Perth Wildcats coach John Rillie admits his team lost its composure during Sunday’s 110-99 loss to South East Melbourne Phoenix as the home team went on a third quarter rampage.
The Phoenix scored 38 points in the third quarter and Rillie said the soaring foul count which forced his big names to sit on the bench opened the door for South East Melbourne to take over.
Rillie said his players need to be more disciplined and their inability to control their emotions was a problem.
“We are emotional team. We need to harness that so we become a great team. We got a little wayward tonight. It started with me,” Rillie said.
“It’s an emotional game. It’s harnessing it and embracing it because when we’re emotional, we are f…ing good. I don’t want to steal that from this team because that’s what’s going to make us great. But we can control it and harness it. That starts with me.”
Perth led by three points at half-time but the game was out of reach just 10 minutes later when they trailed by 23 points. At one point, the Phoenix led by 30 points before Perth reduced the deficit late in the match.
The Phoenix did a great job of denying Bryce Cotton shots. He scored only seven points for the day but still had an impact as a distributor.
Cotton had five assists in the first quarter including an outrageous backwards blind pass over his right shoulder to Ben Henshall for a dunk. He finished with 10 assists for the game.
Henshall shone with 24 points while Keanu Pinder scored 14 points and had five rebounds before fouling out.
Tyler Cook had a double-double for Phoenix with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Mitch Creek also scored 23 points. Cook produced a massive dunk on Alex Sarr and emotions boiled over when the Frenchman took offence to his celebration.
But Rillie was happy that Sarr stood up for himself.
“Let’s not be naïve. What do you think teams are trying to do? For me that was great to see,” Rillie said.
“That’s his maturation as a player. That happens. That’s sport. If he walks away, everyone says he’s soft. Is it a fine line? Absolutely. But I am all about that.”
“He was phenomenal and then they went at him. That’s basketball. He has to understand how to play through that. He has the ability and the talent. That’s what excites me.
“I have to allow that to happen so he can live and learn from that.”
The Wildcats were missing due to the leg injury he suffered in Friday night’s win over Tasmania. Rillie said his absence was a blow and the club still doesn’t have a timeline on his return.
