Preview: Indigenous Round vs Perth Wildcats | Nissan Arena

The Brisbane Bullets host the Perth Wildcats for their Indigenous Round game, presented by Rork Projects. The team will be wearing commemorative jersey's designed by Janelle McQueen. 

When: 4:30pm (AEST), Saturday 12 March, 2022
Where: Nissan Arena, Brisbane
Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo;

Tickets: Available Here

Season Series

Game 1: Brisbane 97 (Patterson 27, Franks 21) d Perth 94 (Law 29, Cotton 19)– Round 2, RAC Arena, Perth 

The Brisbane Bullets claimed a dramatic double-overtime 97-94 victory against the Perth Wildcats. In front of a packed RAC Arena, a three-pointer from Robert Franks with 27 seconds left proved to be the game winner and ended an epic string of clutch shots being hit by both sides.

Game 2: Perth 83 (Cotton 29, Wagstaff 19) d Brisbane 70 (Franks 28, Patterson 17) – Round 3, RAC Arena, Perth

Rolling from their double-overtime win in the Jungle five days earlier, Brisbane bounced to a five-point quarter-time lead, but Perth took the game from there outscoring the Bullets 69-51 over the final 30 minutes.

What happened last start?
The Bullets had a great shooting night, going 55 per cent from the field and 11/20 from range, defeating the New Zealand Breakers 92-74. Robert Franks (23 points, 10 rebounds) and Jason Cadee (22 points, 9 assists) were impressive in the match.

The Wildcats made a big statement on Thursday, pouring in 97 points on United as they dominated the paint, and outrebounded the defending champs on their way to a 10 point victory.

Who’s in form?
Jason Cadee – Talk about standing up in a time of need. Cadee’s past four games have delivered 16.8 points, 5.8 assists and just 2.3 turnovers in 33 minutes per night, shooting 57 per cent from the floor and 12/22 from range.

Mitch Norton –Norton produced 26 points at 57 per cent against Melbourne on Thursday, dished 4 dimes and didn’t cough the ball up once. His high-IQ reads made a mockery of United’s D and will force Brisbane to give him greater respect, especially with his past seven games producing 14ppg, 4.3apg and just 1.1 miscues.

Who’s statting up?
 - Against the NBL’s top three teams – Melbourne, Perth and SE Melbourne – Patterson has averaged 20ppg at 50 per cent this season. Against the rest of the league he’s averaged 15.3ppg at 42 per cent

- Brisbane are 22-6 when they reach 90 points over the past two seasons, compared to 3-23 when they don’t

 - Perth are 8-1 when they score 88 points or more in regulation this season, but 0-4 when they manage 81 or fewer

 - In the Wildcats’ past eight wins, Vic Law has averaged 20.6 points at 53 per cent and 9.9 rebounds

Who’s matching up?
Robert Franks v Vic Law – The Bullets will be looking to Franks to knock down some big shots and be aggressive at the basket on Saturday afternoon. Over the past seven games he’s averaged a efficient 3.3 triples at 47 per cent highlighting his impressive form of late.

Standing just 201cm, Law has answered Scott Morrison’s SOS for rebounding with a remarkable 12.8 boards in the past four contests. He’s ripped in 4 o-boards per night – after averaging 1.6 to start the season – and that’s fuelled his interior offence, averaging 17.8ppg from ‘ones and twos’, up from 12.7ppg over the rest of the season.

Who’s talking the talk?
With Nathan Sobey sidelined, Jason Cadee has stepped into the starting five and  arguably playing some of the best basketball of his career.

“He’s playing really well, he’s thriving on that starting position,” Norton said ahead of the pair’s match-up on Saturday.

“I think he’s running the team pretty well as well, so it’s another challenge for us. Again it’s not going to be one guy defending him, it’s going to be a team effort.”

Team is what Cadee is all about, and coach Duncan knows his point guard is a big part in the Bullets staying competitive without Sobey, downing Adelaide and New Zealand while running Sydney, Melbourne and the Phoenix to the wire.

“IQ off the charts,” Duncan said when asked about Cadee’s performances.

“I don’t like saying it in front of him but he has a complete understanding for the game, he understands how important he is for our group.

“He’s playing both sides of the ball which is really impressive, and he’s just leading, it’s great to see him in this environment and this rhythm right now.”

His battle with Norton will be brilliant to watch. Where Perth’s defensive specialist would usually be deployed on Sobey, he will now be matched up with Cadee.

Cadee knows he has to keep finding ways to get his role players involved so the undermanned Bullets can go from competitive to regularly hitting the winners list.

“We've been through a period with Sobes, without Sobes, and when you're missing that piece it’s hard to figure out ways to win games when you get in those positions because you’re used to having him and putting the ball in him and Lamar’s hands,” Cadee said.

“We've flip-flopped between him, but our last few games without him we've had Sydney on the ropes and should have won, we had Melbourne and SE Melbourne against the ropes and could have won.

“We've been in games now it’s about finding that little bit of an edge where we can get on top of teams and build a lead, which we did (against NZ).”