Hoops

Perth v Illawarra Fri 28 Oct: the return of JJ

Dear Damo,

Please wear these from now on.



Actually:



Thanks,
Rickdawg

What a shitty low-scoring game.
Still nice to see the NBL credit the Cats with the win.

People are heavily influenced by the result I think. If we had Martin and Kenny and win that game then maybe people say Johnson showed some good signs in there circumstances. But we lose and we need a scapegoat

How can he have played 15 average quarters when he only played 14 minutes yesterday?

On the one hand, he has played 15 average quarters and one great one.

On the other hand, I'm still not sure what his role is meant to be and I'm not sure he is either.

Well, he's played three average games and one great one. Probably not the easiest circumstances this one. Imports should really get at least five games. Thought it was interesting when the commentators said Harris had scored in single digits the past two games. This was the first time I'd seen him and I was surprised by that. Just shows unless you are at the very top level consistent dominant performances aren't easy. Prather is doing it now but it even took him half a season last year to get there

Ingram showed potential and I think we were all more than happy to give him more than 2 games (straight off the plane) to show his worth.
Apart from his brief hiatus (when he never actually left or stopped training) JJ has been around for months.
Still giving him time, but he needs to start improving.

lawsy is brain-dead

JJ scored 7pts in 14 minutes. That's actually a good scoring rate but he needs to learn how to stop fouling. Funny how Ingram scored 9 and 8 pts in around 21 minutes for each game and is deemed the answer yet everyone wants to chop JJ after putting up a better scoring rate. And no, Ingram wouldn't have stopped Harris either.

Randle should be out in front at this stage, he carries the team on his shoulders and not too many teammates be stealing votes from him either.

Prather is the early MVP for sure.

Harris and Randle not too far behind.

Wroe had some good assists I thought. That was his first game this year too. Will be better for the run.

Weird game, but I suppose the overall result went to script. Cats sloppy & weak with Martin or Kenny.

Hard not to feel a little aggrieved at the foul count, but perhaps that's just a symptom of the other guys trying a bit to hard to counter Damo's absence.

I said it before the game, and I'll say it again. Why would you start Wroe, and give him so many minutes, putting so much pressure on a DP to carry the can? I appreciate we had few recognised options, and he will benefit from the experience, but a more experienced head might have been better.

Gotta be happy with the way DKD stepped up.

Jury's still out on JJ.
Good to have him back, but he didn't exactly save our bacon tonight. The team is massively unbalanced without Damo & Kenny, so its hard to judge him too harshly, but he needs to step up soon. He may not be the best fit for the 2 spot, but he needs to be able to play it.

Jury's still out on McKay.
His problem is that he needs somebody spoon-feeding him inside, which means we need our point guards back.
Hopefully both these guys will continue to improve throughout the season (as Prather did last year.)

Wagstaff needs to migrate further along the bench.

Can't wait to get Damo back.

Harris again looked the goods. Early tip for MVP.

The Cats are loaded with money, not sure why they keep going for cut price imports?

Need to spend like Sydney are

Perth won't make top 4.. Call it now . They are shit, have zero offense, and are breaking down

Harris is fun to watch. Great finisher and I get double points as captain in my nbl dream team :P

@Train agreed. Perhaps a few years down the track.

On the flipside, if we can come off with a 5 point loss away from home taking into account poor performance, a limited Casey and missing 2 key players. I'll take that.

I worry about Johnson and what we do with him now. I know it's only one game, but surely Gleeson must be thinking about now potentially utilising DKD more at the expense of Johnsons mins

Wroe is at Kyle Adnums level.

Neither should see minutes until the blowout troll gets his wish.

Marvellous Harris was superb.

Closer than expected. Might have to downgrade my expectations for Illawarra.

Bit concerned about the Hawks. Their team game isn't clicking. They relied on Marvellous' individual brilliance to get the job done. The stats show this too- only 9 assists for the team.

@SC6017 - I think he was ok in the opening quarter....after that he went missing. But yeah I can't see him warranting minutes behind Martin and Kenny all bar blow out games. It wasn't just his offence, he just didn't stuff the stat sheet like Kenny/Martin. Matin can have a impact on the game without scoring a single point....Wroe just didn't get too that stage so totally see why you say what you do about Wroe.

And right as I post that they finally fix it

Just saw the final score on NBL.com.au
Congrats to the Cats for holding on for the 1 point win in a low scoring thriller.

Train: "- Wroe - a good backup but nowhere near ready to be a starter"

What did you see that would suggest he would even be a good back up. From what I saw he's justifiably a development player and no where near ready at all to play real minutes.

Kenny is a good back-up guard, Wroe is not.

Train: "- Wroe - a good backup but nowhere near ready to be a starter"

What did you see that would suggest he would even be a good back up. From what I saw he's justifiably a development player and no where near ready at all to play real minutes.

Kenny is a good back-up guard, Wroe is not.

Gleeson is a flog.
DD is a shit coach.

at conclusion of this game;

- DKD is a worthy investment - why were we looking for a knock down shooter overseas when we had one all along.

- Johnson's "deactivation" is totally justified - just doesn't fit this team!

- Wroe - a good backup but nowhere near ready to be a starter.

-Harris & Prather - Major contenders for MVP !!

Perth with Damo and Kenny wins this game by a handy margin. Hawks need to really look at the Holyfield guy as he just dose not bring anything especial.

Harris legit sounds like Kermit the Frog

Not too upset with that loss. Played poorly and no real ball carriers, margin hasn't been as bad as i thought it would be. Always tough to win in Wollongong.

Prather went MIA in the 2nd half,and Wagstaff missing this season all together.

But a positive is they found out Kirnich Drew can play.

LOL..
Hawks are making hard work of this easy win

There goes my bet, however I from what I saw I still don't understand how cats were paying over $3.

Regardless of Damo and Kenny being out, Cats still should have won this one.

Silly turnovers,few questionable calls, Prather in foul trouble and Wroe playing 30 mins was questionable. I would much prefer having no true. He was a clearly a liability today, lost on defence, no playmaking at all and disappointed in his lack of hustle.

On the bright side we just discovered what DKD can do.

Gleeson is the inbound play master

How's that for an inbound pass!

Stuff Johnson, give DKD his minutes. I can totally see why Perth ditched Johnson.

How long do the Wildcats persist with Wagstaff? Offering nothing this season.

Perth bad turnovers and some open looks killed them.Really Perth lost this instead of the Hawks wining.

Redhage you hog give it to Dex

Dex gon give it to ya'

Gleeson's gonna flog

Scoreboard morons gonna scoreboard morons

Cats gonna Cats

Has Gleeson ever mentioned pick and roll defence at training?

Game over

JJ fouls out

JJ fouls out in < 14 minutes :/

Dumb turnovers by perth are killing them

4 mins left and Hawks still only leads by 3. Just my feeling but Illawara's backcourt seem to sorely lack playmaking ability. Good at one on one slashing when offense break down, particularly Harris but this game exposed the Hawks' weakness. My guess is they'll probably win the game anyways, Perth will eventually succumb to not having Damo.

Also noticed that Harris' lack of height/length seems to negatively impact his style of play in NBL. He'd be a monster if he's at least 2 inches taller or longer wingspan.

Why aren't Perth starting DKD at the 2. He looks good.

Surprised to be down only 5 after all our sloppiness. We're still a rough chance if Casey can stay in the game.

Is it just me or do Perth seem always get lost defensively on simple screens and can't execute one themselves to any effect?