No time for 'Cats to "get fat and happy"

The Perth Wildcats have become the league's road warriors, and coach John Rillie was pleased to see no signs of complacency in a thumping Sunday win - and aren't planning on having any creep in for Wednesday's clash with a wounded Brisbane Bullets. 

After the 32-point loss to the Illawarra Hawks last month, things were precariously placed this season for the Wildcats with them still having four more road games to go and having to figure things out without Kristian Doolittle.

Bryce Cotton's run of averaging 44.3 points in the previous three games also ended with a scoreless final three quarters against the Hawks, but the response has been better than even Rillie could have hoped.

The 'Cats have now beaten the Adelaide 36ers by 24 points, the New Zealand Breakers by 10 and the Tasmania JackJumpers by 32 since sitting in third place at 13-9.

They have just one more road game in this run of seven remaining against a Bullets team who could very well be without Tyrell Harrison, Josh Bannan, Deng Adel and Emmett Naar.

Rillie knows it's not the time to take anything for granted though.

"What I most liked was for us to maintain our level of play for as long as we did, it's probably the best we've done this year," Rillie said.

"Our consistency to win on the road now is what I like over these last few games. It was a very disappointing Wollongong loss so for me after that one it was about how were we going to bounce back being on the road for more games.

"We've navigated that so well but we have one more left on the road. We can't get fat and happy right now."

To win three games since that loss to the Hawks on the road by an average of 22 points says plenty about what the Wildcats are capable of this season, and there was especially a lot to like in Sunday's win in Tasmania.

Perth piled on 64 points in the first half with Cotton delivering 26 of them on his way to 32 and nine assists for the game. But it was the whole team effort not only in that match, but the last three that's pleasing Rillie.

All he is worried about now is getting his team to play the right way. That's where winning the rebound count against the JackJumpers was a good sign as was holding them to 73 points.

That's much more important than playing for percentage, playing for the Summer Shootout or anything those on the outside might focus on.

"It was certainly nice to do that but I don’t go in with that mindset. My mindset is to win the game first and foremost, and whatever that takes," Rillie said.

"You saw that when we're dialled in and we give the game the right attention for a consistent period of time that everyone gets in on the action.

"Winning the game has to always be your focus and then if you play the right way, those other things are taken care of.

"But if you start worrying about any of that, you're worrying about the wrong things and it's about if we're playing the right way. If we do that with the guys on our roster, those things will take care of themselves."

The other positive from the win in Tasmania was the successful return from a groin injury of Doolittle who had missed the previous five matches.

He played over 14 minutes, had four points and three rebounds, and Rillie has been happy with the patient approach in bringing him back at the right time just as they did with Keanu Pinder who has now been back for the last five hit outs.

"We've been very fortunate with the guys that have been on the sidelines with injury and we've been able to bring them along at a nice pace," Rillie said.

"Keanu Pinder probably about a month ago when he missed a couple of games was the same thing. Kristian now and hopefully that's Tai Webster in the near future.

"With the way we're playing, those guys have come in and embraced what the team is doing and just added another dimension to it."