R1 Preview: Perth Wildcats vs Adelaide 36ers

When: 9.30pm (AEDT), Friday 3 December 2021

Where: RAC Arena, Perth

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sport NZ


Who won last time?
Perth 76 (Norton 19, Mooney 15, Blanchfield 14) d Adelaide 68 (Johnson 13, Crocker 12, Dillon 11) - Round 19, 2021, Adelaide Entertainment Centre

With no Bryce Cotton the Wildcats needed to make this ugly and they did that to perfection, holding Adelaide to 36 per cent from the field as they forced Conner Henry’s men to take more than half their shots from the arc. While Perth didn’t get their offensive game clicking, they won points in the paint 36-20 as Mitch Norton scored 19 points from ‘ones and twos’, and their starters pulled in 15 o-boards, led by John Mooney’s six.

As for the Blitz, these teams met twice, the first a dour affair with key players missing, the second a brilliant 97-93 Adelaide win. The story of the game was a final-quarter confrontation between Wildcats veteran Kevin White and 36er Dusty Hannahs after the baby-faced import scored eight-straight points to give his team the lead. Far from being intimidated, Hannahs added another five points late to seal the win and make a statement.

Who’s new?

Matt Hodgson is a big addition in terms of stature for Perth, while Vic Law is a massive addition in terms of talent. Law’s ability to score inside and out from both forward positions will take significant pressure off Cotton, as could Michael Frazier at the two-spot, although he is unproven in a league as good as the NBL. Perhaps the most intriguing addition is new coach Scott Morrison, and how much of the vaunted ‘Wildcats DNA’ he will maintain.

No one has lifted the Dr John Raschke Trophy more than CJ Bruton, and he kicked off his NBL coaching career by guiding the 36ers to the Loggins-Bruton Cup. Adelaide’s pre-season performance highlighted their exceptional depth, with Dusty Hannahs a game-winner against the 'Cats, Mitch McCarron the undisputed floor general, Todd Withers a real scoring threat, bench trio Mojave King, Manny Malou and Filipino Kai Sotto showing impressive athleticism, and reserve guards Tad Dufelmeier and Nick Marshall both busy and effective.


Who’s in form?

Luke Travers – Anyone who watched last season’s playoffs knew the precocious Travers belonged in the NBA’s top 100 draft products, but it took a superb NBL Blitz to finally get him there this week. His 16-point, eight-rebound, three-assist, three-steal, two-block, +26 performance against the JackJumpers highlighted his all-around game, but his ability to do all the little things that makes his team better was just as impressive.

Daniel Johnson – It’s been a safe bet to tattoo DJ’s offensive game into the ‘in form’ section for many years, and after he averaged 19.6ppg at the Blitz, that’s probably not changing in #NBL22. True to form, Johnson shot 23/25 from the charity stripe in pre-season, and the question is who on Perth’s roster can guard him without fouling? Of course, that question is reversed at the other end, where he’ll be seeing plenty of Cotton coming off picks.

Who needs to be?

Matt Hodgson – 20 points, 10 turnovers, 11 fouls and -28. That was Hodgy’s return from five NBL Blitz games. Given he is the replacement for All-NBL First Team big man John Mooney, those numbers wouldn’t fill Cats fans with confidence. One pleasing sign, however, was seven offensive boards in 80 minutes. That’s the area Perth most need their new C to excel, to create extra opportunities for Cotton, Law, Frasier and Todd Blanchfield when he returns.

Todd Withers – When these teams met in Ulverstone, Withers banged in 19 points in 22 minutes, scoring strongly at the rim while also nailing 3/6 from outside. Assuming the Wildcats’ defence is its usual self at the Jungle, Adelaide will need an x-factor who can find driving lanes and create some open court scores. He’ll also likely spend his share of time defending Law, who averaged 17.8 points at the Blitz, including 24 on the Sixers.

Who’s statting up?

 - In the NBL Blitz, Perth were +49 with Travers on the floor, compared to -31 with their young gun on the bench

 - In their last four games on the Blitz, the Wildcats averaged 94.3ppg, nailing 12.8 triples at 42 per cent, but were -62 on points in the paint and gave up 97 points to the 36ers and 100 to Brisbane

 - Adelaide were +52 on points from turnovers in five Blitz games, including + 30 in two wins over the Wildcats

 - The 36ers attempts 29 more free throws than their Blitz opponents, who they outscored by 61 points on ‘ones and twos’


Who’s matching up?

Bryce Cotton v Mitch McCarron – Which one man can stop Bryce Cotton? The answer is no one. The good news for Adelaide is they have two of the league’s best backcourt defenders in McCarron and Dech, the bad news is Sunday will be missing on Friday night.

There are two key questions for coach Bruton – how much will defending Cotton take away from McCarron’s playmaking game, and how do the Sixers defend the other side of the ball-screen with schemes to protect Johnson’s lack of lateral quickness from being targeted?

Who’s talking the talk?

When most people start a new job, it takes a little bit of time to suss out what’s expected. But for new Wildcats boss Scott Morrison, the expectations from a franchise with 35-straight playoff appearances were immediately clear.

“It's pretty hard to even fathom that," Morrison said to AAP.

“To do it over basically four generations of players, if not more, it's pretty incredible. It means there's a lot of pressure to keep the streak going.”

While it’s unfathomable to the club’s latest arrival, to the returning players it’s business as usual.

“Speaking to the veterans of the team, they're used to it, and it's not something they worry too much about,” Morrison said.

“All the things that we have naturally at this level are the things that are going to help us try to keep this tradition going.”

Morrison inherits a team with exceptional ability in the perimeter positions – Bryce Cotton, Mitch Norton, Michael Frazier, Kevin White, Todd Blanchfield and versatile forwards Vic Law, Luke Travers and Jesse Wagstaff – and they certainly bombed away in pre-season.

With Norton and Blanchfield missing, there will be pressure on 20-year-old phenom Travers to continue his 2021 finals form, but new Perth GM Danny Mills – formerly Director of Scouting at the Philadelphia 76ers – has no doubt he can make a big mark.

“Luke’s an incredibly talented player,” Mills said.

“He’s bigger than I thought. I’d seen him a couple of years ago in person. Seeing him up close at practice and in games at the Blitz, he’s legit 6’8 with a big wingspan – about a 6’11 or seven-foot wingspan.”

He may need all that length against a Sixers side featuring a devastating Isaac Humphries-Daniel Johnson frontcourt, with Cam Bairstow bringing size and talent off the bench.

While Sotto and Malou will miss the season opener, expect the long and athletic Withers to slide to the four-spot when coach Bruton wants to play small ball.

Humphries shapes as a game-breaker returning from his injury-interrupted NBL21 campaign, his presence a nice surprise for Adelaide given his dominant form early last season.

“If Isaac kept up his form, he probably wouldn’t have been with us for too much longer,” 36ers GM Jeff Van Groningen said.

“Isaac was on MVP pace, and he would have been one of the best three players in the country. I don’t think he was leading the MVP race, but I think he was the best big in the league, including Jock Landale at the time.”

Injury meant ‘Ice’ didn’t get to take on the Wildcats last season, and he will be a stern test for Matt Hodgson and Majok Majok, especially with Mitch McCarron in exquisite passing form to shape as an ideal replacement for NBA Rookie of the Month Josh Giddey.

The interior is one of many questions for the 'Cats as they look to start their season strongly. Can their defence hold up with Norton on the sidelines for an extended period? Does Wagstaff have another productive campaign left in him? When will Blanchfield return? How long will it take to adjust to coach Morrison’s new schemes?

All those factors open the door for Adelaide to pinch a rare road win west of the Nullarbor, but ScoMo is having none of it.

“We’re not about excuses bluntly. We've done enough to be good enough to win,” Morrison said.

“It’s just a matter of bringing our effort, our intangibles and the stuff the Wildcats have been known for for years. If we do that, it will make up for technical mistakes throughout the court of 40 minutes.”

However, the former Boston Celtics assistant has seen enough to respect Adelaide’s versatile roster.

“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.”