Can the Cats Find Their Claws?

The Perth Wildcats are struggling to release their aggressive nature on the defensive end of the court. The question is, can the Cats find their claws again before the season is over?

The Wildcats shocked Perth fans on Thursday night as they failed to defend themselves in the mighty jungle, the RAC Arena. With an 82-96 loss to the Adelaide 36ers, Perth must tread carefully for its next three games, all of which come on the road.

Wildcats captain Jessie Wagstaff  his side is struggling with their defence as a collective as they found themselves drop to seventh on the ladder with a 5-6 record for the season.

“Basketball is a team game. You can have all the great individual defenders you want but at the end of the day it’s a team game,” Wagstaff said.

“It will always be something different.

“One possession it might be a breakdown of scout. Another one might be an O-board, another one might be a transition basket. It’s tough when it’s something different each time,” he said.

Adelaide found its groove on Thursday and ran notion that it could find its opponent defence lacking. Adelaide scored 60 points in the paint for the night - a number which Wagstaff was infuriated with.

He says offence isn't the team's issue ahead of his team's Round 9 double-header against Brisbane and New Zealand.

“Offensively, we’ve got some very talented players with guys like 'MC' and Corey (Webster). We’ll be fine offensively, it’s defensively,” he said.

“It’s like before when we were going through that little (losing) streak, it’s kind of consistency. Not necessarily in terms of them scoring, but the way we play and the sort of shots we’re living with them taking.

“We’ve shown we can do it. But it’s that consistency and whether we’re willing to do it possession after possession,” Wagstaff said.