Hoops

Derek Cooke Jr

Overall budget. Saving money now, look at how they didn't replace Marvin himself properly.

No, that is completely false. Stop making stuff.

Um yes.

“Marvin bailed when the money got reduced.”

Um no.

He was trying unlike some yet got limited minutes. Gleeson logic!

Lookin' like straight bozos
I saw it comin', that's why I went solo

took so long.*

Yeah, actually Troy G is just a place holder, really should look at the ownership for blame. Marvin bailed when the money got reduced. Plus Gleeson's "man management" also finally took too much of a toll on players, I'm shocked it took too long.

I'm not sure you can blame Georgiu. I doubt they'd have moved Johnson last year were it not for the failed drug test. Whether it's Gleeson or a result of the import merry-go-round of last season, I'm not sure Marvin would have handled it any differently.

I told you all. Gleeson plus Troy G = Cooke Jr. The root of the problems. and Knight retiring provoked no response which was their moment. Pathetic.

How odd Koberulz would have this sort of knee jerk reaction, the type he gets on other about ALL the time. I saw today he was having a twitter laugh at the 36ers fans wanting Shorter gone after one game. Yet here he is doing the same... after one game FFS

Just gonna wait for Koberulz to rebut this thread like he does every single other one with the ol copy paste syndrome. Or is he going to just go into hiding?

No need we know you are obsessed.

Doubt it's going to happen, but I've seen no reason to retract anything I said about him.

"Willy Nilly"?
Point is simple.
(Assuming in both cases the team wanted to)
Swapping out an under-performing local player (as some have suggested should be the priority) is problematic in a number of ways. There's just not that many floating around. Steindl was around, but that hasn't really paid off yet.
Imports are by their nature hired guns. Particularly those on the fringes of the European comps are accustomed to short-term gigs. The idea of coming in for the last 3rd of a season to help a team win a championship is not a big deal.

You've got to keep in mind, that when the points system was abolished and the new floppy cap introduced. A lot of teams went down the path of chasing top-end Aussie talent, with the intention of using imports as role-players and/or keeping an import slot in reserve.
Marvin's doctrine, which is still in effect, was that it was cheaper and more viable to buy quality imports. The Wildcats actually lost their local Marquee in Jawai and replaced him with an import.

Anons above are correct in that the quality of any new import needs to justify the disruption.

The Cats will have had the feelers out for the entire season for a superior replacement. The longer the search goes, the better that replacement needs to be to justify bringing them in. Time has to be running out by now I think. Which is good for the competition because the Wildcats aren't winning a title with their current front court and the competition really needs a new champ. The only downside is if NZ wins it because they're the other team that the NBL would not want winning it.

Not sure what part of Cooke being an import people don't understand? Yes, given the opportunity, there's a couple of guys on the bench you'd want to swap, but for whom?
For prospective bench players, you've got a handful of aussies bumming around the bush leagues of the world, or maybe you go for a young guy ex-college.
As for looking for another starting centre, thats certainly one good option, but finding an Aussie will be tough. You'd be looking at Motum or picking up a young turk ex-college.

Cats will do their patented second half of the season revival, finish top and win the ship

And lets be honest, every time you say "Cooke," you might as well say "Jarron Johnson." We had all the same arguments last season.

Cooke is an ok player, and if he was a local you'd be dead chuffed to have him on your team.
Or, we're seen other teams with a stacked local line-up use imports as role players or for spark of the bench. When Brandt was on-fire and we still had Knight, that looked like it might work for us too.
Now? Not so much. We've replaced a 4/5 with a struggling 2/3.

Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not being arrogant just realistic. If this were Cairns or Hawks, you'd make do with Cooke, and probably seriously look at keeping him next season if the price was right.
But how much do you figure the Johnson/Ingram/Johnson/Cotton hoopla cost them?
And on the back of record memberships, how much do ya reckon they might spring for in pursuit of a 3-peat.

Difference is that chances of replacing Brandt are practically nil, and in the long-term its not something you'd want to do.

But the options to replace imports are plentiful.

Cooke played better than Brandt, who's been very average the last three games

Cooke is more active on the glass,and at the other end if he can develop a couple of effective moves he could be devastating going on the drive. Cos he has the quickness to be able to step around people. Just needs to develop better footwork

Yesterday Boone wasn't as effective on the rolls after Cooke came on for Brandt. Not as good a positional defender as McKay perhaps but his athleticism is huge

Hang on, to be fair he missed a chunk of pre-season didn't he? Though he must have attended every practice sessions.

Well it took him all of pre-season and 10 games for his breakout? Is this going to be normal or just a flash in the pan?

Only issue is Knight is out of the equation so they need better than Mckay did

Safe for now you'd think

Cooke looks to be playing the McKay role just as well as McKay if not better

Seems safe for now after doing everything asked of him

Cooke Jnr has had a great first quarter. Staying out of foul trouble and has energy.

Stupid article.
Snapping up Steindl was no-brainer. Pool of available local talent is limited.

Cooke's job was always to replace Knight. Who's going to waste an import spot on a 3rd stringer? Certainly not the wildcats.

Cats need somebody who can not only sub Brandt, but at times play alongside him.
McKay is definitely a better player than Cooke, but I'm he's not the only one out there.

Watch this space.

Regardless of pronunciation...

He’s now Doctoring

I think the correct pronunciation of Darren's last name was more 'ung'

I always thought it was the Asian way of saying ‘for example’

Oh damn

Not if you pronounce it the correct way (sounds like wynn).

Haha, but 'or Ng' rhymes with 'warning'

Everyone seems to get the pronunciation of Ng wrong. Just FYI it does not rhyme with McKay.

Cooke the rook came in shook. It doesn't take much of a look to see that his play still ain't textbook.

McKay may come in and slay, however a word of warning. They still need shooters, like a Maher, Rillie or Ng.

I don’t see what McKay brings that Cooke doesn’t. McKay didnt have a post game either, just put backs. We need someone that will force the defence to double the post.

Greg Hire suggested in the latest Wildcats podcast that Mike Dunigan approached him / the Wildcats about making a come back.

Mike Dunigan?

It's remarkable how much things change with the retirement of Knight. Suddenly Cooke goes from being a luxury third option as a big who provides good energy and hustle, to needing to be relied upon especially if Brandt finds himself in foul trouble.

If he knew how to feed assists to Grace then I think that says more about the Perth stats bench than the offensive sets :p

McKay and Cooke are similar players, except that McKay can actually play at this level.
Whether we might prefer somebody bigger, is probably moot. They'll be looking at who's available (or becomes available.)

The rumours and counter-rumours surrounding McKay are interesting, but I imagine Trev will be keeping an eye on a number of players around the traps.

McKay was also actually good.

Perth aren't the type of team to sit on their hands.

McKay was allowable last year because we still had Knight's offensive game to offset it. Now he's gone, well when Brandt has an off night we are absolutely screwed.

Cya Dezza

Dare I say it, he's Cooked.

I agree with the decision to get Steindl. If he can get back to his best form, he can be a great scoring option off the bench.

But up against a big touch team like the breakers, with Brandt in foul and injury trouble, Cooke was found out.

And no, this isn't a "typical kneejerk Perth reaction, we lost lets sack somebody." As this thread attests, there have been questions over him since the beginning.
Sure he's shown what he can do coming on in junk-time against beaten opponents and 2nd stringers.
But Perth expect and need more from their imports.

I don't imagine they will rush to sack him, but I'm sure they've got their eye on a few guys playing around Turkey, etc, and will watching with interest anybody that parts ways.

Lucas Walker and Rhys Vague have played clutch minutes at centre the last couple of games.

Well he managed to forget to sub in...

Knight's retirement puts him on pretty shaky ground.

Hopefully he has a shocker because someone from Perth getting fired is overdue

Big game for him tonight with no Knight and Sydney's lack of size. Hopefully he gets some good minutes and opportunity.