"The fire is burning": Pinder backs Cats to claw back

If the alarm bells surrounding the Perth Wildcats weren’t ringing ahead of their Round 5 clash with Brisbane, their home defeat to an undermanned Bullets has seen to volume rise to a deafening level.

The Wildcats staggered out of the gates and were booed off court during a first quarter timeout on the wrong end of a 17-3 deficit. Although they fought back late, The Aron Baynes and Shannon Scott-less Bullets emerged from RAC Arena, with a comfortable five-point win.

The pressure has been mounting on head coach John Rillie as the Wildcats have opened their season with a 2-5 record – one of their worst in the history of the club.

“The energy looks really bad, and that’s what’s concerning to me,” Derek Rucker said on Moments that Mattered.

“We know Bryce Cotton is struggling and there have been all types of philosophies and theories why things aren’t happening from the system, to interpersonal relationships, but some of it has to come back to not only Bryce but other teammates as well.

“You have to look in the mirror and say, 'I’m not getting the job done'.

“All of a sudden they find themselves losing at home in front of the Red Army in a very embarrassing manner.”

Perth recruited heavily around the NBL over the off-season, and added established star Keanu Pinder, former Melbourne forward David Okwera and Adelaide’s Hyrum Harris to the roster ahead of NBL24.

Okwera has struggled to find time on the court following a successful NBL23 with United, while Pinder opened the new season on the comeback trail from injuries suffered while playing in Spain and the NBA Summer League in the off-season.

Pinder believes the Wildcats are primed to go on a winning run in the near future – everything just has to click into place.

“I don’t think we have to change too much,” Pinder said following the loss. “After these losses the guys have been highly motivated ... and everyone is taking this to heart. The fire is burning inside them, you can tell.

“We’ve had great weeks of practices after these losses and come game time, it hasn’t been clicking for us.

“If we keep doing the same things we’re working on with JR we’re going to explode and take off and have a five or six game win streak and fire off.

“I really believe that and the guys really believe that ... it’s going to happen.”

“This is a group I believe in,” Rillie added. “My words during the week were we’re just not playing well, and I think that showed again tonight. In our games we’re showing periods of great fight, like the fourth quarter to give ourselves a little bit of a chance.

“Our offence isn’t functioning very well right now, I think we’re doing a great job of hilding teams to scores where we can put points on the board, in saying that we’re not doing that, so that’s something we have to address and resolve pretty quickly.

“That’s sometimes what tests you, when you’re putting in the work and not getting the results you’re looking for that becomes the true test, because if you truly believe what you’re working for and the way you apply yourself to your craft that’ll come across at some stage.

“Are we losing games? Yep, we are. It can change in a heartbeat, that’s all I’ll say.”

Perth will next face Adelaide on Saturday, November 4 at RAC Arena.