Wildcats putting "action behind words"

The Perth Wildcats return home for the first time in six weeks on the back of two road wins by 59 points, and coach John Rillie won't be letting them relax to undo all that good work. 

Prior to the seven straight road games that the Wildcats have just completed either side of the New Year with RAC Arena unavailable because of the tennis, they had won just one of six games so far away from Perth in NBL25.

That meant that this stretch would potentially make or break their season, and things were delicately placed after a 32-point loss to the Illawarra Hawks. The 'Cats hit back to beat Adelaide by 24 points, New Zealand by 10, Tasmania by 32 and Brisbane by 27 to wrap things up.

The other bonus from the two wins the last three days for the Wildcats has been the successful return from a groin injury of import forward Kristian Doolittle.

He had missed the previous five games after getting injured early against the Illawarra Hawks back on December 6 in what was Perth's last home game.

"It's been great getting back after I was out for however many games it was, and it was terrible not being able to play," Doolittle said.

"I've been putting in the work behind the scenes to get back to this point and I've only been back doing basketball for real for five, six days so as I get more familiar and get my legs back in shape, everything will just fall in place.

"But right now I'm not necessarily focused on myself, I just want to win and whatever that looks like I'm willing to do."

Doolittle watched on as the Wildcats won four of five games in this road stretch without him, and was finally a part of their wins over the JackJumpers and Bullets. 

He feels the key has been the 'Cats players now actually going out and carrying out what they say they want to do.

"It's about putting action behind words. It's one thing to say that you want to win and it's another thing to get out there and do it," Doolittle said.

"Not everybody can do that and I feel like it's been the main reason why we've been able to turn it around and go on this nice win streak. 

"But it's something that has to happen and if you're serious about winning the championship which we are, those are the things that count and we've been doing them."

Perth returns home to host the 36ers with six road victories coming at an average of 23 points, but it's the improved defence, rebounding and effort areas that has most impressed Rillie.

Bryce Cotton has continued his MVP level form to average 37.2 points and 6.5 assists over those wins while Dylan Windler has been outstanding with Keanu Pinder finding his groove again.

However, for Rillie the key has come in their ability to place more importance in the possession game. That's been clearly evident against Tasmania on Sunday and Brisbane on Wednesday.

Against the JackJumpers, the 'Cats won the rebound count by eight, scored 18 points from Tasmania's 13 turnovers, got to the foul line 26 times while having 23 fast break points, and limited their opponents to 34 per cent shooting.

Then against the Bullets, the Wildcats forced them into 20 turnovers and scored 32 points off those, they had 15 offensive boards for 14 second-chance points, and again got to the line 28 times, and had another 15 fastbreak points.

While Rillie likes the improvements, he knows they can't just let being back home do the work the rest of the way as they chase down a top two spot.

"It's coming along and we'll get tested again Friday night when we return home against Adelaide, but I've been patient with this team with the way we're heading but I am nervous that we may relax and that's been addressed," Rillie said.

"Our mentality at both ends of the floor with the way we're playing, we're respecting the possession game for what it is.

"As we get everyone back healthy and we find a nice synergy amongst the group, all I talk about and all we preach is the way we're playing.

"If we're dialled in and doing the right things, things take care of themselves and we're in a nice groove with that. But we can continue to build and get better on that."