Wildcats focused on defence, not ladder position

Finishing top-of-the-ladder isn’t on the minds of the Perth Wildcats as it heads into its penultimate regular season game against the Illawarra Hawks on Tuesday.

If the reigning champions win their two remaining games, they will finish first in the standings.

But captain Jesse Wagstaff said it’s not a concern going into Tuesday’s game in Wollongong.

“We haven’t even considered it, to be honest,” said Wagstaff.

“Trevor’s great about, whenever we have a double or triple, or however many games we play we’re always focused on the next one. That’s Illawarra, we haven’t even spoken about Melbourne.

“I’m sure after we finish on Tuesday night, we’ll get stuck into the next one, but right now, its straight Illawarra.”

Wagstaff said it will be all about defence when his team meet the sharp-shooting Hawks.

“We hang our hat on defence, regardless of who we play, they’re very offensively talented, well-coached as well, but we hang our hat on defence,” he said.

“It’s about getting down and trying to get stops, because at the end of the day, that’s where our bread is buttered.”

Tyler Harvey leads the Hawks with 20.2 points per game, including 3.3 made triples.

His partner-in-crime beyond-the-arc is Justinian Jessup, who drains 2.0 of his own on average.

In their three games against the Wildcats this season, both those players numbers have been down, but Sam Froling has contributed 9.0 points per game.

The Hawks also recently added veteran Tim Coenraad who scored 12 points against Adelaide on Sunday.

Tip-off on Tuesday is at 5.30pm on ESPN and SBS Viceland.