consistency on defensive end

Perth Wildcats come into Round 9 on the back of a 82-96 point defeat at the hands of Adelaide 36ers.

Captain Jesse Wagstaff said the team’s defence could still use some work.

“Yeah, I think it was a really disappointing loss,” he said.

“Adelaide are a good side, they’re talented, they’re athletic, they’re deep.

“Not to take anything away from Adelaide, but at the same time, I don’t think we did a good job of defending that, they shot a very high clip from the paint, they shot a lot in the paint, and a lot of it was from us not doing our job.”

Wagstaff said consistency on the defensive end going forward will be key.

“We’ve shown that we can do it,” he said.

“That’s a little bit frustrating, but when we make a really good effort and mentally lock in, I think we’ve shown we can be a really, really good defensive side.

“But again, it’s that consistency and whether we’re willing to do it possession after possession.”

In his 14^th season in the league, Wagstaff said he has no issues with how many minutes he gets on the court.

“Yeah, I’m good, I’m never going to be the guy playing 35 minutes,” he said.

“For me, games are sometimes easier than practice, they’re shorter and if I only play 15 or 20 minutes, that’s cool, practice goes for two hours!

“I don’t have an expectation of minutes, I think that’s a dangerous position to be in, throughout my career my role hasn’t really changed to much, I don’t expect it to start changing too much now when I’m 36, I’ll just do what’s required.”

Perth Wildcats face Brisbane Bullets on Thursday night at Nissan Arena, tip-off 4.30pm WST.