Perth Wildcats to have full roster available for clash with New Zealand as league reveals scoreboard blunder

Perth Wildcats coach John Rillie is eagerly anticipating the chance to have a fully-fit roster at his disposal for Saturday’s match against New Zealand Breakers, saying it will give him the perfect opportunity to see what his team is capable of.

The Wildcats suffered multiple injuries during the pre-season and have been without Dylan Windler, Tai Webster and Keanu Pinder at different points of the regular season.

But the entire squad has been declared fit to take on the Breakers in Auckland and Rillie said that was a major milestone for the group.

“We’ve had a good number of practices this week with everyone on the court so that’s good. We’re trending in the right direction,” Rillie said.

“When you put a roster together, you always think about how the pieces will work together. We haven’t had that.

“In saying that, the younger group of players on our team have had great experience against some of the elite teams in this competition. It’s been a good baptism by fire for those guys. I think as we work through our season and work to our best, these things allow you to achieve that hopefully a little quicker.

“Now the trick is for me to figure out what the rotations are, who needs to be on the floor with each other and so forth. But to have everyone available is the exciting part of it all.”

The Wildcats have a 2-3 record and the NBL have apologised for logging incorrect scores during their win over Cairns last week, with the error almost costing the Wildcats victory.

Kristian Doolittle’s clear three-pointer during the first quarter was called as three points by the referees and logged accordingly on the TV broadcast. But the scorers’ bench only registered it as two points and the scoreboard was adjusted later in the quarter.

That point became important towards the end of the game because Rob Edwards had a shot to send the game to overtime but his attempt missed and the Wildcats won 90-87.

The mistake wasn’t uncovered until after the match and the league said the rules do not allow them to adjust the final score after the final buzzer.

“We own, accept, and take full responsibility for the error made. We take the matter extremely seriously and will continue to educate our personnel on the correct processes and protocols,” NBL chief operating officer Vince Crivelli said.