Morrison not Spooked by Wildcats’ Finals Streak Pressure

New Perth Wildcats head coach Scott Morrison is ready for the pressure attached to the job of coaching Australia’s most successful sporting club.

The Wildcats have made 35 consecutive NBL Finals appearances, a streak that is unmatched across other professional Australian sporting leagues. Perth have also won four of the past six NBL championships and have established RAC Arena as the toughest road trip in the league.

With former Perth coach Trevor Gleeson now an assistant at the Toronto Raptors, Morrison will take the responsibility of trying to keep the Wildcats’ streak alive.

The Canadian is aware of the high expectations in Perth and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I think there's a little bit of pressure for sure, but I wouldn't trade the opportunity for any other situation,” Morrison said.

“The pressure I'm going to put on myself internally is never going to be surpassed by outside pressure. I'd much rather be in a situation where people value winning and are going to get behind you and support you.

“You want to be on a winning side and it's hard to do that without the support and, in this case, great traditions that the club is going to bring. So, although the traditions won't really help us win on November 18, I think it'll only guarantee that we get everyone's best shot when they come into Perth, or we go to their place.

“My best hope will be we get off to a good start and maybe something like that (the streak) is never in question. That's obviously the best case scenario. Worst case scenario, we break the streak, but I don't think anyone on the call here is hoping to hear that or hoping to do that, including myself.

“Anytime you have a goal in mind, and obviously our goal will be to not only make the playoffs but win the championship, I think it's best when you keep that goal in the back of your mind. It's up there where, you know what it is and you're aware of it, but you focus really on the day to day, the process that you think is going to enable you to reach that goal.

“If you start losing sight of the process, your chance of reaching the goal is minimised. My job would be not to get too caught up in that stuff and make sure that we're all focused on what it takes on a day-to-day basis to reach those goals.”

Morrison also added he is thrilled to be taking a job at a club that holds itself to such a standard of excellence.

“The chance to coach at such a prestigious club that prides itself on winning, that's going to get great support from the fans and the front office and the community and so forth…as a guy who likes challenges and wants to be competing at the highest possible levels, I can't think of a better place to jump back into head coaching,” he said.

Since 2017 Morrison has served as an assistant coach at the Boston Celtics, so pressure and expectations of winning aren’t anything new to him.

Morrison worked under former Boston coach Brad Stevens, widely considered as one of the brightest and best coaches in all of basketball.

Stevens’ poise to not let the pressure get the best of him has rubbed onto Morrison, an attribute he believes will help him deal with the aura of Perth’s finals streak.

“The biggest takeaway that I will try to bring with me to Perth is his ability to stay calm under pressure,” Morrison said.

“I've never been around a coach that can kind of stay level-headed in the most intense, pressurised situations. What I've always admired is that allows him to really access the information that he's gathered in preparation for that particular game.

“Whereas a lot of people would be…it is human nature to get worked up and to get frazzled and that causes them to kind of lose sight of what their process was going to be going into that night.

“I hope that when the first game comes and it's a tie game with six seconds left, I'll be able to grab the whiteboard and draw up a good play for the guys or figure out what our execution is going to be down the stretch and that it will not look any different than it would have been when the score was 0-0.

“I think of all the great things coach Stevens has done and continues to do, I think that's the most impressive and the one thing I will try to replicate in my own new position here.”

Morrison will be looking to grow connections with the Wildcats playing group as it is a key pillar of his coaching philosophy.

“I like to build relationships. I think relationships are the key to coaching,” he said.

“Having good communication with the guys is key to getting buy in and without buy in from the players, we're going to fight an uphill battle.

“I think we have a good group that has had success before. I'll be learning from them, as well as trying to earn their trust as the head coach and the guy who will be ultimately making a lot of those decisions in game time situations.”

The 2021/22 NBL season is scheduled to begin on November 18.