R15 Preview: Brisbane Bullets vs Perth Wildcats

When: 5.30pm (AEDT), Saturday 12 March, 2022

Where: Nissan Arena, Brisbane

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sports NZ


Who won last time?
Perth 83 (Cotton 29, Wagstaff 19) d Brisbane 70 (Franks 28, Patterson 17) – Round 3, RAC Arena, Perth

Rolling from their double-overtime win in the Jungle five days earlier, Brisbane bounced to a five-point quarter-time lead but that was as good as it got, thrashed 69-51 over the final 30 minutes. With Nathan Sobey held to seven points on 2/11 shooting and Bryce Cotton going off for 29 at 57 per cent the Bullets couldn’t keep up, especially while burping up 19 turnovers.


What happened last start?

Turnovers were a major issue again for Brisbane last round, but thankfully for James Duncan and Co the besieged Breakers weren’t nearly good enough to make the most of it. The Bullets blistered, shooting 55 per cent from the field and 11/20 from range, but they gave up 20 fast break points and 32 free-throw attempts, deadly if repeated against Perth.

The Wildcats made one of the season’s biggest statements on Thursday, pouring in 97 points on United as they dominated the paint, marched to the foul line and handed the defending champs a whooping on the glass. The victory put Perth within 1.5 games of first place with only two road games remaining. The minor premiership is within reach.


Who’s in form?

Jason Cadee – Talk about standing up in a time of need. Cadee’s past four games have delivered 16.8 points, 5.8 assists and just 2.3 turnovers in 33 minutes per night, shooting 57 per cent from the floor and 12/22 from range. He’s scored just 12 points in two meetings with Perth this year though, and is sure to get plenty of attention without Sobey beside him.

Mitch Norton – Talk about standing up in a time of need. Norton produced 26 points at 57 per cent against Melbourne on Thursday, dished 4 dimes and didn’t cough the ball up once. His high-IQ reads made a mockery of United’s D and will force Brisbane to give him greater respect, especially with his past seven games producing 14ppg, 4.3apg and just 1.1 miscues.


Who needs to be?

Anthony Drmic – While Brisbane’s recruiting has picked up some quality players, they’ve largely missed the mark when it comes to backcourt defenders since re-entering the competition. That leaves Drmic and Tanner Krebs with the unenviable job of trying to chase around the much-faster Cotton, who is such a key to Perth that they are 226 points better off with him on the court than on the bench in NBL22, equivalent to 13.3 points per game.

Todd Blanchfield – It’s been an up-and-down year for Vinnie, who apart from one hot night in Adelaide hasn’t scored in double-figures since January. Against Brisbane, the 'Cats need him aggressive offensively to exploit Lamar Patterson’s defence, while he needs to dig in at the other end where Lamar the Star has burned Perth for 44 points at 53 per cent in two meetings this season. Patterson lives for the big moment against the best teams.

https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets/status/1494940408623013890


Who’s statting up?

 - Against the NBL’s top three teams – Melbourne, Perth and South East Melbourne – Patterson has averaged 20ppg at 50 per cent this season. Against the rest of the league he’s averaged 15.3ppg at 42 per cent

- Brisbane are 22-6 when they reach 90 points over the past two seasons, compared to 3-23 when they don’t

 - Perth are 8-1 when they score 88 points or more in regulation this season, but 0-4 when they manage 81 or fewer

 - In the Wildcats’ past eight wins, Vic Law has averaged 20.6 points at 53 per cent and 9.9 rebounds


Who’s matching up?

Robert Franks v Vic Law – The Bullets are really hoping Franks can bury a bunch of threes on Saturday night, and there’s reason for optimism given he’s averaged a sizzling 3.3 triples at 47 per cent over the past seven games. Why do they want their big man firing from deep? Apart from the obvious points pile-up, it will keep Law’s long arm away from the glass.

Standing just 201cm, Law has answered Scott Morrison’s SOS for rebounding with a remarkable 12.8 boards in the past four contests. Impressively, he’s ripped in 4.0 o-boards per night – after averaging 1.6 to start the season – and that’s fuelled his interior offence, averaging 17.8ppg from ‘ones and twos’, up from 12.7ppg over the rest of the season.

https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1498880161303134211


Who’s talking the talk?

When Australia stormed through a high-level field to claim an unlikely silver medal at the 2013 World University Games, there were two young point guards leading the way.

Mitch Norton would set the tone early with his defensive prowess and lightning push of the ball, then Jason Cadee would slide in and bring the offensive punch.

They were the perfect duo, and Cadee would ultimately be the hero who delivered down the stretch, including 16 final-quarter points in the stunning upset of a USA team featuring future NBA talent.

Of course, both have gone their separate ways since, but funnily enough Norton has established himself as a high-level starter, as he showed with his 26-point performance against Melbourne on Thursday, and his outstanding performance in the NBL21 playoffs.

That’s good news for Perth, because local floor generals generally deliver titles.

Just four of the past 20 NBL champions have had an import starting at the point guard position, and with three of the current top five teams fielding Aussie or New Zealand point men, that trend could well continue.

As for Cadee, true to his Uni Games role he went onto become one of the best long-term impact bench men in the NBL, taking out the Best Sixth Man Award in NBL 20.

With Nathan Sobey sidelined, however, JC has been asked to step into the first five, and he’s arguably playing the best basketball of his understated career.

https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets/status/1500771153413283846


“He’s playing really well, he’s thriving on that starting position,” Norton said ahead of the pair’s match-up on Saturday.

“I think he’s running the team pretty well as well, so it’s another challenge for us. Again it’s not going to be one guy defending him, it’s going to be a team effort.”

Team is what Cadee is all about, and coach Duncan knows his point guard is a big part in the Bullets staying competitive without Sobey, downing Adelaide and New Zealand while running Sydney, Melbourne and the Phoenix to the wire.

“IQ off the charts,” Duncan said when asked about Cadee’s performances.

“I don’t like saying it in front of him but he has a complete understanding for the game, he understands how important he is for our group.

“He’s playing both sides of the ball which is really impressive, and he’s just leading, it’s great to see him in this environment and this rhythm right now.”

His battle with Norton will be brilliant to watch. Where Perth’s defensive specialist would usually be deployed on Sobey, he will now be in Cadee’s shorts.

At the other end, his high-IQ play feeding off Bryce Cotton and Vic Law will make sure JC can’t roam too far for steals and to give help.

https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1501864435660750854


“They're great players, they draw a lot of attention for all the right reasons and they're willing passers,” Norton said of ‘Vice’ afterward his 26-point outburst against Melbourne.

“They're fantastic teammates, they put the team first, they put guys in situations where they’ve got to step up and I was able to take advantage of that.”

Cadee knows he has to keep finding ways to get his role players involved so the undermanned Bullets can go from competitive to regularly hitting the winners list.

“We've been through a period with Sobes, without Sobes, and when you're missing that piece it’s hard to figure out ways to win games when you get in those positions because you’re used to having him and putting the ball in him and Lamar’s hands,” Cadee said.

“We've flip-flopped between him, but our last few games without him we've had Sydney on the ropes and should have won, we had Melbourne and South East Melbourne against the ropes and could have won.

“We've been in games now it’s about finding that little bit of an edge where we can get on top of teams and build a lead, which we did (against New Zealand).”