On Wednesday night I went to watch the Perth Wildcats play the Sydney Kings at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.
The Wildcats sucked. Besides from the demoralising 33 point loss, the team just lacked cohesion. This probably accounts for why they lost by 33 points, and are currently sitting at 9th on the NBL ladder.
Ricky Grace is still there, providing a solid bedrock. Perth have always been accused of relying too much on Grace. Tonight, I saw why they have said this. Grace just wasn't performing tonight. Don't get me wrong, he still racked up a reasonable set of numbers, but anything under 20 points and 10 assists is a bad night for Grace. He also spent a lot of time on the court, and no one else was there to pick up the slack.
Matt Burston put in an effort, quietly compiling points. James Harvey I swear wasn't on court, let alone put in an effort. Rashad someone or other sucks bigtime - he effected so many turnovers for it not to be funny. Someone needs to teach that man some ball handling skills. Tony Ronaldson seems to have slowed down and gone to sleep.
The guy that I did like was John Jackson. Although he doesn't quite have the skills (play was a bit sloppy), he's full of energy, and has a good feel for where he should be on court. I reckon he's going to get a cult following (if he hasn't already got one).
All in all, pretty disappointing, but for $12, it was worth it to see CJ Bruton in action. Man, was he hot! It was unbelievable just how destructive he was. I think he bagged more threes than the entire Wildcats team (and them not for lack of trying either!)
Never mind, we can put this down to a um, rebuilding year. Probably pretty true since I didn't recognise most of the faces out on the court.
Posted by davechan at December 19, 2003 12:58 AMDave, Dave, Dave. C'mon, get with the program, they are now known as the BankWest Wildcats. Just think, some of the interest that you are paying to your homeloan is going towards supporting your team. Hooray for irony!
Posted by: lisa at December 19, 2003 04:45 AMThis year will be the first year in a very long time when the Wildcats will not make the finals. I think it is something like 16 years.
That's right. From memory, they've made the finals every year after their maiden year.
Posted by: davechan at December 19, 2003 09:58 AM