Hoops

Casey Prather?

I'd give Casey a big pat on the back with a giant foam hand if I could.

I thought he was adequate enough and wasn't trying to be a star aka Thornton from Sydney. As the season wears on Casey will make errors and will also grow from them and take bad shots but we need to encourage him being aggressive slashing to the basket and I think we will have a much better player come finals time

"umm, just to fill you in, we don't want him to play the 3."

Oh really? So we got ourselves an import just to fill in whatever minutes were remaining from the 2 guard spots after Martin, Beal & Greenwood??


"Prather can dribble the ball without turning it over. Thats a massive improvement, not just for the player, but for the teams offence."

He also looks focussed and vaguely invested in what's happening on the court, and gives effort for more than 2 minutes per game, so that's an improvement as well.

Should add, he wasnt a great 3 point shooter in college, but went 1/3 against 36ers. That would be enough to make teams pay for doubling Jawai

www.wildcatsviews.com

He'll get better as the season goes on. With Jawai in the lineup we need to surround him with shooters. He's attracting double teams every possession. If Prather can continue to hit threes, we'll be ok. He should good defense in his first game, shut down Ebi Ere

Prather IS a good fit for the cats, Greenwood bailing hurt the structure but CP was brought in for a purpose which is his D. I know everyone thinks the cats need an Ennis type (20+ ponts per game) but what we need is what CP brings, pressure, length and boards at the 2/3. Yes the cats have Damo but if you look passed him who is the next best defender....Probably Hire which is a bit sad. The cats are set on the offensive end, points won't be hard to come by with Beal, Knight, Jawi and Redhage, Wagstaff and Jervis coming off the bench. If CP can chip in with 10 points to go with his 2 steals and and 5 rebounds I'm happy

Beal is the Real Deal,
a man-made highlight Reel,
he can shoot and Steal,
the win he can Seal,
like a cold-blooded river Eel.

I think people need to get off his back and stop hoping for the second coming of Ennis. Don't get me wrong, I loved Ennis and would have him back in a heartbeat. I just think Casey needs the chance to settle in. Ennis came in with deficiencies in his shooting- he got better. Casey had a lot of upsides despite the glaring jump shot issue. Hopefully he is a hard worker- which is what all the cats staff are saying- that the shots will start to drop. It is exciting to see a guy willing to slash to the basket and create a few highlights. Just give him time. Beal needed time and look how that turned out.

One game does not a season make, but then again he played exactly the same way as he did in the preseason games, right down to the big dunk attempt that went flying off the rim, so there's no reason to think much is going to change with him this season.
As we've been saying all along about him, Greenwood's departure makes him no longer an ideal fit position-wise, but hopefully we can still make it work. I like his energy & athleticism, and think we need that. Can't shoot for shit, but that seems to almost be a requirement to be a Cats guard these days. Between him, Damo & Kenny we must have one of the worst perimeter shooting backcourts ever.
Stay healthy, Beal!!