Casey Prather produced a match-winning effort on Sunday.
Camera IconCasey Prather produced a match-winning effort on Sunday. Credit: Supplied/Getty Images

NBL is tighter than ever says Perth Wildcats⿿ Greg Hire

Greg HireJoondalup Times

After Melbourne’s sensational start winning nine games in a row, they have been brought back to the pack with three consecutive losses. Lower-ranked Townsville Crocodiles’ win over them in Melbourne exemplified the league’s competitiveness.

For us, it’s extremely important to maintain a strong record at home. Perth Arena is an intimidating venue for opposition teams and we need to embellish playing with such a raucous crowd behind us.

Sunday’s game against the Cairns Taipans resulted in a fantastic outcome for us.

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US import Casey Prather was sensational over the last two games, receiving Player of the Week honours for his output.

While Casey’s statistical effort has been excellent, what impresses me more is his passion and drive for the team – he has bought into our system and values.

The guy is a tremendous athlete but has tools that allow him to be effective on both ends of the court.

Hopefully he can maintain this standard and earn a championship. We play the New Zealand Breakers in an interesting scenario over the next two games.

We face off with them back-to-back in a home game on Friday and away next Wednesday.

It can be compared to a playoff matchup where we travel to the opposition’s venue on the return leg.

We didn’t play our best basketball recently against them and would love to avenge that loss.These matchups are always intense so expect another highly passionate and high-energy game this Friday.