Tag: Perth Wildcats

Five Takeaways from NBL Grand Finals games 1 and 2

Brandon King

Written for nbl.com.au by Liam Santamaria The Grand Final Series between Perth and Melbourne is all tied up at 1-1. What have we learned so far? Rebounding on the Road With two elite defensive units going head-to-head, rebounding was always going to be a key to this series but as it turns out, it’s even more important than we thought. Why? Because so far neither team has been able to hold down their defensive glass on the road. In Perth, United grabbed four more total rebounds than the Wildcats but…

Read More

Melbourne ties Grand Finals at 1 with 92-74 victory over Perth

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au: Third quarters are proving pivotal this Grand Final Series with Melbourne United coming out of the half-time break a dominant force to bounce back and beat the Perth Wildcats 92-74 in Game 2 at Melbourne Arena on Sunday. After falling to Perth in Game 1, Melbourne dominated the rebound count and turned those extra possessions into baskets in the 18-point win in front of 10,062. The best-of-five series is now tied at 1-1. Remarkably it now means that 31 of the past 34 NBL Grand Final matches have…

Read More

Perth uses big second half to defeat Melbourne 81-71 in Grand Final Game 1

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au : The Perth Wildcats turned on the afterburners after the equal lowest-scoring first half of the season opening the second with an 11-0 run that set the tone for the 81-71 Game 1 Grand Final win over Melbourne United. RAC Arena greeted the hotly-anticipated Game 1 of the best-of-five series but it was a nervous start by both teams. They combined for a season-low 27 points in the first quarter and then an equal-low 62 in the opening half. But Perth turned a four-point half-time deficit into 13-point…

Read More

Andrew Bogut wins Andrew Gaze NBL MVP Trophy

Brandon King

Former NBA veteran, world champion Andrew Bogut capped off his successful inaugural season in the NBL by being awarded the Andrew Gaze Trophy, which is given to the Most Valuable Player. The former no. 1 overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft garnered 83 votes to beat out Melbourne United’s Caspar Ware, who finished with 77 votes and Bryce Cotton of the Perth Wildcats, with 65 votes. Bogut was not done racking up hardware and acclaim, as was also named the NBL’s Best Defensive Player as well as earning a…

Read More

Damian Martin helps save man from burning home

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au : Written for NBL.com.au by Chris Pike Just hours after sending his Perth Wildcats top of the NBL and minutes after shaking off a death threat, Damian Martin added to his remarkable reputation by saving a man along with his dog from a burning down house. Martin is in the midst of some outstanding form on the floor over the past month and his renewed offensive aggressiveness combined with getting back to full health to be firing defensively is a big reason why Perth sits on top of…

Read More

Cotton comes on late to lead Perth past Sydney

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au: The Perth Wildcats might hope for more scoreless first halves from MVP Bryce Cotton after he delivered 24 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and overtime in Sunday’s come-from-behind 95-86 win over Sydney Kings. The biggest crowd of the season, 13,520, turned out at RAC Arena to watch the Wildcats and Kings battle over finishing Round 17 in top spot, but to also move a stop closer to an all-important top two finish. Coming off Friday’s home win over Melbourne, Sydney started full of confidence having…

Read More

Perth outclasses Sydney in 88-68 beatdown

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au: The demise of the Perth Wildcats was greatly exaggerated with the league’s benchmark back to some imposing form and to the top of the NBL with a dominant 88-68 victory over the Sydney Kings on Sunday. The start of Round 14 saw the Wildcats lose on the road to Adelaide to leave them in danger of seeing their remarkable playoff streak come to an end having lost seven of the past eight games. But the response from the ‘Cats has been emphatic starting with a narrow home win…

Read More

Perth pounds Adelaide 100-81

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au: The old warhorse Damian Martin turned on a clinic as the Perth Wildcats shook off a blistering Adelaide 36ers start to continue their resurgence with a statement-making 100-81 win on Friday night at RAC Arena. The Sixers shot out of the blocks with 18 points in the game’s first four minutes with Jacob Wiley hitting 12 of them as they looked set to fire themselves back into the NBL’s top four. It wasn’t to be with the 36ers ending up scoring just 13 points in the second quarter…

Read More

Perth comes back to stun Breakers 91-86

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au: The Perth Wildcats just refuse to lose. Despite MVP Bryce Cotton joining captain Damian Martin on the sidelines and the New Zealand Breakers being in control for 35 minutes, the league-leaders pulled out a miraculous 91-86 win at RAC Arena on Sunday. The Breakers started on fire with the opening 10 points and even though they were missing their own pair of Tall Blacks Shea Ili and Finn Delany, they remained on top of the contest. New Zealand led by as much 16, were still up 11 early…

Read More

Brisbane Bullets hang to defeat Perth Wildcats 100-96

Brandon King

From nbl.com.au   The ‘Bair’ is back. While the shooters provided the entertainment, Cameron Bairstow showed the grit and grind under the hoop to lead the Brisbane Bullets to a thrilling 100-96 win over the Perth Wildcats on Thursday. His performance came after an horrific knee injury – that saw his anterior and medial ligaments torn and robbed him of any chance of playing in season 2017/18. On Thursday, the former Chicago Bull showed that is all behind him with a haul 18 points in a willing performance. Cam Gliddon…

Read More