Don't like the Cats chances to be honest (hope I'm wrong).

Is David Stockton playing?

Stockton is not playing, he did not travel

I don't like our chances either.
Happy to part with my cash if we can somehow conjure up a win today.

There's pretty much 0 point guards in this game.
Penney starting at the point for NZ, Wroe starting at the point for Perth.

Breakers no hope, Perth by 6+.

McKay got his big boy pants on today

Prather's mid range game is so good now

"Matt knight is the best back to the basket big man in the league."
I don't agree

Can DKD get some decent minutes today plz

Love Prather's rig

/def homo

You would know

haha yeah

Greg Hire the GOAT

Liking Brandt's aggressiveness under the ring

Rig = physique

Breakers were super value, had them in my multi but not on their own :/

This could get ugly for the Cats

Lol Gleeson being a flog as usual

Wildcats can't play defense

No Damo no us

Good old Lachie

Brought a tear to my eye more than once with one of his heartfelt speeches

Webster definitely looking more "Webster-like" tonight, but man, taking some real bad shots.

Angus with a huge and 1

Shame on Perth for boo-ing Loe; cheap move from Kernich-Drew really..not necessary. Can't just stand there whilst a guy is running back and fall over.

MVPrather

MATTHEW KNIGHT COUNTRIES

lol @ the lone Breakers fan in the croud

JJ might get sacked again after tonight's game.

Nah breh JJ is awesome

Ref wasn't even looking at the rest of the play when calling that out of bounds on NZ.

Can't get a better look than that for Kirk....

Just retire Penney

Yikes. Nice pass JJ.

LOL JJ

Great shot by Webster, but it just feels like Perth are going to score here given how this game has gone.

JJ's going to be de-activated into the Swan River after that pass.

LOL @ the Breakers fan!

Well done JJ you fucking moron

That poor Breakers fan he's going to get pummelled the second he steps outside the arena.

Love the lone Breakers fan getting sprayed by the Cats fan and smiling away.

So disappointed. Wildcats let that one slip.

Disappointing... god.

'That poor Breakers fan he's going to get pummelled the second he steps outside the arena.'

I'd back the Maori country to win that fight

Wildcats are missing Damo's defense and leadership. Wroe gets exploited too much.

That's a lucky break ers

Another great contest at Perth Arena. Wildcats were due to lose a close one! Good on that lone Breakers fan - I've been there many times before in Perth!!

Shame the ref that called the block and flop warning on Prather wasn't there last week to call the much more obvious block and flop on Knight...

'Mike go away...your drunk. Idiot'

No he's not

After much inner angst and soul searching for the last half hour.. I've realised that it's just a ga.. No wait, yep still angry about what took place at Perth Arena not long ago..

Wow would have been a heartbreaker if we had lost. Had so many chances to ice it but could not hit anything.
Thankfully WEBSTER took it to the hoop on that last play. Nice contribution from Mitchell but oh lordy....... did Mattie Knight eat him up on the block.
Vukona managed to add some backbone down the stretch otherwise Knight would have single handedly destroyed us.
We got a break when Prather fouled out,
If we can pinch another W on this trip we will still be in the mix.

McKay wasn't playing much because he's not that good. Simples. Against big physical opposition we're better off with Wagstaff and Knight out there.

There's only so many times you can "get out of gaol free." Perth had that game won so many times, and just made stupid decisions.
End of the day, we need more than two scoring options, especially when one fouls out.
And Wroe is not improving. He's not that good at point, he's no threat offensively, and he just seems to make the wrong decision at crucial times.

Would love to see a quarter where Gleeson didn't blame the refs every time his poor excuse for a game plan doesn't end as he had planned. Cats fans more pain on the way given their five game away stretch during hopman cup - no more home cooking close wins

I HATE losing to the Breakers

I love a good close game and all but my nerves are getting a battering this year. So many thrillers. Perth should of won that game, they really need Kenny back ASAP. Wonder if the benching of McKay is a sign he might be out the door in favour of a PG.

Can redhage just retire!! Useless to us and why have him on the court at the end instead of dexter?

Nz, to good, lost one we should have won. not smart enough. no point guard, understand Nz didn't have one, you got two class player's to cover.

Would Knight make it into the 10 best Wildcats of all time?

I think he would go close

Perth FINALLY lost a close one.


http://giphy.com/gifs/l2Jhy7uPLObi1jCPm

(Every non Perth fan right now).

Knight is a beast. Props to Vukona for slowing him down at the end, it's ok to not like him but it's not ok to not respect Mika, what a legend of the game.

But look at the bigs in the comp this year, it's pretty slim pickings. Is Knight the pick of the bunch? Right now I say yes. I thought he belonged in the NBL 5 last year ahead of Kickert and think he'll be robbed again if he's not this year.

Top game. Still not quite sure how the hell we managed to claw ourselves into a winning position, especially once Prather fouled out. Vintage Lachy certainly helped though. If that was a road game, forget it.

Matty Knight ... what a champ that man is. I could do with a little less diving at random loose balls by a guy with busted shoulders and multiple head knocks but he was just in total compete mode today and so nearly dragged us over the line. SMH @ that ending :/

I will add one thing. Prather was unlucky to pick up his 4th. That was a clear elbow by Penney that went unseen. The ref would have had to be in the blind corner though to see it. When I first saw it I thought that was a flop. The replay though clearly showed the elbow lead by Penney.

How did Webster not get called for an Offensive foul on his last drive? He ran in to so many arms and legs and bodies they must've been able to find a charge in there somewhere.

Shoulda put McKay in there.. he woulda smacked the shit away while it was bouncing..

Why do our guys persist with attempting allyoop plays?
Since the start of the season, they have attempted several, and at most 1 or 2 have come off. Last night they tried it about 3 or 4 times, and didn't even get close.

At this point, even hardcore optimists amongst the Perth faithful must be getting worried that the long standing streak of playoff appearances is coming to an end.

Not really. This team knows how to win, despite what Jaron Johnson would have you think. Once Kenny returns, things will be fine.

You think?

They've only played 3 away games to date. They're 5-3, and the wins over NZ, Melbourne, and Adelaide all went down to the last play of the game, and they beat Cairns in OT.

So of 5 super close games, they've won 4 and lost 1. 8 games, and only one win that you would call convincing- at homeagainst Illawarra, a team who have been awful this season- and have copped beatings almost every time they've played someone with more than half their team in uniform.

And you mention Kenny, don't forget NZ were missing a point guard yesterday themselves. David Stockton is no slouch. There are no easy wins in this comp, and without Damian Martin Perth will find it difficult.

Two of their three losses, (and the second half of the Sixers win) they were without an NBL standard point guard. I'll at least give them a chance to get Kenny back before writing them off.

No doubt missing Martin hurts but missing a true point guard is the real issue here.

Oh and another thing- they havent even played Sydney yet. So of their remaining 20 games, 12 of them will be away from Perth Arena and 4 of them will be against Sydney. And 3 vs Melbourne United, probably by that stage a Melbourne United with Casper Ware settled in, and a healthy Goulding.

Thursday can't come quick enough for JJ..

Better score 40 and break Lischs ankles.

Pretty sure the average Perth fan is still a lot happier than your average MU fan!

I'm definitely not confident of making the 4 at this point, but I'm pretty happy with the way the team has played so far under the circumstances.
Martin's injury could well be the difference in making or missing the playoffs. It's an unfortunate injury to a key player, but that's just sport sometimes.

Serious test coming up now with Sydney twice this round. If we can steal one of them I'd be stoked, but also surprised.

I started following the Cats in year one of their streak. I guess I'm the biggest bandwagon supporter out there.

Kenny's not going to play 40 minutes when he does come back. We need in import point guard, or we're going to continue to exist in this bizarre universe where the Cubs are World Series Champions, the Bulldogs are AFL Premiers, and Donald Trump is US President.

The plays we ran at the end of regulation and the end of OT were awful. We had an isolation for the worst ball-handler in NBL history and a contested half-court shot.

Johnson shouldn't have even been on the floor, much less playing the point, but the alternatives were Bragg or Hussey.

Worried about Sydney.....the team that just dropped 2 out of 3 games? Oh wait it is Sydney then daylight isn't it?

The threat of not making the 4 is real but I think that threat is real for any team at the moment. There's not too much separating 1st and 7th right now.

Hopefully we get Kenny back for this Thursday because not having an NBL standard PG is seriously hurting Cats right now.

Well the ladder currently reads..

Sydney 7-3
Perth 5-3
NZ 5-4
Brisbane 5-4

And by the end of next weekend it could well be

Sydney 9-3
??
Perth 5-5

In which case you could actually say it's Sydney and daylight.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves- Corban Wroe might do a good enough job on Kevin Lisch to prevent that from eventuating.

Enjoying an afternoon troll, LV?

According to sources, Earvin Magic Johnson may be signed soon under the allocated Senior Citizen rule. He was spotted at the game yesterday.

See if Sydney defeat Perth twice and NZ split with Illawarra next weekend then it could be

Perth 9-3
NZ 6-5

I'd say a 2.5 win advantage, whilst still in the second month of the season would count as daylight at this stage. But again, let's see what happens. It is true that Sydney have struggled through their last 4 games. If they keep playing like they have been, then Perth could well beat them twice!

He nailed the Mannequin Challenge by the way.

Thus far, Sydney and Perth are well clear of the pack. Melbourne and Adelaide are clear in the other direction.

Perth are going to drop off significantly without Martin, even after Kenny comes back.

Thus far Sydney is ahead of the pack.

I would put Cairns second, to date.

Cairns have had 3 home games and 6 away. Yet stand 4-5, so you could put that as +1. Perth are 5-3 and have had 5 home, 3 away so I call that evens.

On this metric, Melbourne waaaay down on the bottom on their lonesome. But they have upside, with Ware playing this week and Goulding likely to return.

That metric is meaningless.

As of yesterday morning, Cairns were 4-4, average margin -0.75. Exactly the same as Brisbane. Illawarra 4-5, but average margin 0.4 actually puts them slightly ahead of both. Cairns will drop and Brisbane will climb after yesterday.

Sydney are way out in front, 7-3 with 5.2. Perth 5-2 with 1.9.

NZ are stronger than their record suggests; 4-4 but an average margin of 3.0. They're actually about half way between Perth/Sydney and the pack down below.

After plugging in yesterday's games:
Sydney 19-9
Perth 16-12
NZ 16-12
Brisbane 15-13

Illawarra 13-15
Cairns 12-16
Melbourne 10-18
Adelaide 9-19

"You know a team is in real deep shit when there's an eager countdown to the return of Jarrod Kenny!"

Its not saying Kenny is a superstar, although I think he is a handy backup PG, probably one of the better ones in the league.

Its saying that the team currently has NO point guard. Its the most important position in the game and there was many examples in the past game and a half where not having one really showed. Having one back is going to be an improvement, no question.

Good luck to you Koberulz, but those kinds of predictions are just futile at this point of the season

If your system allows 110 wins and 114 losses in a season then your system is badly broken

Good luck to you Koberulz, but those kinds of predictions are just futile at this point of the season

Kenny is far from a Superstar or Perth's savior but he sure did a pretty dam good job last year when Martin was out. The team with Kenny running the point is certainly a lot better than the team with a development player running the point.

#wroehastogo

Haha, my thoughts exactly! You know a team is in real deep shit when there's an eager countdown to the return of Jarrod Kenny!

A Kober, I mostly agree with what you say about an Import PG. There's clearly a lot more choice out there, than trying to find a quality Aussie not otherwise engaged. Ideally we'd get somebody who could also score, which would take a bit of pressure off.

Even with Kenny back, our backcourt rotation is Kenny, JJ, DKD, and Wroe. FMD

Problem is, who do we cut?
Logic says we cut the SG who can't play as a guard, but I just don't think we can go down that path again.
So that leaves McKay.
I gotta say I was unimpressed again yesterday.
I'd need to do a lot more analysis to confirm, but I suspect that part of his problem is that he spent the pre-season practising with Martin & Kenny. As I remarked early on, he looks good when he's getting fed.

Dazz, how does any of what you said conflict with Anon's claims that the team is currently 'in deep shit'? It seems to back that point up rather well, in fact.

So that leaves McKay.
I gotta say I was unimpressed again yesterday.

#959, either respond to something I have said telling me why you don't agree, or shut the fuck up. Saying "unfortunately you found hoops" and "everything you say is wrong" ruins the forum for everyone. You're a dickhead.

Trevor Gleeson's refusal to put him on the court probably helps there.

Gleeson's stated reason was apparently that we needed Wagstaff's three-point shooting, despite McKay being a better three-point shooter than Wagstaff is.

Cairns have missed Trice, or Jawai for the majority of their games. They have played 3 at home. Have played Sydney 3 times.

Melbourne 10-18 LOL.

What I don't get about those last 20 secs is that Perth had 0 fouls in OT. Why didn't they give up a foul before Webster got anywhere near the paint.

"Melbourne 10-18 LOL."

Melbourne 3-7 ..... LOL

What I don't get about those last 20 secs is that Perth had 0 fouls in OT. Why didn't they give up a foul before Webster got anywhere near the paint.

When JJ turned it over? Wouldn't that have given NZ the ball in their front court? That isn't smart.

Time to draw up a play, too.

"Melbourne 3-7 LOL"

Gosh how original. I wish I had your wit.

The Melbourne SEABL All Stars might be 3-7 but it will be a different ballgame once Melbourne United is playing again. I have a feeling Ware will suit DD like Holt before him.

Calling a TO before the last NZ possession also means not having one if they do score.

As opposed to the brilliant play he drafted with one second on the clock???

In all honesty, I reckon I could have given them a better one.
I mean its a bit hard to improve on "throw, catch, shoot," but I wouldn't have had Wroe inbounding, and I'd have tried to hit somebody who was actually shooting well.

Though in retrospect, perhaps I'm a bit harsh on Trev for not anticipating that the players would completely bollocks up that last 20 seconds.

But could you give them a better play starting from the backcourt baseline instead of the frontcourt throw-in line, without a timeout to draw it up?

Wroe was a completely bizarre choice to inbound. Having the center guard the inbound, in order to provide maximum pressure, is a frequently-used tactic. Entirely foreseeable.

Johnson obviously wasn't the place the inbound was supposed to go, but I have no idea what the primary shot options were. One backscreen isn't going to cut it.