From attack to defence: Harris' rise

To earn a place in John Rillie’s shortened rotation has been tough for a number of Wildcats. An injury-struck Corey Webster has had his minutes slashed, while high-profile off-season signing David Okwera is struggling to hit the court.

That’s what makes Rillie’s reliance on development player Michael Harris all the more impressive so far this season – and the 24-year-old has altered his game to make himself a crucial depth piece of this resurgent Perth side.

Harris has played in every one of Perth’s games so far this season, and despite forging a reputation as a sharpshooter, it’s his impact on the less glamorous end of the floor that he believes has been the catalyst for his consistent court-time.

“I just try and make sure I’m ready when my number’s called. I know I probably won’t play big minutes like the other guys, but I’m ready to come in and play defence, rebound, and do the little things ... that’s what I’m getting tapped on the shoulder for,” Harris said.

“I’ve just been working on my defence. It’s something I want to take pride in and it’s something I want to do to the best of my ability every time I step onto the floor.

“I think I showed in the pre-season I can play good defence on good players, and I think John saw that and trusts me with defensive assignments. He threw me out there, I held my own and now I’ve been trusted to do that every time I step on the floor.

“When I don’t really hit many shots, but stay out on the floor for other things it’s definitely different but it’s something I’m pretty proud of, because I wasn’t known as much of a defensive guy, or a rebounding guys, it was more ‘he’s a scorer and that’s it’, so I’m pretty proud that I can be on the floor for reasons other than scoring or shooting.”

Harris spent his off-season surging to the NZNBL Grand Final, alongside Sydney centre Sam Timmins at the Otago Nuggets.

Although the Nuggets fell to Corey Webster’s Canterbury Rams in the season-decider, Harris established himself as one of the best offensive players in the competition over the course of the season.

Perth’s influence on the Nuggets extended further than just Harris and center Jack Andrew though. Wildcats assistant coach Gerard Martin was also assisting Otago head coach Brent Matehaere.

Harris has credited the consistent message from both Perth and Otago in speeding up his defensive development.

“Gerard Martin – our assistant coach. He was with me in Otago and he told me that if I want to play big minutes this year I’m going to play some defence,” Harris said.

“The process started trying to really shut down the imports in that league, and he was on me every week showing me film and showing me things I should be doing on defence. He’s been a big part of my growth as a player.

“Having Gerard there as someone who’s telling me what I need to be doing and what I need to be working on, that’s coming directly from the Perth Wildcats so it was good to be over there and knowing what I needed to do in the off-season, to be a better player for the Perth Wildcats.

“I can play in the NBL1 level and the NZ level as a good offensive player, but I want to be a good offensive player in the NBL as well. Hopefully that will stretch my career out as well, so I just want to be a great defensive player, a great offensive player, a great player all around.

“I just need to put them both together at this point. It was offence last year and defence this year – if I start hitting shots I’ll be pretty happy with that.”