Jesse Wagstaff made the most of moving into the starting line-up to hit five three-pointers on his way to 25 points in Sunday's 17-point win over the Sydney Kings at Challenge Stadium.
Wagstaff has been in tremendous form as of late, which included him being named the NBL's Player of the Month for January, and then on Sunday against the Kings he earned a starting role and shone.
In just under 23 minutes of court time, he hit 5-of-8 shots from long range, went 8-of-10 from the charity stripe and also pulled in eight rebounds in a tremendous all-round performance.
Wildcats coach Rob Beveridge always backs in his players to take their shots and when Wagstaff is feeling it like he has been lately, he sees no reason why he shouldn’t keep putting them up and especially when he comes away with such good numbers.
"Bevo says that if you are open then take it, so the thought is if you are open just jack it up pretty much," Wagstaff said.
"If it's your shot in the right spot at the right time of the game, then we've all got a license in our individual situation to take the shot."
Depth is the one thing the Wildcats always pride themselves on and with Wagstaff starting, that meant the bench was incredibly talented on Sunday with Shawn Redhage, Matt Knight, Brad Robbins, Drew Williamson and Greg Hire all there.
Wagstaff has no doubt that's a big factor behind the Wildcats' performing well and especially because it allows them to play with so much energy as a unit for the whole 40 minutes.
"When we went on that run in the second period I think it was the five bench players out there which is a testament to the depth of our team," he said.
"To create that intensity was just fantastic. We forced them into a few turnovers and got a few cheap baskets, and that's what really broke the game open."
The Wildcats again struggled after half-time with Sydney going on a 16-2 run to start the second half on the back of New Zealand (17-0) and Cairns (14-0) doing similar things. Wagstaff thinks the key to arresting those patches is to just focus doing what they know works.
"I think we just have to stick with our stuff. We've done that the last few games now and that third period is something we really need to address, but we need to keep strong and keep doing our stuff. We have to screen, cut and all that little stuff and it will eventually turn itself around," Wagstaff said.
"Obviously we gave up a fair few easy baskets but it's all stuff we can control. Most of it is effort plays and just the little things like screening, cutting, being in position, being aggressive and getting the ball out of bounds quick.
"It's just those little things where if you break down a few times the other team can get back into the game. That third period has been one we've struggled in, but we are able to turn it around. The problem is, eliminating that dip or minimising it and I think we will be fine."
Perhaps the only thing Wagstaff didn’t enjoy on Sunday was a massive dunk that he happened to be posterised on courtesy of Jerai Grant. It might have even topped the one he was on the wrong end of last season by then Taipan Ron Dorsey.
"It was probably one of the worst dunks I've been involved in. I've been involved in quite a few but it's what happens in basketball."
