Hawks "threw the first punch": Wagstaff

The Wildcats’ remarkable winning run was ended by the Illawarra Hawks last week, but Perth captain Jesse Wagstaff believes his side’s sluggish start was not reflective of their intent going into the game.

The Wildcats entered the WIN Entertainment Centre as expected winners against the then cellar-dwelling Hawks, but Illawarra burst out to a 20-point quarter-time lead.

Although the Wildcats fought back through the game’s middle stanzas, a 27-17 final quarter saw Illawarra walk away with an 18-point win.

“We spoke about it before we went in, this league is so good. One through ten I think it’s closer than most people realise, every team has great basketball players – that’s why they’re here and that’s why they’re playing in the NBL,” Wagstaff said.

“They (the Hawks) really threw the first punch. It’s a cliché in sports but they got after it and they got after it early and really brought it to us – I’m not sure what the score was early on, but it wasn’t great.

“We didn’t come out of the gates strong and they did. On top of that everybody plays better at home, that’s a fact of the matter, usually, in this league as well.

“Often the scoreboard doesn’t reflect the intent, but it wasn’t a great first quarter. You get a team on a roll like that and they’re tough to stop.

“I felt we had a chance to win it, we had some good opportunities down the stretch, but credit to them they made some big shots and they got away with the win.”

Bryce Cotton was restricted to just seven points in over 35 minutes of action in the defeat. He made just one of nine field goal attempts, and didn’t hit a shot from inside the three-point line.

Rather than force up tough shots, Cotton turned distributor and ended the game with a team-high seven assists.

Despite Cotton’s low shooting volume in the game, Wagstaff says he doesn’t think last week’s loss will result in teams trying to copy how the Hawks defended his teammate.

“I don’t think there’s anything that’s been drastically changed in the last week. Bryce has been in the league for six, seven years now and I don’t think there’s any new information garnered from last week,” Wagstaff continued.

“He’s a big part of what we do, he’s a significant part of our offence and defence, and teams are going to throw a lot of energy and a lot of bodies at him to try and limit his effectiveness.

“He’s that good of a player that it’s incredibly tough to stop and I’d back Bryce in any day.

“He gets so much attention and he’s not just going to throw up shots and throw up shots, he’s not that type of player and he’s not that type of person. He always makes the good read, the right read and the smart read so if we’re wide open and make shots it makes the game a lot easier.”

Starting point guard Tai Webster missed last week’s clash due to illness, but Wagstaff expects the New Zealand international to return for Friday’s game against Tasmania.

“He trained today, he’s looking good and he’s fine and ready to go, I assume.”

Perth and Tasmania clash on Friday night at 9:30pm AEDT.