R14 Preview: Adelaide 36ers vs Perth Wildcats

When: 1pm (AEDT), Sunday 6 March 2022

Where: Adelaide Entertainment Centre

Broadcast: Fox Sports; Kayo; 10 Peach; 10 Play; ESPN (delayed); Sky Sports NZ


Who won last time?
Adelaide 87 (Johnson 21, Bairstow 19, Dech 10, McCarron 10) d Perth 74 (Law 16, Cotton 12, Frazier 10) – Round 7, Adelaide Entertainment Centre

After a month on the sidelines due to COVID lay-offs, the 36ers came out ready to play and dismantled Perth in the opening half, taking a 55-34 lead after Mitch McCarron, Daniel Johnson and Cam Bairstow dominated proceedings. The Wildcats finally woke from their slumber, reducing the margin to eight late, but the damage had been done.


What happened last start?

Perth were slow starters in Tassie too, but after trailing by 10 just before quarter-time, they unleashed a 50-21 run in the next 18 minutes, their high-IQ ball-screen defence disrupting the JackJumpers’ usually meticulous execution, then at the other end they found ways to attack the rim consistently and attack the o-boards on misses. It was a classy display.

Adelaide produced a gritty display against the Phoenix, charging from 13 down late in the third to take the lead down the stretch. Unfortunately, some of the ‘rookie’ mistakes that had plagued this team earlier in the season crept back in, going 1/5 from the field in the final two minutes to waste a chance to turn Daniel Johnson’s outburst into a win.


Who’s in form?

Daniel Johnson – DJ poured in 31 points on 10/13 from the field and 4/5 from outside, playing 37 minutes and oddly getting his only rest of the game after hitting three-straight triples in the first term. While it was a welcome return to offensive form for the underrated star, he was targeted mercilessly by SEM at the defensive end and will be again on Sunday.

Vic Law – The energetic Law will be happy to do that targeting, having picked up 41 points and 22 rebounds in his past two games. Vic scored on drives, floaters, pull-ups and triples against Tassie, and got to the foul line eight times. He scored 37 in Round 1 against Adelaide, but just 16 in the rematch, so will be ready to roll-out and fire with aggression.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Vic Law is COOKING ? with a game-high 17 points! <a href="https://t.co/6WfIDNULs0">pic.twitter.com/6WfIDNULs0</a></p>&mdash; Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1498235642555564033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who needs to be?

Todd Withers – Cam Bairstow's illness from Friday night’s game has hung around, so Adelaide will be without their most important player, a big dent to their offensive rebounding. However, it does allow Todd Withers to move to power forward and defend Law, avoiding a horror mismatch with DJ, but a huge challenge for the 36ers’ import.

Michael Frazier – While he has struggled to score, that hasn’t been Perth’s issue. The key areas have been rebounding and defence, and this is where Frazier should be able to help. Yet after averaging 7.1rpg in his opening seven games, he’s totalled just 14 in the past four outings, offering little else in return, and he needs to get back to doing the simple things.


Who’s statting up?

 - During the past four games, Perth were -52 with Frazier on the court and +48 with him benched. Across his opening seven games they were +56 with him on the floor

 - Cam Bairstow is averaging 3.5 offensive rebounds per game, second best in the league. He has averaged 4.5 o-boards against Perth this season

 - Adelaide are pulling in an impressive 33 per cent of offensive boards this season, and 40 per cent in two games against the Cats. On Friday, they had grabbed five at 56 per cent before Bairstow’s injury, but only managed another five at 16 per cent without the Bear

 - Perth are 1-5 over the past three seasons when Cotton fails to make a three-pointer. He is 0/9 from deep in his past two appearances at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, resulting in a pair of defeats by a combined 28 points


Who’s matching up?

Sunday Dech v Bryce Cotton – In Round 7, Dech and Co were outstanding in their defence of Cotton, keeping the MVP to 12 points by running him off the arc with relentless discipline. Cotton was only able to fire off two three-point attempts – he averages 8.8 – and just six attempts from outside the no-charge circle, and was forced into 1/6 on those.

Dech has proven a formidable opponent when in Adelaide, holding Bryce to 11ppg at 29 per cent without a triple at the AEC, compared to 35ppg at 43 per cent with 9 treys in two away meetings as a 36er. Dech will want to bounce back from Friday’s 7-point, 1/8 night from the arc, after averaging an impressive 13.5ppg at 41 per cent the previous four games.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">?????? at both ends. ?<br><br>? - <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAu</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> <a href="https://t.co/Q0nlFiarQi">pic.twitter.com/Q0nlFiarQi</a></p>&mdash; Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1497755978481418241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s talking the talk?

You would be excused for thinking stand-in 36ers’ coach Jamie Pearlman was once bitten, twice shy, after watching Mitch Creek take his team apart on Friday night.

But in contrast, it’s simply wet his appetite for the challenge ahead of two more NBL superstars rolling into town with the Wildcats.

“Really looking forward to it, Bryce and Vic Law coming into the gym, that’s the premier organisation in the NBL for a long time now, it’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said.

“We really believe we’re going to take care of business. Definitely looking forward to the challenge.”

There’s good reason for that. While some of the external noise paints Adelaide’s season as one of doom and gloom, the on-court reality is they have made huge strides.

A team with a rookie coach who was appointed late and 10 new players – once star big man Isaac Humphries succumbed to injury early on – has progressed from struggling to execute the basics to beating Melbourne and running Sydney and SE Melbourne to the death in recent weeks.

“You would have seen that across many games this year, we have a certain resilience and fight in us, and belief that we can be a very good team, but our execution down the stretch is letting us down. It’s something we've got to continue to work on,” Pearlman said on Friday.

“Terrific fight back, terrific effort from the guys, they played with a lot of heart so full credit to them.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="lv" dir="ltr">Tad ? DJ ? Kai.<br><br>? - <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> <a href="https://t.co/ohd7ESBrm9">pic.twitter.com/ohd7ESBrm9</a></p>&mdash; Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1499684294285225986?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Unfortunately, their area of greatest strength, rebounding, let them down Friday, with Cam Bairstow laid low with illness.

They’ve dominated the glass in two meetings with Perth this season, but the Wildcats are a different proposition right now, grabbing a whopping 77 per cent of d-boards in their past three games and allowing opponents just nine second chances per night.

“I'm happy that we have shifted our mentality,” coach Scott Morrison said.

“We've put more of a priority on it, I think that’s three games in a row where we've been at least even with the opponent, if not with a little bit of an edge, so that’s a big change from how it was in the first 12 games.

“I just challenged the team to not let that slip, because our next opponent is a team that’s beat us up on the glass twice in Adelaide … so we’re going to get tested next week to find if we’ve fixed the problem or not.”

Yet while Pearlman and Co are preparing for Vice – Vic Law and Bryce Cotton – a relieved Morrison is glad he got important contributions from a range of players in Tasmania.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">LT loves a bit of air time! ?? <a href="https://t.co/gJeQ8Ehxcq">pic.twitter.com/gJeQ8Ehxcq</a></p>&mdash; Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1498223800798035969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Six Wildcats scored 8 or more points, five grabbed 5 or more boards and five dished 3 or more dimes, young gun Luke Travers epitomising that with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, and his role will be big Sunday with Matt Hodgson expected to miss.

Kevin White will also be absent, but that is compensated by the return of Mitch Norton.

“It’s nice to have a couple of guys that people consider two pf the top players in the league, that helps obviously, but that’s not enough to get it done in this league,” he said.

“You have to have a deep team, a number of guys contributing and on any given night someone else has got to step up.

“So it’s good to see LT bounce back from a rough game, good to see Hodgy put two good games together, I thought Majok played well off the bench, Kevin White stepped up in Mitch Norton’s absence, it was a good team win.”