Rillie lauds Wildcats trust and belief

John Rillie saw his Perth Wildcats concede 67 points in the first half to open the NBL Finals, but he knew if they improved their foul discipline good things would happen and they unleashed their offensive arsenal.

The 122-105 win for the Wildcats in the Seeding Qualifier at the Perth High Performance Centre sees them advance into a Playoff series against Melbourne United, beginning after next week's FIBA international window.

What is pleasing Rillie the most right now with the way the Wildcats are going is the way their faith in one another is shining through, and the confidence and belief the team has in one another.

They do have the five-time MVP Bryce Cotton, of course, and he had another 27 points, six rebounds and four assists in the win over the Phoenix.

But the 'Cats had so many more contributors with Keanu Pinder's brilliance with 35 points and 11 rebounds, while Kristian Doolittle had 20 points, 11 boards and five assists, and Dylan Windler 13 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

The Wildcats won the rebound count 57-36 and for Rillie, that's a shining example that the team are all pulling in the right direction.

"This group has been growing and developing for a little bit of time, and it's amazing what confidence and belief in each other can do," Rillie said.

"Now Windler's disappointed that he doesn’t get a double-double because of the way those other guys are all over the glass, but if we want to keep winning we need that effort consistently.

"Rebounding forgives all sins and you find your rhythm through playing the game the right way and rebounding is just all about effort, and I'm good with guys going and pursuing the glass."

What the Wildcats also showed was just how lethal they can be by putting up a lot of points in quick time.

They already had 20 points on the board in the game's first five minutes. Then from the last three minutes of the third quarter and first five of the fourth, they put up 35 points to end up leading by 23 and winning by 17.

"With this team we're slowly starting to see the trust and belief with each other out on the floor and we saw that late in the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth with how we came out and played," Rillie said.

"They did a great job trusting each other but I think we've truly been showing that over the past month or so and what I'm most proud of with this group is their willingness to trust each other and believe in the moment."

The Wildcats did make a stunning start on Tuesday night going on a 16-0 run and leading 20-4 inside the opening five minutes.

However, by half-time the Phoenix had assumed the 67-62 lead with Rillie most concerned by the fact the Wildcats had sent their opponents to the foul line 21 times.

The fact they made 8/16 from three-point land didn’t help either with Angus Glover going for 5/6 of those, but Rillie had faith that his team's growing chemistry would shine should they show greater foul discipline.

Perth then sent South East Melbourne to the line 14 times only in the second half and also restricted them to 2/17 three-point shooting.

That's where Rillie's focus was rather than on the fact that between the two teams there were 77 free throws attempted for the game.

"We just needed to tighten up our three-point defending and we weren’t playing great offence ourselves, and had a few loose turnovers but I felt good with where we were considering how the first 20 minutes went," Rillie said.

"Then once we created the energy and the gravity in the game, guys stepped up and KP when he's on that level he just brings a different dynamic to our group."

While it was a game where the teams combined to attempt 77 free throws, Rillie felt a big part of his team sending the Phoenix to the line was poor first-half foul discipline.

"Foul discipline is a huge part of the game and we weren’t disciplined in the first half," Rillie said.

"They got rewarded by getting to the foul line but in the second half we had a better presence earlier on in the possession so we weren’t scrambling as much, and good physical defenders like KP, Doolittle and Windler walling up was better than the cat purring type defence.

"That was a subtle difference with how we approached that part of the game from the first versus the second half."

Coming into the game, Rillie knew that the Wildcats had got to the line 50 times in the last two games against the Phoenix and that there would be a good chance they'd continue getting there.

"I want us to have an aggressive attacking mindset to put the pressure on," he said.

"They fouled the second most in the competition throughout the regular season, and we got to the foul line the second most.

"Let's not get lost in the minutia of the numbers, some things work out the way they are supposed to work out."