Rillie Explains Travers’ Benching

With 15 points and 10 rebounds, Luke Travers played one of his best games of the season against Brisbane on Tuesday night. He even went four-of-four from range. 

But the question had to be asked … where was the emerging star during overtime? 

As the Perth Wildcats fell to a four-point loss, Travers warmed the bench.

On Thursday, coach John Rillie explained the decision. 

“I rolled with five guys and got us back in the game. I trusted them,” he said.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">4/4 from deep for LT tonight. ?<br><br>? Watch live on ESPN via Kayo &amp; Foxtel <a href="https://t.co/ki9FR6bzuZ">pic.twitter.com/ki9FR6bzuZ</a></p>&mdash; Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1607680227194601472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

That lineup of Bryce Cotton, TaShawn Thomas, Corey Webster, Todd Blanchfield and Mitch Norton is generally strong, experienced, and cool in the crisis. 

Ultimately, the Wildcats fell short on this occasion, but Rillie says it could have gone either way. 

“When I re-watched the film, you play those games with yourself — what could I have done different? Luke Travers was doing a good job on (Nathan) Sobey so for sure that is something I have reflected on. If we re-play that game, I probably put him back in the game,” he admitted. 

“They’re the decisions you’ve got to make in the blink of an eye. In the game before against Cairns, I played Michael Harris and he rewards me with playing well, so he gets to play.

“The nature that I coach, I’m going to reward guys that have done a good job. Those guys did a phenomenal job for three-and-a-half minutes to get us back in the game. I felt like our matchups were good.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Coach Rillie discusses what went wrong in tonight’s loss to Brisbane. <br><br>Full presser: <a href="https://t.co/ugX9WvEdqw">https://t.co/ugX9WvEdqw</a> <a href="https://t.co/ctTVr8lUy2">pic.twitter.com/ctTVr8lUy2</a></p>&mdash; Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1607705114940407808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Rillie said suggestions Travers has a minutes restriction simply aren't true. 

“There’s very few players in the league that if they’re playing at a high level, can play for a lot of minutes. Bryce Cotton is an outlier as far as that’s concerned,” he said. 

“He’s (Travers) not restricted in any way. When he plays at the level where he can impact the game consistently, in that mid-20s is a good spot. 

“When he’s rebounding, pushing the ball and being aggressive on offence, that takes a lot of energy to consistently play that way.”

Free throws also proved costly against the Bullets. The Wildcats uncharacteristically missed 18 shots from the stripe, going at just 55 per cent. 

But Rillie isn’t concerned.

“Why would I address something when guys are all-time greats at it at NBL level? We all have a bad day,” he added.

Perth had won four games straight before the loss to Brisbane, and will be desperate to bounce back quickly, currently sitting in seventh position on the standings. 

The Wildcats take on the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday night in enemy territory, with tip-off from 5.30pm AEDT and live on ESPN via Kayo and Foxtel.