Hoops

Wildcats' 3-Point shooting?

The difference between Cairns and NZ games was the Taipans and NZ players didn't think twice about shooting the 3 and were in good motion, ala Penney.

Everyone on the Wildcats gets the ball and puts up a fake then passes it to unsuspecting teammate who doesn't know what to do next.

The offense is so bad atm. I would happy for them to let Cotton take over ala Randle full game and be content even if he misses a lot until he gets going. Need a volume scorer and guys who can rebound.

McKay and Cotton need more playing time together.

I would probably run McKay, Cotton, DKD together more often.

Then Brandt, Prather combos out there.

Man... guys are passing up too many opportunities with shit fakes then it ruins the rest of the shot clock time.

TimberBall - Hire can hit? You mean a jumpshot? I haven't seen much proof of this the last 5 years.

Anon, the issue isn't with our plays not creating enough space for shooters, it's that our shooters need time to set. We don't have players that can catch and shoot in rhythm, as dkd improves and earns more minutes I think we should get some improvement in this area.

Agree with a number of posts here.
DKD is a good shooter but comes on for one play and is benched so can never get an eye in.

Redhage can knock one down but seems to only come on to foul.

Hire can hit but is only allowed to rebound.

Cotton would be our best threat, but the game plan is Prather gets all the offence for the first 6min, then we go inside, the Jesse comes on and he chucks for 2 min, then we repeat. Cotton gets the green light in the 4th only. It's the same script every game.

Anon further up said it, Gleeson should look at Adel and Randle, if Prather drove and dished a few times it would open up the floor...But Gleeson is a flog

Perth wilburs always starting ridiculous rumors, I haven't seen one of your rumors eventuate into anything.

Cotton is a smoking gun.... He will wind up in a game.

Wish he winds up quicker, like his first game.

Knight is statistically our best 3-point shooter, but that's because he's only taken 4 shots.

DKD is a good outside shooter, but at the moment he's a bit too much of a one-trick pony to get serious minutes.

As for a "Goulding" type rumour, what concerns me is whether Perth are ven particularly focussed on the issue?? Yes, we changed out a few players, but the others seem to have gone backwards.

I am really hoping that Cotton's accuracy settles down. He's been a great addition, but at the moment doesn't look like helping our 3-point accuracy. I think part of that can be attributed to what afflicted Beal. Too often when they have been unable to penetrate, and the SC is winding down, it becomes "get it to the Import" so he can throw up a last second 3-point prayer.

Knight hasn't played with the same intensity as he has in previous years. Not sure if his heart isn't in it anymore, one too many injuries has made him cautious, or the coach has lost him (like a few other players).

THe only player who's missed as many shots short as Wagstaff is his good mate Knight haha

The Goulding rumour makes no sense, He signed a multi year deal with the United.

I'd very much doubt that the likes of Chris Goulding would ever come back to Perth. He would have to be offered a ton of $$ to even consider it.

Seems Wildcats might target a former player called Goulding to ease their 3 point woes.

There's something about the cats shooting technique in recent times. Shots from Wagstaff, Kenny and Knight of late look very flat. They virtually have no arch on them. Then you look at the style of Redhage and his is starting to look the same (mind you he hardly hits the court nowadays so that also could be confidence).

If they are trying to tweak their shooting style, I'd hope they go back to what they did in previous seasons cos it just doesn't seem to be working with the flat bullet shot.

There's something about the cats shooting technique in recent times. Shots from Wagstaff, Kenny and Knight of late look very flat. They virtually have no arch on them. Then you look at the style of Redhage and his is starting to look the same (mind you he hardly hits the court nowadays so that also could be confidence).

If they are trying to tweak there shooting style, I'd hope they go back to what they did in previous seasons cos it just doesn't seem to be working with the flat bullet shot.

The 'cats 3pt shooting hasn't exactly been helped with the addition of Cotton either, he's shooting worse than Jesse @ 23% and taking twice the attempts.

A little bit off topic, but its funny thinking back to the days When Redhage and Wagstaff could rotate through the 4, and dominate. Love him or hate him, Jesse was a tough inside competitor. I don't know if his shooting is worse because of technique, or because of shot selection? But yes he seems to be throwing up a lot of crap lately. Problem is for him, that he's meant to be one of the post-up guys, so if he's outside, and he can't hit Brandt inside, maybe he thinks he needs to shoot.

Whilst I'm happy that Cotton is an overall big improvement on JJ, JJ was our best outside shooter.

And yeah, they really need to put some work into developing DKD. Kid could have a future, and he's clearly a decent shooter, but needs a lot of work.

Perhaps Jesse is still injured? He hurt the ligaments in his right wrist a few years ago. They may still be messed up.

Gleesons structure doesn't allow for freelancing. That makes it a lot easier for Teams to prepare for the Cats. Adelaide are so tough because pretty much every player has the green light to create and go off script.

That is not the case in Perth, so Teams get set and things grind to a halt.

The pieces are there to run and create transition looks or drive and dish but it very rarely happens since Gleeson is a control freak.

A season ago I would have said he was our most reliable 3 point shooter over the past several years. It's unusual for someone normally so reliable to just lose their shot like this. Everyone can have a slump, but virtually a whole season is more than a slump. What has happened??

Wagstaff shoots so many bad threes now and SO MANY fall short

I don't think a player would have missed as many jumpers short over his career as Jesse has.

Yes, the Cats are a bad outside shooting team, not helped by the fact that most guys who can hit are feet-set type shooters, who our lame offence does not produce good looks for.
Since thread is apparently just a place to state obvious things rather than having any point, let me add that Damo is a good defender, Matty Knight hits the floor an awful lot for a big guy, Gleeson acts like a pork chop on the sidelines, and all Wildcats losses are the refs' fault.

3 point percentage has been an issue this season, and was to certain degree last season. Hopefully cats take note for next years australian player recruitement efforts.

The wildcats assists are poor. Prather rarely passes off so defenders will always play up to him. Take Randle for example he will often dish off to a team mate for an easy score. Prather could benefit from looking at his game and finding more ways to create for others when he drives to the hoop.

When no player has more than 2 assists, the the offence is very individualy focused.

I cringe every time Wagstaff shoots a 3 this season. He used to be a handy shooter because he'd pick good shots and make them at a decent rate. This season he seems to just chuck them up randomly, a lot of them aren't good shots to take, also shooting an average percentage.

Last week they spent all their time making a music video, probably should've spent that time sticking up some 3s.

Seriously though, jesse wagstaff is like the mildcats' Stephen Weigh. Far too much court time because coach gets a boner over his potential or work rate or something...

Kenny is a flog.

I love this thread.

Those who attack Dazz are so damn petty. I like the guy and his out-of-the-box musings.

Nothing to like about that intro. Classless. As for the cats, imagine if Martin could shoot, at all. They'd be much better and he would be able to open up open looks for others. As is he can't and most outside shots are contested. Cotton was off today, Prather isn't a great outside prescence but when he slashes he is money.

I like the intro.

Yes, biggest culprits for the woeful 3-pt shooting are:

1. Wagstaff
2. Kernich
3. Prather
4. Jarrod

Tell them to cool it. Play to Angus for god sake. He is a winner, better than Matty right now. They have to create more for McKay too.

All these 3-pt plays to the periphery are good if they can score but they cannot. Coach is losing his insight.... he is leaving too much to luck, which is not smiling. Get back to basics.... learn from the days where we have Fisher, Vlahov, and Crawford all firing from close ranges. All the 3-point bullshit is killing the team.

With the season being almost at the halfway mark, I am wondering what other's thoughts are regarding the league's major awards.

Personally, I have been surprised with a few teams already, namely the Spurs (written off as too old), the Magic blowing up and re starting, Charlotte's free fall and firing of Coach Brown and staff, the Lakers' struggles and of course Chicago's awesome start to the season missing key players.

Anyway, here are my picks thus far.

MVP : Derrick Rose - maybe Chi-town bias here, but I really cannot see anyone who is AS important to their team as this guy. I think he is the only player in the league to be averaging 24+ ppg and 8+ assists.
Nowitzki, or Ginobli runners up.

COY : This award never goes to the most deserving coach but I would pick Popovich for the way he has fired up an old Spurs team. Coach Thibs would be my 1a choice here. Also Jerry Sloan.

ROY : Blake Griffin. No one else in the building.

DPOY : Dwight Howard. Cannot think of anyone else here. Maybe Chris Paul.

6th Man : Jamal Crawford.

MIP : Michael Beasley. Averaging about 22 ppg. Not bad for a number 2 pick that was traded for a pair of second round picks.

Would be interested in seeing other posters lists...