Wildcats ready to rebound

Perth Wildcats coach John Rillie admits his team got a reality check against Illawarra on Sunday, and must move fast to address their issues in order to become a genuine championship contender.

A 34-point loss was the Wildcats’ heaviest defeat since 2018, and a stark contrast to their 36-point win over Cairns just eight days earlier.

“December 22nd we showed that we’re not at the level consistently with the best team in the competition right now, and that’s what we’re striving for,” Rillie said.

“Illawarra gave us a very gentle reminder there’s a lot of work to do.”

Rillie pointed to the Wildcats' turnovers as defining in the result, as they conceded their highest tally since Round 2.

“We had 17 turnovers, which is uncharacteristic for us,” he said.

“The couple of games we’ve had where the score has not been favourable for us, we have a high turnover count, which really affects setting up our defence.”

The Wildcats coach also highlighted rebounding as a key area of focus for his team, particularly with bigs the quality of Montrezl Harrell, Isaac Humphries and Jarell Martin to come up against on Saturday night in Adelaide.

“They pose some of the same issues (as Illawarra) where if we can’t compete and control the rebounding category, it’s going to be a long night,” Rillie said of the 36ers.

“It’s just sheerly getting people in the fight. That was the problem … we just didn’t have enough people in the fight.

“We can’t just expect one individual to contain the likes of Harrell, Isaac Humphries, Jarell Martin.

“We have to get more numbers in the fight and battle it that way.

“The combination of turnovers and our rebounding effort are the two things, because rebounding forgives a lot of sins at the defensive end. If you shore up that, all of a sudden your defence looks a lot better.”

Perth currently sits sixth on the NBL standings with a 10-9 record, but with an incredibly tight ladder, every game is vital.

Adelaide hosts the Wildcats on Saturday night, live on ESPN from 8pm AEDT.