Hoops

Perth Wildcats sign Corey Webster

Cousins out in 3 months, mmm this could be interesting!!

PG - Martin/Kenny
SG - Cotton/Webster/dkd
SF - Prather/hire
Pf - Knight/Wagstaff
C - Import/Brandt

Plus, isn't there a hard salary cap on a team's bench players?

He's not Cotton-quality, but neither is ... well, pretty much anyone ... so that's not really a fair bar to set.

Many assuming Webster has been signed as a starter? I'm not so sure?

He's not Cotton quality, not even Beal. Why would the Cats settle for going backwards? Plus Martin is getting older and so is Kenny. Last year showed that the Wildcats are vulnerable to injuries there.

Nope, he joined in 2010.

Best off season signing in off season that's not a import since we got damo and wagstaff and knight.

Many assuming Webster has been signed as a starter? I'm not so sure?

He's not Cotton quality, not even Beal. Why would the Cats settle for going backwards? Plus Martin is getting older and so is Kenny. Last year showed that the Wildcats are vulnerable to injuries there.

Webster is good player and a local, so teams would be nuts to pass that up - but doesn't mean he's a starter. Also he's a risk. If he's there as a bench player, and he stuffs up and gets cut, the damage is limited.

Plus I'm not fully convinced that DKD is up to speed yet.

And I don't see why the Wildcats would opt for only two imports based on current potential squad. If we stick with 11 players they would need to find an extra local - and I doubt they would sign Walker or Wroe in prefernce to an import.

Why wouldn't Johnson return to the NBL?
If players took offence to an entire league after being cut, some would have very short Careers - or all be playing in Uzbekistan.

He didn't fit well at the Wildcats but he is still a good player by NBL standards. Depending on how much money he wants, he'd be a good fit for some teams - either as a SF - even as an SG with the right PG partner - or for a team that already had local talent and were looking for a bench player.

You don't pick the Cats if you think you're in for an easy ride.

His numbers in the NZBL are looking pretty good and any back court pairing with Damo has to be able to shoot.

Any examples from the past decade?

This is a big risk because you just don't know which Corey Webster is going to show up.

And the Wildcats don't take BS from their players, examples include David Bailey and Steve Leven.

I suspect we'll see McKay back.

Any idea on the length of his contract? Best off season signing in off season that's not a import since we got damo and wagstaff and knight.

I think its just a joke.

"Mike Dunigan to cats confirmed."

Source? Not seen anything on Twitter or FB.

"He'll never play outside of the USA ever again and I'm confident he probably won't even be playing professional basketball in 3 years or less."

Agree with the first part, disagree with the second part.

Not sure how you can rule out a 24-year old still putting up reasonable numbers in the D-League as a goner in 3 years...

http://stats.nbadleague.com/player/#!/204189/gamelogs/

"He'll never play outside of the USA ever again and I'm confident he probably won't even be playing professional basketball in 3 years or less."

What's your reasoning for thinking this? He seems to be putting up strong numbers in the d-league

Let's hope he's not introduced to any Eagles or Dockers players!

Have we had any confirmation that Knight will play next season?

Mike Dunigan to cats confirmed.

The inner beast in McKay is starting to wake up.. will be happy to get him back.

I'm thinking that the import spot freed up by Webster will be used as Matty Knight insurance.
(take note, Mike Dunigan ;)

Anyone who even hints at the thought of Jaron Johnson returning to the NBL (let alone the Wildcats!) should just stop typing.

He'll never play outside of the USA ever again and I'm confident he probably won't even be playing professional basketball in 3 years or less.

You'd think with this signing that the Wildcats will do their research into replacements, but give Casey Prather until the last possible second to decide to come back.

Do that, bring McKay back, and you've got the core of the team that just won the championship, added the outside shooter and still got an import spot free to cover either Redhage's spot or injury.

Can't see any way JJ plays for the Wildcats again.

Guarantee JJ will never play for the Wildcats again.

I am amused by all of this talk about JJ returning to the 'Cats. He's been cut by the team twice. Do you think he's going to have faith in the organisation that gave him the best impression they could that they would keep him until the end of the season, only to cut (again) him as soon as something better came along?

The man would have to have a very low self-esteem to take another contract with the Wildcats.

If they keep an import spot spare, which I think they will, it's not a huge risk because they can replace him if things go awry off the court.

Brandt/Knight
Import/Wagstaff
Import/Hire
Webster/DKD
Martin/Kenny

Signing Webster is definitely worth the risk, especially for a team that has such a solid core group and can provide that structure both on the court and off that Corey would be craving...

Not without risk, but local talent in the prime age for a basketball player is hard to come by, good signing. The potential to add three imports to this core is rather intriguing.

The suggestion they went after Sobey makes sense however I am not convinced Sobey is there yet, a breakout season is nothing until it is solidified with another strong season and consistent post season play.

If Prather is not back I could almost see a mckay johnson combo filling out the starting lineup well. I know Johnson again, but as a 3 his rightful position in our league he would go fine. That also leaves another import spot up for grabs. I could see a starting power forward on the cards to reduce Knights minutes and maybe bring Knight of the bench.

I think he may have red-shirted a year at College.
He then played in Brazil for a few months. He was too old to be a Development Player so the Wildcats kept him around as a Training Player. When the quad expanded to 11 this season, he was added.

He's an ok outside shooter when he gets going, but didn't get many minutes this year. I see him playing a 2/3 type role.

Gotta say that Dan wasn't the only one who heard the Bullets news. In fact, Andrejs Lemanis and CJ Bruton got a verbal agreement from Webster's camp on Tuesday evening.

Once again, verbal agreements mean shit all in professional sports.

What is the story behind DKD?

"Martin / Kenny
Webster / DKD
Import / Hire
Import / Wagstaff / Knight
Import / Brandt"

I don't think Webster will be starting. I imagine he's been brought in to offer some depth in the SG role.

If we stick with 11 players, then I can see DKD being kept in his pseudo-development role, as the 11th man, otherwise I doubt he would survive the cut.

Be interesting to see which direction they go with their big import, but I would imagine the squad would look something like this:

Martin / Kenny
Import / Webster }
Import / Hire } DKD
Import / Wagstaff
Knight / Brandt

They see me rollin'......

^^ Did lol :D

"Interestingly, a Jaron Johnson/Prather type import combo could work in this lineup."

Wow who would have thought that someone like Prather could be effective in an NBL lineup hey

Wildcats sign Webster. He is a great pickup. If 36ers picked him up-oh that was a bad move with his legal issues. Already read Cats fans claiming title favouritism. Maybe wait until we see all clubs complete their rosters.

Best Case Comparison: Rodman to Bulls

Not sure about this one... I don't see it ending well.

Shots have been fired.. lets see what the rest of the league does.

Can't replace cotton but this kid can ball and shoot the rock with the best of them, stays mentally and physically fit should be awesome.

Still 3 imports to come, world class shooter added. Well done cats. Great start.

A lot harder to find a decent replacement local than a replacement import though!

I would expect Walker to be in the lineup next season. *Shrugs*

No brainer really, very good shooter, something we can always use.I'm sure his contract would have clauses in it regarding off court behaviour. We had no trouble finding a replacement this year when we needed one, i'm sure we could find one for Corey if he plays up off court and we cut him

I would've thought the Webster signing would be in place of a cheap 3rd import.

Hopefully this means the return of Dunigan!

Martin / Kenny
Webster / DKD
Import / Hire
Import / Wagstaff / Knight
Import / Brandt

Interestingly, a Jaron Johnson/Prather type import combo could work in this lineup.

Hopefully Kinny will be a good influence on Wibsta

While Webster adds some much-needed perimeter shooting to the Wildcats, he wasn’t the team’s first option. The Wildcats initially attempted to sign 36ers star, Nathan Sobey, after his breakout season, but the 26-year-old combo guard turned down the offer, sources said.

The only thing I'm concerned about is we still maybe need that Cotton, Randle, Dillard, Ware type.

Not sure how the starting 5 will look but its a good problem to have.