2022–23 Perth Wildcats season

2022–23 Perth Wildcats season
Head coachAustralia John Rillie
CaptainAustralia Jesse Wagstaff
ArenaPerth Arena
NBL results
Record15–13 (53.6%)
Ladder6th
Finals finishPlay-in finalist
(lost to Taipans 78–91)
Stats at NBL.com.au
Player records
PointsUnited States Cotton
23.5
ReboundsUnited States Thomas
6.1
AssistsUnited States Cotton
4.8
All statistics correct as of 12 February 2023.

The 2022–23 Perth Wildcats season was the 42nd season of the franchise in the National Basketball League (NBL), and their first under the leadership of their new head coach John Rillie.[1]

After having qualified for the NBL finals for the 35 consecutive years preceding 2022, the Wildcats' play-in tournament loss to the Cairns Taipans on 12 February 2023 meant that the Wildcats failed to qualify for the NBL finals for a second consecutive season.

Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

2022–23 Perth Wildcats roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
G 0 New Zealand Webster, Tai Injured 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 89 kg (196 lb) 29 – (1995-05-29)29 May 1995
F 3 United States Thomas, TaShawn (I) 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 109 kg (240 lb) 31 – (1993-02-27)27 February 1993
F/C 5 Australia Hayes-Brown, Oliver (DP) 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 114 kg (251 lb) 24 – (2000-04-28)28 April 2000
G 8 Australia Norton, Mitch 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 31 – (1993-04-01)1 April 1993
G 9 Australia Zunic, Kyle 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 25 – (1999-05-04)4 May 1999
G 10 New Zealand Webster, Corey 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 89 kg (196 lb) 36 – (1988-11-29)29 November 1988
G 11 United States Cotton, Bryce (I) 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 75 kg (165 lb) 32 – (1992-08-11)11 August 1992
G/F 12 Australia Blanchfield, Todd 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 33 – (1991-11-07)7 November 1991
G 17 Australia Harris, Michael (DP) 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 85 kg (187 lb) 25 – (1999-10-05)5 October 1999
C 20 New Zealand Andrew, Jack (DP) 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 110 kg (243 lb) 23 – (2001-08-10)10 August 2001
F/C 22 South Sudan Majok, Majok 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 112 kg (247 lb) 32 – (1992-12-10)10 December 1992
G 23 Australia Travers, Luke 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 94 kg (207 lb) 23 – (2001-09-03)3 September 2001
F 24 Australia Wagstaff, Jesse (C) 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 103 kg (227 lb) 38 – (1986-04-30)30 April 1986
F 25 Australia Shervill, Corey (TP) 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 26 – (1998-03-19)19 March 1998
F 45 United States Manek, Brady (I) 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 104 kg (229 lb) 26 – (1998-09-04)4 September 1998
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Strength & conditioning coach(es)
  • Australia Josh Cavanagh
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Development player
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (I) Import player
  • (TP) Training player
  • (SRP) Special restricted player
  • (NS) Next Star player
  • Injured Injured
Updated: 12 February 2023

Standings

Ladder

Pos 2022–23 NBL season
Team Pld W L PCT Last 5 Streak Home Away PF PA PP
1 Sydney Kings 28 19 9 67.86% 2–3 L2 10–4 9–5 2679 2468 108.55%
2 New Zealand Breakers 28 18 10 64.29% 5–0 W5 7–7 11–3 2423 2246 107.88%
3 Cairns Taipans 28 18 10 64.29% 2–3 W1 8–6 10–4 2455 2376 103.32%
4 Tasmania JackJumpers 28 16 12 57.14% 3–2 W2 7–7 9–5 2385 2305 103.47%
5 S.E. Melbourne Phoenix 28 15 13 53.57% 3–2 L1 11–3 4–10 2553 2512 101.63%
6 Perth Wildcats 28 15 13 53.57% 2–3 W1 9–5 6–8 2580 2568 100.47%
7 Melbourne United 28 15 13 53.57% 4–1 W1 8–6 7–7 2434 2424 100.41%
8 Adelaide 36ers 28 13 15 46.43% 2–3 L1 8–6 5–9 2546 2597 98.04%
9 Brisbane Bullets 28 8 20 28.57% 2–3 L3 4–10 4–10 2365 2600 90.96%
10 Illawarra Hawks 28 3 25 10.71% 1–4 L4 2–12 1–13 2261 2585 87.47%

Updated to match(es) played on 5 February 2023. Source: NBL.com.au

The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win–loss record, the overall points percentage will determine order of seeding.

Ladder progression

Leader and qualification to semifinals
Qualification to semifinals
Qualification to play-in games
Last place
2022–23 NBL season
Team ╲ Round123456789101112131415161718
Adelaide 36ers——7488766777758888
Brisbane Bullets9910999998999999999
Cairns Taipans134343333434332223
Illawarra Hawks769101010101010101010101010101010
Melbourne United556866889888886777
New Zealand Breakers643212212212223332
Perth Wildcats212577577656575556
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix478734444343467665
Sydney Kings321121121121111111
Tasmania JackJumpers885655655565644444
Updated to match(es) played on 5 February 2023. Source: NBL.com.au

Game log

Pre-season

Main article: 2022 NBL pre-season


2022 pre-season game log
Total: 2–0 (home: 2–0; road: 0–0)
September: 2–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 9 September Adelaide W 98–87 Bryce Cotton (20) Luke Travers (9) Mitch Norton (6) Eaton Recreration Centre
300 		1–0
2 11 September Adelaide W 97–91 Brady Manek (15) Corey Webster (6) Bryce Cotton (5) HBF Arena
500 		2–0

NBL Blitz

2022 NBL Blitz game log
Total: 2–1 (home: 2–0; road: 0–1)
September: 2–1 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–1)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 17 September Cairns W 98–80 Bryce Cotton (36) Blanchfield, Travers (7) Bryce Cotton (4) Darwin Basketball Facility
916 		1–0
2 19 September S.E. Melbourne W 87–71 Corey Webster (16) Brady Manek (9) Bryce Cotton (5) Darwin Basketball Facility
838 		2–0
3 21 September @ Melbourne L 90–63 Thomas, Webster (10) Bryce Cotton (7) Luke Travers (4) Darwin Basketball Facility
917 		2–1

Regular season

2022–23 game log
Total: 15–13 (home: 9–5; road: 6–8)
October: 3–4 (Home: 2–2; Road: 1–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 2 October Brisbane W 87–73 Bryce Cotton (23) Bryce Cotton (12) Luke Travers (7) RAC Arena
11,083 		1–0
2 8 October Illawarra W 77–71 Norton, Travers (14) Manek, Travers (7) Cotton, Travers (4) RAC Arena
10,816 		2–0
3 10 October @ Cairns W 76–105 Bryce Cotton (24) Luke Travers (9) Mitch Norton (9) Cairns Convention Centre
3,608 		3–0
4 14 October Melbourne L 81–84 Bryce Cotton (32) Jesse Wagstaff (8) Luke Travers (8) RAC Arena
10,441 		3–1
5 22 October @ Tasmania L 103–72 Bryce Cotton (14) Luke Travers (8) Bryce Cotton (4) MyState Bank Arena
4,231 		3–2
6 28 October S.E. Melbourne L 90–91 Bryce Cotton (27) Blanchfield, Thomas (6) Bryce Cotton (8) RAC Arena
11,103 		3–3
7 31 October @ Melbourne L 94–77 Bryce Cotton (19) TaShawn Thomas (7) TaShawn Thomas (5) John Cain Arena
6,610 		3–4
November: 2–2 (Home: 1–2; Road: 1–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
8 3 November Tasmania L 77–85 Bryce Cotton (26) Cotton, Majok, Norton, Thomas (5) Bryce Cotton (6) RAC Arena
9,805 		3–5
9 5 November @ Adelaide W 89–94 Brady Manek (25) TaShawn Thomas (9) Bryce Cotton (5) Adelaide Entertainment Centre
9,071 		4–5
10 17 November S.E. Melbourne W 103–96 Bryce Cotton (32) Jesse Wagstaff (6) TaShawn Thomas (6) RAC Arena
9,988 		5–5
11 24 November Adelaide L 82–96 Bryce Cotton (17) TaShawn Thomas (6) Bryce Cotton (5) RAC Arena
10,329 		5–6
December: 5–2 (Home: 1–0; Road: 4–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
12 1 December @ Brisbane L 106–94 (OT) Bryce Cotton (30) Luke Travers (8) Luke Travers (4) Nissan Arena
2,427 		5–7
13 3 December @ New Zealand W 84–92 Corey Webster (26) Cotton, Manek, Thomas (6) Bryce Cotton (7) Spark Arena
4,884 		6–7
14 9 December @ Adelaide W 90–98 Bryce Cotton (32) TaShawn Thomas (8) Bryce Cotton (6) Adelaide Entertainment Centre
5,436 		7–7
15 12 December Melbourne W 90–89 Bryce Cotton (29) TaShawn Thomas (7) Luke Travers (5) RAC Arena
10,459 		8–7
– 16 December New Zealand Postponed (COVID-19)[2] (Makeup date: 10 January)[3]
16 20 December @ Cairns W 83–105 Bryce Cotton (24) TaShawn Thomas (12) TaShawn Thomas (6) Cairns Convention Centre
3,752 		9–7
17 27 December @ Brisbane L 97–93 (OT) Bryce Cotton (30) Luke Travers (10) Bryce Cotton (6) Nissan Arena
3,737 		9–8
18 31 December @ Illawarra W 97–107 Corey Webster (25) Brady Manek (10) Bryce Cotton (6) WIN Entertainment Centre
3,776 		10–8
January: 4–4 (Home: 4–0; Road: 0–4)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
19 4 January @ New Zealand L 97–94 Bryce Cotton (32) Brady Manek (7) Bryce Cotton (5) TSB Stadium
2,200 		10–9
20 7 January @ Sydney L 108–87 Cotton, C.Webster (22) TaShawn Thomas (8) Bryce Cotton (5) Qudos Bank Arena
11,073 		10–10
21 10 January New Zealand W 93–90 TaShawn Thomas (23) TaShawn Thomas (10) Cotton, Manek, Thomas, C.Webster (3) RAC Arena
11,668 		11–10
22 14 January Adelaide W 112–97 Cotton, Manek (23) Brady Manek (10) Tai Webster (7) RAC Arena
13,087 		12–10
23 20 January Sydney W 111–104 Cotton, Manek (21) Corey Webster (10) Bryce Cotton (11) RAC Arena
13,038 		13–10
24 22 January @ S.E. Melbourne L 112–91 Bryce Cotton (25) Cotton, Travers (5) Luke Travers (5) State Basketball Centre
3,300 		13–11
25 27 January Illawarra W 106–86 Bryce Cotton (40) Cotton, Manek, Travers, C.Webster (7) Cotton, Wagstaff (4) RAC Arena
12,251 		14–11
26 29 January @ Tasmania L 102–94 TaShawn Thomas (19) TaShawn Thomas (10) Thomas, Travers, C.Webster (4) MyState Bank Arena
4,293 		14–12
February: 1–1 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
27 3 February Cairns L 71–84 Bryce Cotton (28) Bryce Cotton (13) Bryce Cotton (7) RAC Arena
11,668 		14–13
28 5 February Sydney W 96–84 Corey Webster (26) Luke Travers (11) Luke Travers (6) RAC Arena
12,712 		15–13
2022–23 season schedule

Postseason

Main article: 2023 NBL Finals


2023 finals game log
Total: 1–1 (home: 0–0; road: 1–1)
Play-in qualifier: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 9 February @ S.E. Melbourne W 99–106 Bryce Cotton (26) Luke Travers (9) TaShawn Thomas (8) John Cain Arena
5,176 		1–0
Play-in game: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
2 12 February @ Cairns L 91–78 Bryce Cotton (19) Brady Manek (10) Bryce Cotton (10) Cairns Convention Centre
3,020 		1–1
2022–23 season schedule

Transactions

Re-signed

Player Signed
Bryce Cotton[4] 4 May
Ollie Hayes-Brown[5] 17 May
Majok Majok[5][6]
Kyle Zunic[7] 24 May
Todd Blanchfield[8] 27 May
Jesse Wagstaff[9] 11 June

Additions

Player Signed Former team
Corey Webster[10] 15 June Franklin Bulls
TaShawn Thomas[11] 26 July Le Mans
Brady Manek[12] 1 August North Carolina Tar Heels
Michael Harris[13] 12 August Mount Gambier Pioneers
Jack Andrew[14] 1 September Otago Nuggets
Tai Webster[15] 2 January Petkim Spor

Subtractions

Player Reason left New team
Jack Purchase[5] Released Forestville Eagles
Kevin White[16] Free agent Illawarra Hawks
Matt Hodgson[17] Free agent TaiwanBeer HeroBears
Corey Shervill[18] Released N/A

Awards

Club awards

See also

References

  1. ^ "John Rillie Named Wildcats Coach". NBL.com.au | NBL. 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Wildcats vs Breakers Game Postponed". NBL.com.au | NBL. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  3. ^ "NBL Announces Schedule Changes". NBL.com.au | NBL. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Cotton Re-Signs with Cats on a 3-Year Deal". NBL.com.au | NBL. 4 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  5. ^ a b c "Wildcats take options on big man duo". Wildcats.com.au | Wildcats. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  6. ^ @nbl (17 May 2022). "The @PerthWildcats have taken Club Options on the contracts of Majok Majok and Ollie Hayes-Brown for #NBL23". Retrieved 17 May 2022 – via Instagram.
  7. ^ "Wildcats Elevate Zunic". NBL.com.au | NBL. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  8. ^ "Todd Blanchfield Staying in Perth". NBL.com.au | NBL. 27 May 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  9. ^ "Jesse Wagstaff returns for 14th season". Wildcats.com.au | Wildcats. 11 June 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Perth Wildcats sign sharp-shooter Corey Webster". Wildcats.com.au. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Wildcats sign American forward TaShawn Thomas". Wildcats.com.au. July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  12. ^ "Perth Wildcats sign Brady Manek as third import". Wildcats.com.au. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  13. ^ "Perth Wildcats Sign NBL1 Sharp-Shooter Michael Harris". Wildcats.com.au. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  14. ^ "Perth Add Third Development Player". NBL.com.au | NBL. 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  15. ^ "Wildcats sign sharp-shooting Tai Webster". wildcats.com.au. 2 January 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Hawks Gain Valuable Experience". NBL.com.au. 17 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  17. ^ "台啤英熊找來澳洲國家隊中鋒 取名哈吉勝有原因". Liberty Times Net. 2 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  18. ^ @perthwildcats (2 January 2023). "Thank you, Sherv. ❤️". Retrieved 2 January 2023 – via Instagram.
  19. ^ "Cotton takes out fifth Wildcats MVP". Wildcats.com.au. 1 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.