Perth Wildcats cop NBL finals belting from South East Melbourne Phoenix much to coach John Rillie’s dismay

Perth Wildcats coach John Rillie has described his team’s 17-point thrashing against South East Melbourne Phoenix in Wednesday’s NBL’s Seeding Qualifier as “a good old-fashioned butt-kicking” as they now prepare to return home for a sudden-death final on Saturday night. The Wildcats were blown away by the Phoenix during a pressure-packed first half at John Cain Arena. South East Melbourne led 64-47 at half-time and forced Perth into nine turnovers during that time. The Wildcats average 11 turnovers per game this season. That first half set up the 111-94 victory and Rillie said his team had no answers. “It was just a good old-fashioned butt-kicking,” he said. “I thought we had a couple of moments where we could try to wrestle the game to a bit of momentum our way. But they did a good job of keeping the flow of the game, they wanted it all night long. “They executed their game plan beautifully tonight. The players did a hell of a job, but I thought (Phoenix coach) Josh King was the MVP of the game. “We tried to dribble too much against the pressure instead of using the pass and how we could play off that action. We had 17 turnovers, and they were in single figures. “At half-time, we had zero offensive rebounds, and they had 18 more shot attempts. It just mounts up, and the pressure to execute at a high level. The reason we play the regular season is to give ourselves another opportunity. We’ll flush that and move on.” Making matters worse, Jo Lual-Acuil had three fouls in his first six minutes on the court, and he was forced to the bench in the opening minutes of the second quarter. Lual-Acuil stood out as a man the Wildcats needed to have a huge game, given his usual backup, David Okwera, couldn’t play due to a plantar fascia injury. Lual-Acuil finished the game with 11 points and six rebounds from 17-and-a-half minutes on court. “He’s a huge part of our schemes at both ends of the floor,” Rillie said. “With the foul trouble, he was very limited in the first half. We tried to adjust on the fly, and we’ve done a good job of that. I think you saw where David Okwera’s value is for us. “Guys get opportunities. We really had no one where you leave the game and go man they really helped out team at a high level. I look at that and say let’s all show up on Saturday.” Kristian Doolittle top-scored for Perth with 22 points while Dylan Windler produced 13. Nathan Sobey was superb for the Phoenix with 24 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals. The Wildcats will host the winner of Thursday night’s match between Melbourne and Tasmania at RAC Arena on Saturday night for the right to play against the Sydney Kings in the semi-finals. Rillie said Okwera was no chance to returning from injury for Saturday night’s game.