Perth Wildcats captain Jesse Wagstaff questions how much his team cares about every moment after huge loss

Perth captain Jesse Wagstaff has questioned whether his team cares enough to treat every moment in a game like it truly matters after they succumbed to Illawarra in a 32-point rout. The Wildcats were blown away at the WIN Entertainment Centre, losing 120-88 and at one stage they trailed by 38 points. Perth entered the game in great form after producing massive scores while Bryce Cotton was on a four-game streak of scoring at least 40 points. But Illawarra stopped Cotton from scoring after quarter-time, restricting him to 13 points for the game, and the Wildcats couldn’t stop the Hawks from dominating. Perth’s defensive approach has been questioned all season given their attacking style also leads to them conceding big scores. Wagstaff said the real issue was the group’s mindset. “I’ve been with the club for 16 years and there’s multiple ways to win. We often talk about an identity, and Wildcats identity, it changes every year based on personnel and the state of the league. So I certainly think there’s multiple aspects of it,” Wagstaff explained. “We have a great defensive system but Illawarra do a great job of doing what’s required. We care as a club and we care as players but often I don’t think we care enough to do what’s required in the moment. “That comes up in many ways. It comes up in boxing out, it comes up in diving on the floor, extra possessions, watching scout. You could sit here for half an hour and go through many things. I don’t think it’s one thing. It’s a combination of multiple things over the course of 40 minutes. To bring them down from 120 to 100 is 10 possessions. If you can shore up 10 possessions in a game, suddenly it’s a ball game.” The loss means the Wildcats will head to Christmas in fourth place with a 10-9 record ahead of Saturday’s game against Adelaide in South Australia, while Illawarra have an 11-5 record on top of the ladder. Wagstaff said Illawarra had shown what is possible if a team plays the right way. “We got smacked in the mouth. To be honest, they thoroughly deserved to win and we thoroughly deserved to get smoked by 30,” he said. “They do what’s required. They’ve got players that get after it and they feed off that momentum. They’re well balanced. They’ve got great shooters. They’ve got guys that play their role and they’ve got guys they get on the glass. They got 20 o-boards to create extra possessions and get kick-out threes. They play with a certain motor. “Hopefully it’s a good lesson for us. Hopefully it’s a blip. This doesn’t count for three losses. It counts for one loss. Hopefully it’s a really good lesson for us as a playing group. “Hopefully we can take a leaf out of their book and play with that passion and that will that is required to win in this league. It’s tough to do night in and night out but Illawarra right now are the team that’s doing it the best.”