Wildcats expecting the unexpected from 36ers

The Perth Wildcats season begins on Friday night, when they take on the Adelaide 36ers at RAC Arena.

Wildcats coach Scott Morrison said, even though they met them twice in the pre-season, he’s expecting plenty of surprises from his first NBL opponent.

“The thing about Adelaide is, they can put three different looks out there,” he said.

“They can go really big, they can go really small and fast, we’ve seen both of those. They can also go a mix of both where they play with one big, some bigger wings and quick guards.

“So that’s the biggest challenge this week, with them having no regular season games yet, nothing really to go on. You can’t put too much on how they played in the Blitz, so we’ve prepared the best we can for whatever they might throw at us.”

Morrison identified veteran Daniel Johnson as Adelaide’s most threatening player.

“He’s a crafty player, he can get to the free throw line, and that’s a double-edged sword. He can pick and pop for threes and he can also roll to the rim and punish people inside. So he’s definitely near the top of the scouting report,” he said.

“Dusty Hannahs is a new import they have, he’s a great shooter, if he gets hot it’s going to be real hard to slow him down, so we need to make sure he doesn’t get going early on.”

Morrison also singled out Mitch McCarron, Todd Withers, Cameron Bairstow and Isaac Humphreys as key players on Adelaide’s roster.

The Perth Wildcats will be without 2021 starters Mitch Norton and Todd Blanchfield, but fans can expect to see Michael Frazier II, Jack Purchase and Jesse Wagstaff back in the lineup after missing pre-season games through minor injuries and soreness.

GAME DAY UPDATE: Michael Frazier II (leg soreness) won’t be available for tonight’s game. Development player Corey Shervill will enter the lineup.

Matt Hodgson will be a game time decision.

Remarkably, there will be up to seven Perth Wildcats making their club debut, including Frazier, Purchase, Vic Law and Matt Hodgson, as well as development players Kyle Zunic, Oliver Hayes-Brown and Mitch Clarke.

Tip-off on Friday is at 6.30pm. Tickets available here.