Preview: Perth vs Cairns - Round 8, NBL24

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Can the Wildcats continue their run of form in front of the Red Army and make it four straight wins, or will the undermanned Taipans strike first and fast to take victory from the West?

Thursday, November 16 at 9:30pm AEDT | RAC Arena

Watch: Live on ESPN via Kayo Sports - International viewership details
Box scores: Download the free NBL App

Perth’s Alexandre Sarr has been named as the number one prospect by The Athletic’s NBA Draft expert Sam Vecenie.

Sarr has also been ranked in the top three selections by both Bleacher Report and ESPN.

Derek Rucker said it’s been impossible to gauge how good the Cairns Taipans actually are given their consistent injury problems. They will however regain Patrick Miller and Bobi Klintman in Thursday’s game, which will provide a strong indication of they're tracking.

The Wildcats are gunning for their fourth straight win after losing four consecutive games earlier in the season.

Star Perth center Keanu Pinder will play his former side for the first time since departing the Taipans. He won back-to-back Most Improved awards under Adam Forde in NBL22 and NBL23.

Perth
94-76 win over New Zealand
102-95 win over Melbourne
99-88 win over Adelaide

Cairns
81-71 win over Illawarra
78-91 loss to South East Melbourne
81-91 loss to New Zealand

Alexandre Sarr
While there is still plenty to play out in the world of 2024 NBA mock drafts, having a flagship publication like The Athletic rate Alexandre Sarr as the top prospect of the latest class of hopefuls is a huge tick for the Perth Wildcats, the NBL and the Next Stars program.

After such high praise and the added eyes that will undoubtedly be on him now – can he continue to perform?

Sarr was quiet in last week’s win over New Zealand and has suffered a slight drop in minutes as John Rillie has shortened his rotation, but he’s still a crucial cog in a rapidly improving Wildcats side.

He failed to hit a shot against the Breakers, but had 17 points in the heart-stopping overtime win against Melbourne.

Those quiet games are all part of the inconsistencies that come with being such a young player, but now the pressure is on to establish himself as the top prospect in the upcoming draft.

“It’s the defence and the way he’s able to cover ground defensively. You look at the way he is – 7’1”, very mobile, very active. He’s able to defend the paint … he’s able to cover so much ground and that’s the name of the game right now in the NBA … Nic Claxton is a guy I think has a lot of comparable traits to Alex Sarr.” – NBA Draft expert Sam Vecenie on NBL Overtime.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Next Sarr is on the rise ?<br><br>Could an NBL Next Star be the first pick at the next NBA Draft?<br><br>The latest mock draft from The Athletic's <a href="https://twitter.com/Sam_Vecenie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sam_Vecenie</a> affirms that could definitely be the case ?<br><br>Read more ?? <a href="https://t.co/8wwVUCzE4s">https://t.co/8wwVUCzE4s</a> <a href="https://t.co/xoSKkMTYCE">pic.twitter.com/xoSKkMTYCE</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1724172747729969378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Akoldah Gak
After he rode the bench for the bulk of Illawarra’s bottom-placed and injury-struck campaign in NBL23, AK Gak has headed to Far North Queensland and begun to carve himself out a solid niche in Adam Forde’s bigs rotation.

Gak was one of the top performers in the squad’s NBLxNBA journey, and while he’s been used in fits and spurts so far this season he continues to offer glimpses into the quality he possesses – like when he played his old side in Round 7.

Gak played 15 minutes off the bench and ended the game with eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Tahjere McCall waxed lyrical about the young center’s impact from the bench in the post-game press conference, and given Sam Mennenga’s recent struggles in the starting unit, Gak will likely continue to be afforded opportunities to impress for the Taipans.

“I want to give props to AK. He had eight rebounds in 15 minutes and I’ve been on his case about rebounding. He’s so much better than what he’s showing and I want him to be like that every day. The way he played today made me proud and happy, so I just wanted to give him a shoutout. He played the way he should be playing.” – Tahjere McCall following the win over Illawarra.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Big fan of AK Gak’s game good hands, rebounds outside of his area uses his length well! Big time upside <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL24?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL24</a></p>— BigSauce (@alantwilliams) <a href="https://twitter.com/alantwilliams/status/1723248102101147749?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Bryce Cotton vs Tahjere McCall
Bryce Cotton took seven free throws in Perth’s win over New Zealand. He made seven.

Cotton took 14 free throws in the win over United. He made 13.

The three-time MVPs return to form has been so instant it’s almost left the Wildcats’ last three opposition teams punch-drunk when trying to defend him, and Derek Rucker pleaded with defenders across the league to stop fouling Cotton when he’s shooting threes – and made a special mention of Taipans stalwart Tahjere McCall.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bryce Cotton in his last three games: <br><br>?? 29 points, W<br>?? 24 points, W<br>?? 37 points, W<br><br>Cotton's 37-point outburst is the most points scored by a player in NBL24. <br><br>Bryce is BACK ? <a href="https://t.co/l6gbJ8abGZ">pic.twitter.com/l6gbJ8abGZ</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1723107225621954579?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

McCall is one of the toughest one-on-one defensive prospects in the league due to his desire, length and athleticism, and he and Bul Kuol are likely to split the responsibility of guarding Cotton.

Both McCall and Kuol are just as threatening on the offensive end as they are stifling on the defensive end but, as per usual, stopping Cotton holds the key to winning the game.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">50 games in the NBL ? 50 games in orange ? We’re so proud of Tahj ? <a href="https://t.co/bsEN2Hk7Yh">pic.twitter.com/bsEN2Hk7Yh</a></p>— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1723277186160087371?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Perth currently ranks first in the competition for points scored in the fourth quarter. Will the Wildcats come up clutch to take a big home win against the Taipans?