Perth Wildcats no match for South East Melbourne Phoenix as youngsters discover challenges of winning in NBL

Perth Wildcats coach John Rillie believes his team’s 24-point loss to South East Melbourne just two days after an impressive win over Illawarra is a timely reminder for his young players about the challenges of being a consistently elite player.

The Wildcats were no match for the Phoenix, losing 100-76 in captain Jesse Wagstaff’s record breaking 483rd game.

Superstar Bryce Cotton (rib) and import Dylan Windler (shin) both missed the game which put added responsibilities on the younger players. Rillie said they quickly discovered that it’s not easy to perform at a high level every game.

“We just need to respect the little things within the game that allow you to win. Winning is hard and this league is difficult. So you need to respect and have an edge about your approach to it so you can get it done,” he said.

“But in saying that, we have some highly talented youth out on the floor for us. So (it’s) for them to understand the emotion of the game on Friday night and then understand what comes along when you come on the road.

“Opportunity is being presented so they’re getting on the spot learning which is great, but you can see with youth the consistency of your performance. You can’t get that at under 12’s or under 18’s. You can’t get that in the college atmosphere. You have to feel that moment so you can grow and understand what that really is.

“We can talk about it but until you become this guy (Wagstaff), you don’t understand what it really entails to win because just showing up’s not going to get it done.”

Elijah Pepper top scored for the Wildcats with 17 points and he also won six rebounds and had three steals. Ben Henshall followed up his career-best game against the Hawks with 10 points.

Both Kristian Doolittle and Keanu Pinder scored 10 points. Wagstaff played for seven minutes and scored three points.

The Wildcats will now play against Tasmania at RAC Arena on Thursday and Rillie isn’t sure if Windler will be available.

The American travelled with the team and was expected to face the Phoenix but the club ruled him out on the morning of the game.

Rillie said the focus would now be on getting the basics right.

“We didn’t respect the little things within the game to allow us to re-gain some momentum and they capitalised,” Rillie said.

“Like with some of the things we wanted to take away from certain guys, the urgency to get that done (wasn’t there). Or we’d have a good possession and they’d have an offensive rebound. Then we’d get a little impatient with our offemce and think we need to try to fix that on the next possession instead of chipping away.”