R3 Preview: Perth Wildcats vs Brisbane Bullets

Friday, December 17, 2021

Last week's clash was an all-time classic, now Perth and Brisbane have reloaded to do it again, with Bryce Cotton, Vic Law, Nathan Sobey and Lamar Patterson ready to rumble.

When: 9.30pm (AEDT), Friday 17 December 2021

Where: RAC Arena, Perth

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sport NZ

Who won last time?
Brisbane 97 (Patterson 27, Franks 21, Sobey 19) d Perth 94 (Law 29, Cotton 19, Blanchfield 14) - 2OT, Round 2, RAC Arena, Perth

Has there ever been a better Round 2 game? Possibly not. All night the Wildcats and Brisbane traded baskets, with superstars Vic Law and Bryce Cotton going head-to-head with counterparts Lamar Patterson and Nathan Sobey in a tense struggle. Deep in double-overtime, the Bullets supporting cast delivered, with Tyrell Harrison securing the o-board, Jason Cadee making the savvy pass and Robert Franks nailing the clutch triple.

It sets up a brilliant rematch five nights later, the Wildcats welcoming import Michael Frazier for his first game in red, although centre Matt Hodgson is likely to remain sidelined. For Brisbane, sparkplug Anthony Drmic is a game-day decision while injured import guard Isaiah Moss remains is still to make his Bullets debut.

Who’s in form?

Vic Law – Three games, 80 points, 53 per cent shooting, it’s fair to say Law has fitted in quickly. He’s hit 11/23 from the arc, but is also averaging 15.7 on ‘ones and twos’. His one quieter scoring night against Cairns, he dished four dimes. This man is hard to stop.

Lamar Patterson – After a poor shooting night first up, Lamar was a star in Perth last Sunday, scoring 27 points on 6/8 three-point shooting after going 1/7 in Round 1. Patterson had 15 points and two dimes in the final quarter and overtimes to deliver the W.

Who needs to be?

Jason Cadee & Tyrell Harrison – While the stars made huge shots, this duo made important plays. Harrison was huge with 14 rebounds, including seven o-boards. Cadee shot 57 per cent and dished seven assists to two turnovers, with five of those dimes coming in the final 21 minutes. A repeat is needed to ensure Patterson and Sobey don't have to carry the full load.

Todd Blanchfield – What knee injury? Vinnie added a casual 14 points in 24 minutes on 4/5 shooting from deep upon return from surgery, allaying any fears he might not be as effective outside Trevor Gleeson’s offences. With Cotton and Law attracting so much defensive attention, the 'Cats need hot Todd being aggressive for 30 minutes this Friday.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">There's beginning to be too many likeable mullets over in the West.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> | <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/WBOxrQ5Rc2">pic.twitter.com/WBOxrQ5Rc2</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1469922612188835843?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s statting up?

- Cotton and Law are averaging a combined 48.7ppg. No other Wildcat who has played multiple games is averaging more than 8.7

- Perth starters had an average plus-minus of -9.4 on Friday, with Cotton the only starter in the positive (+7). In contrast, their bench was an average of +6.4

- The Bullets grabbed 24 offensive boards on Sunday and won the rebounding percentages 56-44. Eleven of those second chances came in the final 16 minutes of the game

- Brisbane won points in the paint 56-34, with Franks and Sobey scoring a combined 30 in the key

Who’s matching up?

Bryce Cotton v Nathan Sobey – The Law-Patterson battle is a beauty – the pair combined for 56 points – but no NBL match-up is better than Cotton v Sobey. The Bullets’ guard led a remarkable slowdown of the MVP on Sunday, forcing a woeful 5/23 shooting night.

With Mitch Norton out, Cotton spent more time guarding Sobey, which may have impacted his legs late. Yet while Sobes was held to an 8/24 shooting night, his 19-point, 12-rebound, six-assist performance, on top of his defence, was certainly a key to victory. Expect both to convert at a higher clip and hit plenty of tough ones in the return bout.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Do we think Bryce cared about his 0-11 shooting entering the fourth?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> | <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/2a0aVyYEZz">pic.twitter.com/2a0aVyYEZz</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1469941104120242179?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s talking the talk?

Brisbane knew they didn’t walk the walk in their Round 1 opener in Hobart, but they knew exactly what kind of team they wanted to be a week later in Perth.

“It was just a lot of fight and grit, that’s basically what we've been preaching this past week, we just didn’t give up,” Lamar Patterson said.

“Bryce and Vic hit tough shots, great players, but we just answered them and when it came down to it we got the stops we needed.”

The Bullets had three clear focuses heading into the Jungle, and it started with hustle.

“These guys fought and fought and fought,” coach James Duncan said.

“Our previous game against the JackJumpers they were on the floor first, throughout the whole entirety of the game, so we wanted to make sure we were diving on the floor for this exact moment so that we can control the end of the game, and the guys did an amazing job of going after it.”

Then it was the possession game.

“It’s always difficult playing against Perth here with the Red Army, but we were able to rebound the ball the way we wanted to, kept our turnovers limited, at least if we did turnover the ball they were dead ball turnovers,” Duncan said.

And finally, it was making life hard for Vic Law and Bryce Cotton at both ends of the floor.

“They're great players who are going to have the ball in their hands and take a lot of shots, the message has been always make their touches difficult and when they're shooting contest,” Duncan said.

“There are two sides of the game. They shoot the ball a lot but they have to play defence, so with our guys it was important they were playing on the defensive side of the ball as well.”

It’s no different to what most teams head into Perth with, but the Bullets executed it with intensity for the best part of 50 minutes, and walked away with the rewards.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">My goodness @ NBL, calm down with these highlights.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> | <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/wrXbRlUY3i">pic.twitter.com/wrXbRlUY3i</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1469950944880181254?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“It’s pretty much just the conditioning,” Patterson said, referring to his team’s pre-season work ethic.

“It felt like we could play all day with that level of intensity, the adrenaline was taking over. It was a great game, probably one of the best NBL games I’ve been in. Perth are a great team, it was amazing to be a part of, the way it went back and forth.”

While Brisbane were showered in glory for their outstanding performance, the reality is the game was decided by millimetres and milliseconds.

“When you lose in double overtime obviously there are 40 or 50 or infinity number of things you can point to that cost you one point,” 'Cats coach Scott Morrison said.

“I just told the team to make sure we’re all looking in the mirror instead of pointing fingers, and that starts with me making sure we do a better job this week preparing, and trying to squeeze another bucket or two out of my job.”

A key question for Morrison and crew is how do they stop Patterson? When the going got tough, nobody could prevent Lamarvellous from making big play after big play.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">LP TIME ?????? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BRISBANEBULLETS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BRISBANEBULLETS</a> <a href="https://t.co/OkBRYScr7U">pic.twitter.com/OkBRYScr7U</a></p>— Brisbane Bullets (@BrisbaneBullets) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets/status/1469945566750666757?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

While Law was outstanding offensively with 29 points at 54 per cent, his game-low -21 in a three-point contest tells the tale of the struggles to contain Patterson.

“I thought I did a poor job with my match-ups at the start of the game, let them get going early,” Morrison admitted.

The coach was open to taking responsibility, but also stepped up to shield his players after a poor rebounding display, continuing their early-season woes on the glass.

“I didn’t emphasise defensive rebounding enough, obviously that was a major, major factor in the loss, them getting 24 offensive rebounds, including three or four tip-ins late in the game,” Morrison added.

“Rebounding is more about heart and positioning and desire and I don’t think our guys lack heart or desire, but I definitely think we lacked technique and positioning at times when we had the opportunity to block somebody out instead of trying to outjump them when you’re smaller.”

While the Bullets gave a rebounding beatdown that visitors to RAC Arena are usually on the wrong end of, coach Duncan isn’t content with that going into the rematch.

“We’re not satisfied, we need to be better,” he said.

“Even though we did win the rebounding war there was a stretch where they were getting every offensive rebound and you guys have seen it many times before – offensive rebound, kick out to Bryce, wide-open three, we need to limit that.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">? OH MY GOODNESS ?<br><br>The MVP, ladies and gentleman. <a href="https://t.co/uRGBFgJKOu">pic.twitter.com/uRGBFgJKOu</a></p>— Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1469944546599440386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

And they know the best way to tame the Wildcats is to play the same methodical, composed game that allowed them to withstand onslaughts from Law, Cotton and Co last Sunday night.

“We can’t come down and take a terrible shot because they made a tough shot,” Duncan said.

“I think teams fall into that trap and I believe when we move the ball a little bit and someone’s going to find an open shot, we have a lot of talent on this team.

“If they trust the process someone is going to get an open shot and we did that for the majority of the game.”