Perth Wildcats coach Rob Beveridge is out to ensure all 10 of his players are 100 per cent switched on in Friday's decisive Game Three or else the championship won't be coming their way.
The Wildcats won Game One of the NBL Grand Final series with the Wollongong Hawks by 11 points last Friday at Challenge Stadium and led for almost the entire first half of Game Two in Wollongong before the Hawks took over to win 75-63.
That now sets up a deciding Game Three at The Jungle this Friday night as the Wildcats look to win their first NBL championship since the 1999/2000 season, and fifth overall to become the most successful franchise in the competition's history.
The players all got together in the change room in Wollongong on Tuesday night after Beveridge spoke to the group, and the coach now is confident that his players can get themselves up to play well on Friday night. It won't be easy against the dangerous Hawks though.
"It's a Grand Final. This is Game 3, so if these guys can't get up for Game 3 then we don’t deserve to win a championship. They're going to be up, there's no question at all. I was actually kicked out of the room and the players had their own meeting," Beveridge said.
"That's a great sign that we have some leaders in the team and that they weren’t happy with the performance. We're a tight group and we will play together and give it our best shot on Friday night. We've now both got one hand one the trophy and we're going to grapple over it on Friday for sure."
While the crowd in Wollongong was incredible as a sold-out 5786 jammed into the Sand Pit, Challenge Stadium will be alive on Friday night and Beveridge would love nothing more than to create history there by winning the club's fifth championship.
"It will be very special if we can win in Perth, it's going to be a massive party there's no doubt about that," he said.
"It's 10 years since the club has won a championship and we understand that we have a role in basketball in WA and we could create some history by winning five championships. Doing it on the home court could be something very special for Perth people."
Anyone that thought basketball wasn’t breathing life in Australia only needs to look at this Grand Final series, that has had over 10,000 people attend the first two games and receive strong media attention including a 12-page spread in the Illawarra Mercury on Tuesday.
The attention the game is receiving is great and Beveridge has no doubt it shows that the game is in a good state after the troubles of last year.
"It has been fantastic and grassroots basketball is exploding. I'm new to Perth and the kids are playing it, and there's not enough courts with the amount of people playing. The NBL now is doing a lot better job getting out to the community and getting people there," Beveridge said.
"We're a sell-out nearly every single game and this was the first one here, and that was fantastic. Hopefully these people will come back and continue to support because what the clubs are doing now is right. That was an impressive crowd and everyone in Wollongong should be very proud, it was just fantastic."
