Preview: Perth vs Cairns - Round 19, NBL24

Friday, February 9, 2024

Can Cairns keep its post-season hopes alive, or will the Wildcats flip their own home form and prove too strong?

Saturday, February 10 at 8pm AEDT | RAC Arena

Watch: Live on ESPN via Kayo | Sky Sport in NZ - International viewership details
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Hyrum Harris believes the Wildcats need to find their “edge” again ahead of the run-in to Finals basketball. His comments have come after two consecutive home losses for Perth.

Sam Waardenburg has revealed the general “vibe” of the Taipans is confidence. A defeat to the Wildcats would all but put a line through Cairns’ post-season hopes.

Taipans import Josh Roberts has expressed his interest in extending his stay in Cairns beyond the end of NBL24. The first-year pro has averaged 3.9 points and 2.8 rebounds per game this season so far.

The Taipans are currently on the worst losing streak in the competition. Their last win came in Round 16 in the form of a buzzer-beating win over Illawarra.

Perth
89-78 loss to New Zealand
103-91 win over South East Melbourne
77-95 loss to Illawarra

Cairns
86-94 loss to Tasmania
71-88 loss to Adelaide
84-102 loss to Brisbane

Hyrum Harris
Hyrum Harris has established himself as a real barometer for the Wildcats this season, because it can’t be a coincidence that their turnaround earlier this season came in tandem with his increase in minutes, or their recent falter has come when he’s struggled to influence proceedings.

Harris played just four minutes in last week’s loss to the Breakers, but that was through no decision made by John Rillie and the Perth coaches. Harris picked up four fouls in those minutes of action, and was helpless to stop his side suffering a home defeat against last season’s runner-up.

During the week he spoke strongly about how he thinks the Wildcats needs to find their edge again, and how his team needs to figure out how to get back to rebounding strongly, pushing the pace and finding easy looks – which are exactly how Perth kickstarted its stellar run earlier this season.

He may not be the most glamourous of players on the Wildcats, but Harris is the type of player who sets an energy tone and leads by example. Perth needs to find its fire again before Finals starts, and Hyrum Harris could be the man to stoke it.

“We’re trying to find our feet again and get back to that form. We’re doing a good job at practice getting after each other and competing, so hopefully that shows on Saturday against the Taipans. I know they’re in a tough spot and they’re going to come in hungry for this win. We need to meet their aggressiveness and be better than them on that end.” – Hyrum Harris mid-week.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hyrum Harris the Driving Instructor. ?<br><br>Harris opened up to the media today about how he has been teaching Alex Sarr to drive. <br><br>Watch the full presser: <a href="https://t.co/ObntTrFB6B">https://t.co/ObntTrFB6B</a> <a href="https://t.co/dwHsVJKftf">pic.twitter.com/dwHsVJKftf</a></p>— Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1755496559008198750?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sam Waardenburg
After a stellar rookie season, Sam Waardenburg’s sophomore campaign with Cairns hasn’t quite gone to plan. He’s still been effective for the Taipans, but he hasn’t come on in the leaps and bounds that were expected of him in pre-season.

Waardenburg has been finding his feet again after an extended stint on the sidelines due to concussion, but now he’s back and fit, the Taipans need someone to step up and add another dimension to the side’s offence, outside of import duo Tahjere McCall and Patrick Miller.

Miller and McCall combined for 51 of the Taipans’ 86 points in their loss to Tasmania last week, and no other player in the side scored more than the eight Taran Armstrong and Sam Mennenga combined for.

While his shooting splits are down compared to last season, Waardenburg is still finding ways to put up almost eight attempts per game, and performances like his 22-point outing against the Kings in Round 5 and his 20 points against the Phoenix in Round 12 show defences still need to respect him.

Can Waardenburg rise as Cairns’ main man in what is a must-win game for the Taipans?

“The last month or so has been a little tough personally. With a concussion you can’t really do anything, you can’t really work out so it’s been nice this last week to just get into the gym and get a lot of shots up. The coaches have been great just being there rebounding. That helps me and it gives me a little bit of relief to be able to just get back into my safe space and get shots up. I’m feeling confident right now, and that’s the vibe of a lot of the team – confidence.” – Sam Waardenburg mid-week.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Patrick Miller with the silver service! ??<br><br>Miller finds Sam Waardenburg on the beautifully executed alley-oop. <br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL</a> live on ESPN! ? <a href="https://t.co/pEkNcCYHL0">pic.twitter.com/pEkNcCYHL0</a></p>— ESPN Australia & NZ (@ESPNAusNZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ/status/1738138307156914206?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 22, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Bryce Cotton vs Cairns’ defence
Liam Santamaria shook some trees when he hypothesised the best way to deal with Bryce Cotton as a defensive unit is to hit him with physicality on and off the ball, and make him work his hardest for any look he might receive.

Cotton has been quiet in each of Perth’s last two defeats. He scored a total of 26 points on a combined 26 attempts against Illawarra and New Zealand in rounds 17 and 18. With Cairns being notorious for its on-ball physicality, can Cotton overcome any extra attention he might be given?

The Taipans have two of the most disruptive on-ball defenders in the NBL in the form of Bul Kuol and Tahjere McCall, and if that doesn’t work, Patrick Miller, Lat Mayen and even Taran Armstrong have proven themselves to be more than capable on-ball defenders, no matter the situation.

That being said, Cotton has torched the Taipans in both meetings between Cairns and Perth this season. He scored 25 points in an eight-point win in Round 8, and 33 points in a three-point win in Round 12.

Will the Taipans adjust their defensive scheme to try and limit the impact of the MVP-elect? Will they look to the JackJumpers and Hawks for a blueprint on how to keep Cotton quiet? Or will they back their systems third-time around against the star import guard?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Stopping Bryce Cotton is an almost impossible task, but have teams figured out how to slow the <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PerthWildcats</a> superstar down??<br> <br>The three-time MVP is averaging 16 points on 28% shooting in his past three games.<br><br>Watch NBL Overtime: <a href="https://t.co/9ixQsKJ5kA">https://t.co/9ixQsKJ5kA</a> <a href="https://t.co/McMtzHdH0I">pic.twitter.com/McMtzHdH0I</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1755067934832288064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Perth has won seven of its last eight home games against Cairns with an average winning margin of almost 15 points. The only Taipans victory during this run came in Round 18 last season, where 14 points and 11 rebounds from Majok Deng led Cairns to a 13-point win.

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Majok Deng.