Cotton: "It felt like an eternity"

Bryce Cotton returned from a nasty rib injury in a way only the four-time MVP could, with 33 points for the Perth Wildcats on Friday night.

As is Cotton's way, he told coach John Rillie to be thrown right in the deep end. He didn't want to be eased back in.

After suffering the injury back on October 19 in New Zealand, Cotton was left virtually bedridden for two weeks, but gradually built himself back up to being ready to return against the South East Melbourne Phoenix in a must-win clash.

Not only did he start, but he starred in the 97-84 win ,with 33 points in 32 minutes on the back of shooting 4/9 from three-point range and 13/14 at the foul line.

He scored 16 of those points in a 40-point second quarter from the Wildcats.

"Me and JR had a talk and I told him based off when I started to have some practices that I was going to see how I felt, and if I felt I was good enough to play then he had to throw me in the fire with no minutes restrictions," Cotton said post-game.

"If I'm ready, I'm ready and we have that trust with each other, and he let me rock out and if I was going to be out there, there was going to be no hesitating."

Even going back to Cotton's college career at Providence, he became renowned for having a single focus on basketball, and everything else either had to take a backseat or be put off completely.

That mindset of pushing himself to the limit took him to the NBA and now ever since arriving in Perth, has seen him become of the NBL's best ever players with four MVP's and three championships to show for it.

"It felt good to just be back out there. It's been a month and it's felt like an eternity, but seeing how well the guys have played these past few weeks that I've been out, it was great to know that we still have that fight in us," he added.

"It just felt so good to be out there on the floor. For me I live, sleep and breathe basketball, and being out those four weeks all I have is just my thoughts, especially those first couple of weeks when I was basically bedridden.

"My gratitude is at an all-time high just being out there on the floor, and playing well is a bonus, but I'm super happy just to be back out there."

The Wildcats stayed in sixth place on the NBL standings and take on the Brisbane Bullets in enemy territory on Sunday.