Why Wildcats are better placed than NBL24

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

"Last year was 20 days and that becomes a bit of a mental grind."

Perth Wildcats coach John Rillie says his team is in a much better place than it was last year, as they prepare to take on Melbourne United in a best-of-three Playoff Series.

The Wildcats bowed out of the Finals against Tasmania in NBL24, despite winning game one, with Rillie using that experience to fine-tune for NBL25.

The likes of Elijah Pepper, David Okwera and Izan Almansa all played for their countries across the FIBA Break, while the wait between games has been a lot shorter off the back of a Play-In win over the Phoenix.

“It’s our purpose and intent. I think what last year taught us is how to utilise this time as a positive,” Rillie said on Tuesday.

“Last year was 20 days and that becomes a bit of a mental grind. We got to play South East and get a post-season feel under our belt. I think we can take confidence and relax the Playoff jitters.

“I like where we are at. We’ve tasted post-season play, so I think there’s advantages to having already done that. We’ve handled this break better than we did last year.”

Much has been said about the Wildcats’ underwhelming recent form against United, having won just three of the last 17 matchups between the teams, and two of the last ten.

This year’s ledger stands at 3-0 in Melbourne’s favour, but Perth was without Dylan Windler in Rounds 3 and 17 and Bryce Cotton in Round 8.

Then there’s Kristian Doolittle, who Boomers champion Andrew Bogut says is “almost as important as Bryce”.

“Kristian, BC and Windler all bring different attributes and they’re all great players in this league,” Rillie continued.

“For us to function at the highest level at both ends - we get enamoured and talk a lot about our offence, but defensively (it’s) the way we can match up with them (United).

“Windler’s versatility defensively, Doolittle just always wants to take the challenge of who is performing the best. He wants to shut those guys down. For us to have all the pieces, it is exciting for us.”

Perth goes into Thursday night on the back of a four-game winning streak, while United has won six of its last seven.

All eyes will be on the Cotton matchup with Shea Ili, with the five-time MVP held to just 19 points in two games against Melbourne this season.