Hoops

Perth Wildcats v Utah Jazz

Who is the guy no 51 playing for Perth
Noticed Gleesons surname wrong when they listed coaches names
It was pronounced Gleason

Lucky the NBL is transitioning away from sludgeball, except for the refs at Perth Arena who are lagging behind.

Lucky for them they play in the NBL too.

style*

This game highlighted perfectly what I've been saying for years about Perth's awful playing atyle which is sludgeball. Lucky for them it works in the NBL.

"Missing Damo doesnt change the score a great deal"

Martin is their most important player IMO, he sets the standard of how they play. Will be interesting to see how they bounce back, hopefully he can play which should lead to better looks for Cotton and White.

Udog exactly! #moobs

Does the club also make Gleeson wear his polo shirts 3 sizes to small. Those Moobs!!!!

Sydney looked very comfortable today.

Yes pun intended. :D

I think the biggest key when playing v NBA teams is the mental side of the game. Perth yesterday, and Brisbane and Sydney last year, were blown out early, and each lacked guys who'd played much on truly big stages.

Melbourne in comparison, particularly last year, had Boone, Andersen, Wesley, Barlow, Prather and Ware who would have stepped on court and felt very comfortable out there. That theory will be tested out pretty quick with Sydney, who should have a similar level of comfort.

The other team that could acquit themselves ok would be NZ, with Long, Wesley, Abercrombie and Webster on-board. The test for them will be their PGs, although Ili has stood up pretty well against some good international ballers so may well take it in his stride.

Follow suit?

Pun intended???

League wide coaches are wearing more formal clothing now time for Wildcats to follow suit.

You know the club makes him wear a the polos, right?

Funny contrast I noticed today - the Perth coaching staff wearing cheap suits and no ties and basically a mish mash of colours looked awful in contrast to what you saw fromthe Jazz coaches. They looked like rednecks who can't dress... which is still an upgrade from seeing Gleeson's gut in those polos he loves to wear.

Perth as an organisation think they are all that and finally got a big dose of reality.

It was OK. Perth couldn't buy a bucket in the 1st half and that was that. Dante looked ordinary. Allen looked great, as did Mitchell. Shame ingles got hurt, but it looked to me like Perth got caught in the headlights where Melbourne U did not.

Andrew stop trolling, utterly stupid comment.

And wow at Perth = good guys? Bwahahahaha!

Wildcats fans you must realise your team this season is shit. I can guarantee that the 36ers will compete and fight a hell of a lot better than your pathetic effort today. The streak will end!

"Will be long forgotten when the good guys win it all AGAIN"

Good guys? Perth are the Collingwood of the Nbl, get over yourself.

Ultimately a nothing game. Gleeson was laughing. Will be long forgotten when the good guys win it all AGAIN

Pointing to Martin's absence is understandable, but at the end of the day he's in his mid-thirties now. What's the plan in a year or two?

I can see how certain things contributed to the way they played, such as...altitude

that shouldn't cause them to miss freethrows and open jumpers

Okay, people getting a bit dizzy here. Not sure how he could have coached them to be taller, more talented, quicker and more athletic. I can see how certain things contributed to the way they played, such as jet lag, altitude, change of rules, court dimensions, massive jump in talent, but that shouldn't cause them to miss freethrows and open jumpers that would have easily taken 25 points off of the closing deficit, and it shouldn't have meant that they basically didn't hustle whatsoever. When I say they brought the NBL is disrepute, I mean it. The reputation of the standard of the NBL is in question after that loss both in America and Australia.

though*

hustled*

Why? I am a Wildcats fan but that was disgusting. At least make it respectable. I was proud when we played Rockets, even thoug also a blowout but players were basically hungover after winning their rings but histled to the max, flying everywhere in desperation, but this today erodes the goodwill of LK, NBL and Aus ball.

Wildcats are the ones trolling us fans, NBL and LK.

Oh dear? They dodn't bother playing their best team and made NBL look bad and wasted LK's work in organising this. Sheer arrogance.

and their over the line D doesn't work vs. bigger and stronger teams. Highlights perfectly how ugly they play the game which has been a blight on the NBL up until recently.

He can't coach offense.

No more NBA for Perth, how ungrateful and arrogant, you're an NBL team but treating it like you are the NBA side. Amazing arrogance.

By trying to play sludgeball vs. NBA competition and non-NBL refs. Completely delusional.

Gleeson got totally exposed as well. Big fish in a small pond, truly highlighted his coaching today. Dud.

LK should ban Perth from future NBAxNBL. They showed complete disregard for the effort he has put in to make this happen.

Game into disrepute, really? getting beaten by an elite team, down 2 starters combined with a horrid shooting night, yep disrepute alright. Philly plays in the east, the jazz the west, let's not pretend they are equal. How people can actually write that the owner of a league should penalise players for a poor performance on the biggest stage some may ever see just shows how comical and ignorant some of the posters here are. Ana thats coming from someone who writes their fair share of one eyed stuff.

Steindl and Vague struggle defending a bar stool.

If Adelaide have no injuries and get up and down the floor at pace will do much better in there nba game and should win nbl.

"Not making playoffs this season. The run will be over.

Bugger em"

Got to love the Perth hate circle jerk on this forum

"what they served up today was not good enough and it brings the whole NBA/NBL thing into question unless teams start competing moving ahead."

Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. I think in most games the nbl teams have finished within 25 points, which is respectable.

The Melbourne 1 point loss and Perth's 58 point loss are the outliers right now. We'll know more after all 7 games are played.

Also, kudos to the NBL for trying to take on not just NBA teams, but some quality playoff teams like Utah and Philly.

"The only positive I took from this game was that Mitch Norton will attack the rim far more than Jarrod Kenny had in previous seasons and that excites me."

I agree. I also liked the contributions and confidence of Steindl and Rhys Vague.

If anything, it was the old fellas that disappointed me, like Jervis and Wagstaff.

The two fill in players were quite ordinary too and looked like they just wanted to get their name in lights. Some ill advised shots by them.

Not making playoffs this season. The run will be over.

Bugger em

The price you pay for loyalty to the players that should have moved aside for developing players. No attrition and succession planning.

Oh I have no doubt that they will get better, and no doubt that they are a 20-30 point better team than they showed, but still what they served up today was not good enough and it brings the whole NBA/NBL thing into question unless teams start competing moving ahead.

Just to be clear, jet lag isn’t being tired from catching a flight or two. It is being out of your normal timezone and trying to adjust. Its very difficult, especially a few days into your travel. It shouldn’t be an excuse for giving a poor performance but it effects everyone differently (I struggle with it) and I’m pretty sure none of us here have every flown around the world so they could play a basketball match in a few days time.

Let's not get too carried away.

With Damo and Brandt missing, the cats were playing 4 new starters. They had two guys as replacements who had been with the team for around 24 hours or less.

Not the right conditions to expect a well oiled performance. Perth will get better.

Regardless of jet lag or other excuses, the Jazz bench looked ultra impressive and the traits that Wildcats stand by like hustle, defence and rebounding were non existent and I hope that LK does rip strips off the Wildcats because that was as bad as it gets.

Fingers crossed that their performance against Nuggets is much more competitive as I don't think anyone deserves to see such an insipid effort again!

The only positive I took from this game was that Mitch Norton will attack the rim far more than Jarrod Kenny had in previous seasons and that excites me.

I think Perth is a bad matchup for NBA teams because they are unathletic and do not have many offensively gifted players. The only ones they do have are Cotton and White and both guys couldn't hit much tonight. What was their combined shooting percentage?

The wildcats are more of a defensive team but they aren't used to defending NBA teams which have great shooting everywhere and then a guy like Gobert rolling to the hoop.

Add to this the wildcats seemed a bit flat (stage fright? Travel fatigue?) and you get that horribly lopsided score.

I'm not sure the game against Denver will be much better.

A sixty point win in any competition is terrible. It is the difference between The Boomers playing Fiji. These guys are supposed to be professionals. Yes, they are better. Yes they should win 99 out of 100 times. But show some heart. Show some endeavour. Show you get paid to play basketball as your profession for God’s sake! Or just quit. Like Perth did today.

Gleeson honestly deserved better.

"Anyway didnt they travel a few days ago..I saw they were working at a college in Utah. Not an excuse which has any merit"

Do you not know what jetlag is?

OK maybe it has a little merit but I still think if you get to a hotel and then have 3 days before your game you should be able to come out and compete at 100% considering it's only 30-35 odd minutes.

"They brought the league into disrepute"

What are you even on about? 1 bad loss doesn't mean the end of the world for the NBL or the NBLxNBA. Sure they could've played way better and they definitely can't use some excuses but as usual, the Perth hate bandwagon is strong on this forum.

Oh Zodiac thinks the eastern conference is as strong as the western conference....that’s cute.