Jack Toft, where's the 36ers v Taipans preview? Haven't had a good laugh yet today.

I really hope the Hawks can come out and get some quick revenge. They were absolutely pissed about that loss, and if they shoot like they did last time they met, doubt the Cats can reproduce the same shooting. Should be a cracker, Hawks by 8.

‏@PerthWildcats
WILDCATS ALERT: Casey Prather will return to the line-up for tonight's game against Illawarra.

Nice :) thewest.com.au also reported that Damo will play a lot more minutes tonight also.

Great news for the Cats.

Wildcats $1.40, Hawks $2.95 atm.
Margin -5.5 points, Over/Under 166.5

I like the Cats at home with Prather back, but Hawks not bad value I reckon. Can get $4 on them for a 1-10 point win.

Cats have shortened to $1.35, Hawks $3.20, as I kind of expected after the Prather news filtered through.

"So you like both sides then?"
Haha, fair question. To clarify, I like the Cats to win, but in betting terms I think the value is with the Hawks. I'm definitely not touching the Cats at $1.35, but I'm very tempted by $3.20.

Yeah I changed my tips to Cats to win when I heard Prather was back in.

Looking forward to this one, big time...

Perth will be angry after the refs screwed them in Melbourne I suspect

Hawks @ $3.20 is crazy value. Winning in Perth is never easy, but Hawks are a great chance (says I as Jawai throws down his 2nd bucket of the night...).

Looks the giant (jawai) is rounding into form

stats: http://www.nbl.com.au/livestats/?matchid=139026

That's the thing about playing Perth... 2-3 zone is the obvious choice against them, but it puts you at a real disadvantage boxing them out.

Matty knight is by far the best big in the nbl at the moment.

I don't know, Kazzouh & AJ are pretty special at the moment, too. Jawai looks like he might be starting to find his form as well.

That frontcourt is downright scary when it is clicking.

You're right about kazz but knight is tough on both ends of the floor

DOLLA DOLLA BEAL!!

Are Cats fans happy now? They are getting everything in their favour from the refs this game.

Perth looking in ominus form

What a block by Lisch.

Wagstaff plays in slow motion

Yeah, agree on the Hawks jerseys. Those numbers should be red or black. Jerseys look like off-the-shelf no-brand basketball jerseys.

Great game of ball going on and some twat wants to rant about what they are wearing.

How the jerseys look on TV does actually matter.

Weeks pushed to the ground = flop warning? That's a joke

Lisch might be getting warmed up to put forward a special performance!

Is pulling someones shorts off a foul?

Jawai gets treated pretty badly by the officials

Jawai just pulled Davidsons shorts off and no call was made. He gets away with just as much as what gets called on him.

Lisch having a heck of a game

Beal is getting it going!

Hawks bench is a worry. What has happened to Larry Davidson's game? He's been awful this season.

Once Rhy Martin gets back the Hawks bench output will get better.

Great game, again, not over by a long shot at half time. Davidson is a veteran, probably shows how light on for quality bigs the Hawks are.

Rhys Vague would be the development player on the bench for the Wildcats, he will be a very good player in time and he is a big lad, played for Australia in 19's at worlds I believe...

Commentators in this game are probably equal to the best I have heard so far this season, they are knowledgeable and seem to time it well, working well together, unlike some of the officials.

How do they miss Jawai pantsing Davidson and throwing him to the ground, with his pants down to his knees?

Anyhoo, here's to another close one, maybe...

Kenny needs to shoot more, has a nice shot, but seems reluctant to take them.

jawai wow

Jawai is cool to watch. Glad he is starting to motor.

Jawai approaching 40% of Cairns Taipans-era Jawai.

What a pass by Jawai to Kenny.

Ogilvy and Redhage trading flops

Perth turning on the screws but the Hawks are not going to down without a fight.

Why the hell is Kenny so reluctant to shoot 3's. I've said this before but what a great pickup for the Cats and WTF he hasn't been picked up by NZ

Geez Hawks look spent. Not a good sign, may have to use that import spot after all.

I don't get why they are doubling Jawai on the post up. Most of his damage is coming from dishes around the basket, not post ups.

Flophage still the King. Utterly ridiculous the crap he gets away with.

Long live the King

@Roy Hobbs Your biasness undoes your credibility

Ellis and Coenraad both seem to shoot too many 3s to me.

Perth are just spanking them now

Not even sure why they bother with live stats or a website for that matter. Cannot seem to get it right year in year out.

Yup I dislike the way the Cats play, will never try say otherwise.

It is a shame as they have many skilled players, yet they tend to play the "man not ball" at times.

I would also think my "bias" is far out-weighed by the Perth posters here.

Train c'mon man, it is borderline laughable. BUT it'd stop if the refs weren't so naive to it. So cant blame him, no matter how stupid he looks.

This is getting ugly.

I'm glad I provide humour to you Kobe 24. It doesn't change the fact that the reffing in this Game has been to the Wildcats favour and by a good margin.

No, it's not their fault but the way Redhage performs is his fault. Even Robbins, a former team mate, was telling him to stop with the flopping. That says something.

Relax there champ I'm agreeing with you. Its laughable that Redhage gets away with it so often. Train is a pretty switched on poster and i was making the point to him that he must see it to a degree...

Ahhh ok gotcha Kobe24. It can be taken both ways. No harm, no foul.

Once again there's been some really bad calls both ways. To say the cats are getting it all their way is about bias also.

Roy unless its Redhage then its no harm, FLOP ;)

Nice push-off by Prather before the shot. :/

I'm not a big fan of the officiating as a whole this season. Perth have been the benefactor of lots of bad calls but you have to admit they have been robbed equally of as many. The refs need to take control of the game better as a whole

He really gets my goat, so much skill negated by so much floppery.

Oh well, back to watching the casey Prather show.

Had the moron refs not screwd perth in Melbourne they would be 5 wins and 1 loss

Had Perth not screwed themselves in the game against the Crocs they would be 5-1. United made the play that matters move on.

I agree with that Train. Personally I think they need a real concerted emphasis on protecting ball handlers, reducing the holding/grabbing off the ball and cutting down the chatter from Players and Coaches.

We all want to see an exciting, attacking Game. We all want the NBL to thrive. I think they go hand in hand.

Sadly, right now, the League has improved in MANY areas, the officiating is not one of them.

Perth kitty cats putting on a show

You live by the three, you (sometimes) die by it too. I think Melbourne is going to have a game or two this season like the Hawks have tonight.

@Roy Hobbs - we can agree on this. If they are going to call charge/blocks especially; atleast be consistent. The way I see it, you can have as many stars In the league as you want but if you don't have the officiating up to standards we we just negate that.

Yeah we definitely agree on that point Train.

Referee development/training/cohesion is a must.

So are Cats fans all good with Trev now, or does he still have to go... Cats look much better than I thought they'd be so far.

@Kobe24 here that sound? The bandwagon is rolling into town lol

Early days yet my friend but they have settled well ;) Betting agents will be clueless what to do come finals time! Surely the Hawks will have to add an import if they are legit about this thing, live by the 3 die by it i get, but they have an off night in a final and they will need to have a plan B. That got ugly real quick!

The rest of the league is wondering how they'll beat Perth if Prather and Jawai play like that, and their team hits a good clip from outside.

As for the Hawks, live by the three and die by it...

Tipping this year is a biatch. I don't think you can write off any team. Heck, Sydney could very well knock off Melbourne tomorrow. No way in hell would I pick Cats to knock off Hawks by 29 points. Did Oscar Foreman even play this game? I can't even remember him in this game.

Once Damo gets into the flow and the frontcourt clicks this Cats outfit will be very hard to stop.

Perth is on equal footing with Melbourne as favs imo.

I still think the Breakers are going to be there abouts as well.

Big win - Nate over AJ if there is a boomers spot

Well that was a disappointing 2nd half by the Hawks. They weren't flash in the 1st either frankly but they made a contest of it.
Enjoyed the Redhage-Ogilvy antics, Jawai getting pumped up, and Prather finding his groove in his first game back. Even nailed a couple of 3's I think, which was a bit shocking. (what's up with the stalled boxscore?)
Was good seeing Lisch back in Perth Arena doing his thing. Fights hard but could have used a few more mates tonight. Bevo in a suit?!?

@Train Forman was on the bench for large stretches as he got into foul trouble early.

We'll coached Gleeson. Great to have Damian Martin back. GO WILDCATS.

Second half was disappointing as a contest, but credit to Perth, they choked the life out of the Hawk's and took away some of their perceived advantages, then showed that they themselves have so many weapons.

The Hawks need another quality big man, who can score and play hard in the paint!

Here's my take on the win

http://wildcatsviews.com/2015/11/01/perth-wildcats-maul-the-illawarra-hawks/

Great to see big Nate finally finding his game (and his teammates finding him with the ball.)
And I'm starting to like what Prather can bring, especially in his first game back from injury. He can score, and importantly he has shown he can score from range. He's slotting nicely into the swingman role. With so many forwards crowding our bench, he's looking like a good alternative option in the 3.
I just hope he can continue nailing those triples.

Disappointed again in Hire & Wagstaff. After being the heroes last game against the Hawks, they have now gone MIA two games in a row. Especially disappointing considering that once the game was won, Gleeson ran the bench, and they had low-pressure opportunity to pile on some stats.

Great to see Emu Rhys Vague drain a 3 with his first minutes on court.

Loved the positive reception D'Lisch got when he was introduced. He also had a good game, especially early on.