Preview: Perth v Adelaide (Round 8)

When: 9.30pm (AEDT), Thursday 24 November, 2022
Where: RAC Arena, Perth
Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Foxtel; Sky NZ
LIVE SCORES & STATS

Who won last time?

Perth 94 (Manek 25, Webster 18, Cotton 15) d Adelaide 89 (Franks 24, Cleveland 22, Randall 13) d – Round 6 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre

Perth got their season back on track as Brady Manek, Corey Webster and TaShawn Thomas combined for 55 points to take the pressure off King Cotton, who injected himself late to deliver victory. For Adelaide, this was the last game of the Craig Randall era, the firebrand import unhappy coming off the bench and the 36ers happy to go in a different direction.

What happened last game?

The Wildcats backed that performance up with a quality win over the Phoenix at RAC Arena, breaking a three-game home losing streak on the back of their dominant 55-38 middle quarters. Adelaide rebounded from the Round 6 loss to Perth by downing Melbourne on the road and then coming within a whisker of beating the high-flying Breakers, only their wayward long-range game and a Brown-friendly backboard thwarting their efforts.

What’s working?

Stopping Bryce – While Cotton had a breakout 27-point game against Adelaide last season, in their four meetings surrounding that he’s managed just 12.5ppg at 27 per cent from the floor. In Round 5 Bryce was 5/18, and while he was influential late, the ability of Antonius Cleveland and Co to challenge with length without fouling put the 36ers in a position to win.

Frontcourt facilitators – When the ball goes through Thomas and Luke Travers’ hands, good things often happen for Perth. That pair is averaging 7.2 assists between them to sit equal second amongst NBL frontcourters, behind only Xavier Cooks. In the three wins Thomas has played in, he’s averaged 5.3 dimes and the Wildcats have averaged 94.7ppg.

What needs stopping?

Starting five bricks – The 36ers were a wayward 18/65 from deep in their past three games – just six makes per night at 28 per cent – but still managed to average 87.5ppg by going +44 in the paint. They are down on outside firepower without Randall, but given Daniel Johnson, Anthony Drmic, Mitch McCarron, Robert Franks and Cleveland were a combined 6/39 in those three contests, there is plenty of room for improvement to further open up the inside.

Robert Franks – The main beneficiary of that space will be Franks, who has averaged 21ppg in his past four outings, going 28/41 on twos and 16/20 from the foul line. He was 10/16 inside against Perth, with eight of his 10 two-point baskets coming at the cup on dump-offs, post moves and put-backs. Jesse Wagstaff had that job early on, but is his experience better suited to the crafty Daniel Johnson, while Thomas deals with the length of Franks?

Who’s matching up?

Brady Manek v Daniel Johnson – It’s fair to say Brady has gone manic from the arc, dropping 11/15 the past two games to look every bit the NCAA Tournament star he is, after going 10/37 in his opening eight games. DJ shot 44 per cent from deep over his opening six outings of NBL23, but has been 0/8 and 46 per cent from inside the past three to average just 6ppg. He loves playing in his home town though, so look out for a drought-breaker.

Todd Blanchfield v Anthony Drmic – Blanchfield is another scorer struggling to connect, notching double figures just twice this season and averaging 5.3ppg on 1/6 from deep in the past three contests. In contrast, Drmic has grabbed the chance in the first five, producing 13ppg in his four starts. While he’s just 5/22 outside in those games his penetration has been superb, delivering 12/21 inside and he’ll be going straight at Vinnie from tip-off.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">AND ONE! ?<br><br>? - <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAu</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/CduwbY3Dm3">pic.twitter.com/CduwbY3Dm3</a></p>&mdash; Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1594175259313573888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s saying what?

Was it operation successful, patient died for the Adelaide 36ers in Round 6? They did the improbable and kept Bryce Cotton to 15 points but came away with a home L.

“At the end of the day we've got team rules we stick to and shots we’re going to give up, I think we did a great job for three-and-a-half quarters,” Sunday Dech said.

“Once he sees one go in the next one you know is going up, it’s about making it tougher for him and forcing him into the paint.

“He got loose on a couple of shots but the majority of the game we did quite well and that’s what we’ll stick to.

“He was 5/18 from the field, we’ve got to take that into account and know that we did do our job, he let loose on a couple but we’ll live with it.”

All-time, Perth were 11-21 leading into that game when Cotton scored 15 or less, so Adelaide would gladly take that outcome again.

However, you can bet coach CJ Bruton will be running the team through their breakdowns that allowed attention on Cotton to become open looks for Brady Manek, Corey Webster and Co.

“The game plan’s no different, we try to stay attached to him and make him work and earn every bucket, as most teams do. He’s a hard check,” Bruton said.

“Everybody did their part, but there’s a couple of little assignments you lose because you’re thinking about team rules and things break down.”

The Wildcats were hunting for those breakdowns that night. Entering the game on a three-match losing skid, they knew they’d become too Bryce-centric and it was wearing their star down.

“What you saw from the Perth Wildcats tonight was Brady contributing, TaShawn Thomas contributing, Corey Webster (contributing), and then all (the media) go Bryce only has three points?” coach John Rillie said about the opening three quarters.

“Then he does Bryce Cotton things. I would have thought this would come a little sooner, but we’re ready to go now.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Brady Manek lighting it up in Adelaide ?<br><br>? Watch live on ESPN via Kayo &amp; Foxtel <a href="https://t.co/XkyzVMdtOa">pic.twitter.com/XkyzVMdtOa</a></p>&mdash; Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1588829809454350336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

By ready to go, Rillie means ready to play the team basketball needed to succeed against the high-level defences and scouting in the NBL.

That was sorely missing earlier in the season, but a players only meeting leading up to the Sixers clash saw the group buy in.

“Any time a team gets together it really means something,” Rillie said.

“I can do whatever I need to do as a head coach but when the players take it upon themselves that’s the making of a good team.”

The chief beneficiary was Manek. Perth’s ball movement and his off-ball movement allowed him to exploit Adelaide’s wandering bigs with a smooth stroke that had been dropping at practice, if not under the bright lights.

“People don’t see the work and the care factor, what he’s doing behind the scenes,” Rillie said.

“That’s why my confidence in him never wavered, his teammates confidence never wavered, and when he plays like this you can see it’s a great dynamic for our team to have.”

Small forward Todd Blanchfield has also been firing up bricks, and if he can translate his hours of shooting during the week into game night, then the 'Cats offence becomes very hard to stop.

“I’m the first one to say I’ve just had a little bit of a slow start,” he said.

“It’s a long season and I feel like coming into training now, we put in too much work every day for it not to turnaround.

“Hopefully going forward, I can continue to build on that and hope to contribute to more wins.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sharing the rock. <br>Dropping the hammer.<br><br>? - <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAu</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/ITG96Az5wI">pic.twitter.com/ITG96Az5wI</a></p>&mdash; Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1594184539789987840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

While they're copping plenty of negativity about their slow start, Adelaide are also continuing to build.

They are taking confidence from their win in Melbourne and impressive near-miss in Auckland, and they look a more cohesive unit at both ends sans Randall.

“We’re in high spirits as a collective unit, continuing to get better and better,” Robert Franks said.

“I think everybody sees it, everybody sees the energy shifts in the group.

“I’m not content where we are at but it’s a good place that we’re in, and we are just going to continue to grow and give each other the confidence to keep getting better.

“We have to keep going with what’s working for us on both sides of the ball.”

Like his Wildcats counterpart, coach Bruton is seeing the day-to-day work translate onto the floor as his new-look squad starts to gel, with benchmen like Kai Sotto, Kyrin Galloway and Hyrum Harris starting to make significant contributions.

“I like the fact that everyone is bringing that energy every single day, not that they weren’t before, but that has picked up,” he said.