WILDCATS LOOKING TO DODGE BULLETS

Posted on October 6, 2016October 9, 2016 | Posted by David Shortte

The Perth Wildcats commence their Premiership defence in the NBL tonight when they take on the reborn Brisbane Bullets at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre at 4.30 pm WA time.

The Wildcats have welcomed in five new faces in the off season and they will have a vastly different look to them this time around.

Gun import Casey Prather looms as a pivotal performer for the boys in red in their title defence this season.  He was the standout performer for the Wildcats in their recent Australian Basketball Challenge pre-season tournament and will be setting himself for another big season.

Defensive genius Damian Martin will once again offer invaluable experience and quality leadership for his side after returning from the 2016 Rio Olympics where he took full toll of his opportunities with the Boomers.

New additions Jaron Johnson, Jameel McKay and Angus Brandt are a key trio for the Wildcats and just how quickly they gel with the team will be a key as to how the Wildcats perform early on this season.

The Wildcats take on a talented outfit in Brisbane this evening. The Bullets are returning to the league after closing their doors in 2008 and they have assembled a handy playing group under Aussie Boomers Coach Andrej Lemanis.

The Bullets have recruited title winning Wildcats Tom Jervis and Jermaine Beal along with Boomer Adam Gibson, former Melbourne United player Daniel Kickert and import Torry Craig.

The head to head market has seen significant support for the home side with Brisbane firming from $2.15 into $1.59 while the Wildcats have been alarming drifters from $1.70 out to $2.30.

Line betting on the match is set at 3.5 points.

There is a head to head money back special available on the match for all TABtouch account holders who place their bet on-line. If your team leads at three quarter time but goes on to lose the match its money back up to $50.

The Wildcats back up on Saturday night where they return home to play host to the Cairns Taipans. The Wildcats are the $1.13 favourites to prevail in that fixture over the Taipans at $6. The line is set at 10.5 points.

The market to win the NBL title has Melbourne United the $3.20 favourites in front of Sydney at $3.90, Perth at $4, Brisbane and Illawarra at $8.75, Adelaide and New Zealand at $11 and Cairns at $21.

Good luck to the Wildcats in their quest towards back to back titles this season.

All odds and lines correct as at 11am, 6 October 2016 and subject to change.

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