Wildcats address “disastrous” area

Friday, August 2, 2024

"We were disastrous at that last year, so that's something we want to influence from day one and try to impact a little better."

John Rillie hasn’t minced his words when describing the rebounding efforts of his Perth Wildcats last season.

"Rebounding - we were disastrous at that last year, so that's something we want to influence from day one and try to impact a little better," Rillie said.

It is a justified thought.

The Wildcats had a -2.3 rebounding differential last season, eighth in the competition, while they ranked in that same spot for rebounding percentage.

It continued a trend for Perth, as it also finished last in the NBL for rebounding the campaign prior.

Rillie has quickly and firmly identified rebounding as a key growth department this preseason, and has wasted no time addressing it.

A cohort of younger Wildcats have hit the training court this week, including Elijah Pepper, Ben Henshall, David Okwera and Dontae Russo-Nance, with senior players not due back until later this month.

Along with rebounding, Rillie has put an emphasis on defence, saying “we'll try to change some of our concepts and rules that we've had the first couple of years”.

Perth’s season begins on September 20 against the South East Melbourne Phoenix at HoopsFest.