Cotton takes responsibility for Wild decline

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

“I think this one is on me. I think I shoulder the blame.”

Three-time MVP Bryce Cotton has taken the blame for the Perth Wildcats’ underwhelming 2-4 start to the season.

Perth sits eighth on the ladder heading into Friday night’s must-win game against the Brisbane Bullets, as pressure grows on coach John Rillie and the entire club.

Cotton has been central to the struggles, shooting just 32 per cent from the field and averaging 15.2 points per game, both career lows.

There’s been some suggestion the Wildcats need to involve Cotton more in the offensive system and his teammates need to get him the ball more often, but the 31-year-old has denied those claims, saying he simply needs to play better.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PerthWildcats</a> superstar Bryce Cotton is taking ownership of the team's poor start to the <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBL</a> season. The guard is our big recruit here on 10 News First and will feature every Tuesday night | <a href="https://twitter.com/Lachy_Reid?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Lachy_Reid</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL</a> <a href="https://t.co/GLWKJehyHV">pic.twitter.com/GLWKJehyHV</a></p>— 10 News First Perth (@10NewsFirstPER) <a href="https://twitter.com/10NewsFirstPER/status/1716754460645413351?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“I think this one is on me. I think I shoulder the blame,” Cotton told Channel 10.

“I feel like our team goes as we go and considering I’ve played extremely below my standard, I think a lot of that is the reflection of our record. It’s me that needs to do the helping out.

“This is unchartered territory for us to start the season as a team and for me individually, it’s been very frustrating.

“A lot of us are figuring out how do we play to our best abilities without stepping on each other’s toes.

“It’s a learning curve but time is of the essence, so I think that learning curve should end hopefully this week, because we can’t afford to keep dropping games.”

Cotton and Perth have a chance to get back on track on Friday night against Brisbane at RAC Arena. The game will tip-off at 9:30pm AEDT live on ESPN via Kayo Sports.