I have this funny feeling its actually going to be more one sided. Im thinking the Breakers might do it too.

I hope Perth win but I think NZ will in a close one. I'm not the best tipper so you never know.

See how the home cooking is two night? If the cats don't get blown out in the 1st qtr, we will have a chance. Jackson and webster ard the key, air balls one wk, bet he will hit every three ball two night.

Always an extremely tough ask. Except last season.

I *miss* that 13/14 NZB team.

Also , Cedric Jackson has been on supersauce this season. I actually am close to expecting him to get a tripple double each games he plays currently.

You never know what's going to happen between these teams. Bot teams have got wins on their opponents home turf. Hoping this game is as big as the hype and it's not a blow out. I'm tipping NZ though. Like the cats they usually bounce back big after a loss.

^^ I think you will see the same if the cats win lol

love redhage, wants contact but doesn't get it so flops and gets the call.

they'll do anything to make sure perth win these refs

Because NZ refs are notoriously pro-Perth?

Pathetic second half performance by the Wildcats.

Redhage had the refs in his pocket early on. Thank god we have picked up the D and now Perth look half mortal. Still a ways to go but looks like we have turned the tide and will go on to hold Perth off.

Please let Tom have jinxed it, please let Tom have jinxed it... *crossed everything*

Nice home cooking to even it up!

Best team won on the night.

Perth Hawks with that second half.

@formosa,

Probably, but how would you know?

Breakers now hold 2-0 series lead. Deserved the win. Need to check record books has Perth ever had a worse half with 22pts.

After having gone into HT 12 pts up, no excuse for that. Big please explain required of Gleeson for that 3rd Q.

24 points!!!! Wtf!!! never understand how a team of pros can only score that much? Bit embarrassing!!! Still, Perth play 4qtrs, they are the team to beat. Beal needs to take over the game, bit like gibbo at times. two up now, if we do finish second, I would rather play cairns, rather than united.



Perth shat them selves and it's a bit annoying!!!

Perth need to Adelaide at home next but think they should. Cairns would be happy if Breakers lost to Melbourne. Ibekwe was in beast mode!

Blaming the refs is a cop out, the touchy fouls went both ways.
I think you'll find these factors played a much bigger part in who won & who lost.

.New Zealand had 6 blocks to Perths 0 and won the rebound count by 7.

.New Zealand had 22 assists to the Wildcats 12.

.New Zealand shot the ball at a much better % from the floor & free-throw line and the Breakers bench outscored Perths 31-9.

.New Zealand had 15 points off turnovers, the Wildcats had 10.


Cedric Jackson came out with energy and got the Breakers going defensively which lead to much better offensive rhythm and the shots started dropping in the second half.
Is Jackson & Ibekwe the best import pairing in the league?

Mika Vukona was fairly terrible tonight, luckily Vukona Mk II (Tai Wesley) picked up the slack for him.

Ibekwe and Pledger were great. Cedric rose to challenge and changed game in Q3. Never seen Abercrombie play with so little confidence before. Mika was terrible. We were lucky to climb back into this one, Perth should have shut the gate.

Breakers are too big for Perth this year. Ibekwe is a way better athlete than any of their bigs.

Perth beat themselves tonight and only have themselves to blame!!!! Perth play offence and when they do there good, they just don't do it for four qtrs.

Wow. That's all I am saying.

Breakers comeback to tame Wildcats in table-topping clash

The Breakers have celebrated Mika Vukona's 250th game in style, coming back from a 12 point deficit to defeat the Perth Wildcats 77-66 and take back the top spot on the NBL ladder.

The refs did not lose the game for the Cats.

The Wildcats lost the game for themselves.

Yep Breakers looking scary

Any Wildcats fan than that blames a ref, needs to STFU, scoring 8pts in a quarter is a disgrace, and no excuses can be made for that, certainly wasn't the refs fault we shot so poorly from the field and the foul line, blaming refs is a cop out.

Same old issue, we are either hot on offense or ice cold, there does not seem to be an in between.

I'm a cats fan and I certainly don't blame the referees. Perth played like shit plain and simple.

But oh well, have to play the season out. You never know, Gary Ervin might knee Jackson in the balls and put him out for the season with the aftermath of a torsion, throwing the race wide-open again.

This game showed how much we miss Ennis.

Offense was stagnant and now player could take over.

Daniels doesn't have the strength to finish at the ring.

Gleeson got out coached and made poor decisions.

When we came out flat in the 3rd quarter he should have burnt a time out made some changes and adjusted.

Basketball is a game of adjustments, NZ adjusted at half time and then the Wildcats never countered.

This was a problem in the bevo era - we'd get stuck on the same game plan that just didn't work.

The Wildcats were horrible at defending the pick and roll too.

The reffing here isn't the issue. If you only score 8 points in a quarter - you are going to loose.

Game plan works, it did im the 1st half, they just did'nt continue in the second

^ They did the same thing with the halves reversed over here, mind you.

Something happens between Gleeson and Jackson first by the looks of it

Thankfully, unlike that year, there is no super-dominant team like NZ was that year. The Top 4 can all knock each other over.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11373542

Trevor Gleeson was shitty Jackson put up the 3 before the final whistle.

"Ennis covered a lot of the wildcats flaws with his natural ability and that is been found out this year that's for sure."

I think Ennis was actually a guy who got most of his points finishing other people's work and effort plays, that's why he was so effective.

Really, Perth got a great start last year as teams adjusted to Ennis (just as Cairns did this year with Wilbekin), but they certainly weren't dominant once teams had their scouts figured out (9-6 to end H&A season).

It's definitely a tough year for Daniels to come in this year, a skinny player with the physicality back to 2012 and 2013 levels, but he seems to be finding his feet.

"In another subject I dont think Perth have the right squad balance. There are too many 2 men of similar roles - Beal, Ross, uu, Muo. Even Daniel plays a similar role. Hire when he comes back."

Daniels has looked better in recent games, but I gather he had a bit of a shocker against The Breakers.
I wonder if he was the right type of player for The Wildcats to pursue?
Whilst many will say that we'll not soon see another Ennis, surely if they’re looking to sign a single-season "Marquee Player" then they should be aiming for the biggest bang for their buck. Not somebody who’s going to take a year or two to develop. There’s been so much hype over the “success” of sending Ennis here for a season, that it’s hard to fathom that DD was the best they could get?

Mostly though, I think he’s just the wrong type of player. He may be tallish, but he’s skinny as a weed and against grown men he clearly prefers his outside game. At best he’s a Small Forward, but in reality he strikes me as more of a very tall two guard/swingman. Yes, he’s got height, jump, & reach, and we’ve seen him make some good blocks, but he lacks size and strength and that hurts at both ends. He seems to excel against weaker teams, where his opponents are either smaller or slower, but he struggles against the better Forwards and falls back into an outside role.

I assume that his recruitment preceded that of Ross, and they could not have forseen the injury to Hire, however I still feel that with Redage pushing into his mid 30’s another Power Forward would have been the way to go.

I suspect Perth are very keen to keep building those NBA links, getting draft picks to develop, and with that you'll get some winners, losers and in-betweens.

Given Daniels is top 5 in the league in rebounding and blocks, he isn't shaping as a loser, and if he can keep stroking the three-pointer like last round he might be a winner by the end of the season.

"Perth fans are just plain spoiled as hell if they're calling Daniels a dud. They've lost all perspective. Suddenly James Ennis is the minimum standard or something. It's pretty sickening to listen to. Way too many of today's Wildcats fans were raised with a silver spoon"

Oh Boo Hoo

Who's calling him a Dud?
In the past the Cats have built a strong foundation by getting imports to come and stay. Now, they look to fill at least one spot with the best short-contract NBA draftee they can find, and it is a little surprising that DD was apparently it.
Also, given their team structure, they look to their imports as MAJOR scoring contributors.

DD's stats are misleading, because he goes to town against weaker teams, but struggles when the game is on the line.

Lastly, as I and others have said, he appears to be the wrong type of player. Another 2/3 when what they really needed from an import was a PF.

Daniels isn't a 2-3, he's a college PF trying to learn the SF position.

Pretty sure the Wildcats weren't recruiting on personality when they hired Gleeson...they recruited for a coach that can win championships which is exactly what Gleeson has done. Being a nice guy counts for nothing in professional sport...watch any NBA coach...they're a very focused bunch and they don't give a rats arse whether you like em or not. Haven't met Gleeson but he's very well spoken in media and has a very successful track record. One thing I have heard is Bevo would turn up for training and go home right after. Gleeson is a work horse and is frst one there and last one to leave. I know who I'd rather hire.

Gleeson has won A championship, not championships Anon, big difference. He also has a bit more competition standing in his way this season compared to last years and imo Marty Clarke could have coached Perth to last years title.

"One thing I have heard is Bevo would turn up for training and go home right after."

I think you need a new source. You do realise the defensive side of what the Wildcats do now is based on the work Beveridge and Dennis did over their five seasons trying to get ahead of the league.

Paul rest assured my source is as good as it comes. I don't buy your comment at all. Gleeson had the same team 'bones', yes, however 2 new imports and accomplished what Bevo couldn't in 2 previous years. Bevo has won the same amount of Wildcats titles as Gleeson and to do that, they're both clearly great coaches. You can't win a title in professional sport without the combination of the right players and the right coach.

I'm not bagging Gleeson, I'm saying he did the smart thing and kept what was working and adjusted what wasn't.

Beveridge and Dennis spent hours upon hours working on those defensive principles, which still confound much of the league. Their principles were much more in depth to anything Gleeson had done at Townsville and Melbourne.

As it is, both those coaches won a title in their first year with Perth, the comparison of what happens after that will have to wait.

Paul,
There's no question that DD has the height and athleticism to play as a Forward in the NBL. However what he lacks is the size and strength, and perhaps consequentially, the confidence "inside."
He had another good game today, but definately playing what I think of as a "swingman" role.
Perhaps that IS what a classic SF IS?

I don't know what role he played at college. It's easy to imagine that against similarly skinny kids he could play as a PF.

I suppose it comes down to what one expects to see from the Cats. Traditionally they have tended to play with 2 (or even 3) PFs. Even now, Knight is really more a PF than a Centre, and in an NBL context Ennis was more PF than SF.
If today's game was anything to go by, the Cats are adapting to the game DD CAN play.