Perth Wildcats defend Bryce Cotton with intensity all day to beat Adelaide 36ers in first clash against him

Perth Wildcats coach John Rillie has lauded the preparation assistant coach Aaron Young did to have the players ready to take on Bryce Cotton after his team won their first battle against the five-time NBL MVP on Sunday. The Wildcats overcame a six-point deficit early in the final quarter to surge clear and win 94-87, and it was their job on Cotton that made victory possible. The former Wildcats star still scored 23 points, including seven three-pointers, but Perth maintained their discipline with how they played him. Cotton rarely had open shots, the Wildcats rotated multiple defenders onto him to keep them fresh, and their focus on not fouling him meant the superstar didn’t take a single free throw. Rillie said they’d planned the game superbly. “Aaron young, the guy who was responsible for the scout – the minute we got to practice on Tuesday, the guys could see the prep that he’d put in,” Rillie said. “The beauty of us being able to have three practices is you can build momentum through that. I just think we had a good level of confidence with the game plan that Aaron did. “But we tipped (off) at 2pm and then it’s on the players. You could tell we had a nice flow to our week and the guys really bought into Aaron’s game plan. “We had to throw multiple bodies at him. The guys who were responsible for that individual match up did a great job. “But they get him into so many great actions for him to be successful, so the other guys had to perform their roles as well. I thought our bigs, particularly in the second half, did a really good job of being up to the level. Bryce had to play through a lot of bodies and hands.” Import David Duke jnr spent the majority of the time on Cotton and was laser focused with his defensive work. Cotton also had seven assists as his ability to find teammates when under intense pressure stood out. Duke went to the same college in the US as Cotton and had a strong awareness of the way he played and his impact on the league. Rillie said keeping Cotton off the foul line had been crucial to the win, given he averaged eight free throws per game this season. “Having been around him for three years and this season, if you can do a good job of not getting him to the foul line, you give yourself a chance,” he said. “That’s easier said than done but our prep and our focus on everything this week had a great purpose.” Dylan Windler had a massive game for the Wildcats with 18 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Kristian Doolittle also stepped up with 16 point and nine rebounds while Duke also scored 16 points. Perth handled the pressure of the game going down to the wire after Isaac White reduced the margin to three points with 22 seconds remaining. There was plenty of love for Cotton from the Wildcats players both before and after the game. Rillie hopes the way everyone interacted with Cotton will end talk of a rift between the superstar and the club. “The narrative behind it all is way overboard,’ he said. “I would say there is a lot of respect. The way it has been portrayed, the respect would be questioned. He competed for nine years for Perth. It was a pleasure to coach him for three years. “He made me a better coach. Hopefully I gave him a couple of things to make him a better player. There is great respect. I tune in to watch Adelaide to watch him play.”