Perth Wildcats co-captain Brad Robbins feels that the 'Cats can still go to another level despite having won six straight games and he's looking to Thursday's game with the Breakers in New Zealand as a massive stepping stone towards securing home court advantage for the playoffs.
The Wildcats have currently won six straight games – over New Zealand, Townsville (twice), Melbourne, Gold Coast and Sydney – for the first time in coach Rob Beveridge's time at the helm.
Click here to listen to Brad Robbins speaking to the media on Monday
That has seen the 'Cats move to the top of the NBL ladder with a 14-5 record, but the Breakers hold the same record and have also been in good form this year to date.
New Zealand did suffer tough losses to Perth and Cairns to close out 2011, but have since beaten Melbourne (twice), Adelaide and Sydney handsomely to set up Thursday's top-of-the-table clash with the Wildcats at the North Shore Events Centre.
Robbins knows how important home court advantage could be come playoffs time and if the 'Cats win on Thursday they secure the season-series against New Zealand.
While last Saturday night's 87-55 thumping at Challenge Stadium of Townsville was about as good as the 'Cats can play according to Robbins, he still thinks they can go to another level as well.
"That was as good as we are ever going to play. We are playing our best basketball at the moment and we have a lot of confidence going into this game," Robbins said.
"I definitely still think we can go to another level. I think at this stage it's as good as you are going to get what you saw against Townsville, but I think coming into the finals you have to pick it up a notch and I think we can do that.
"At the moment we are thinking of the next nine games as home court advantage. As far as coming into the end of the year, this is a huge game because we definitely want the home court advantage. From last year that definitely bit us on the backside and we got knocked out in the semis as a result."
Perth and New Zealand have won the last two NBL championships and have had some fierce battles over that period as well trading memorable victories against one another, including last year's exciting semi-final series.
The fact that both teams have kept their core group together and have continued to perform at a high level is why Robbins thinks the battles have been that good over recent years and that's why the 'Cats will again have to be at their best to win on Thursday.
"The last three years they have proved that they are certainly a force to be reckoned with. I think we match up really well against each other and I think both teams will go in pretty confident to be honest. We are at home and we are certainly not going to take them lightly. It's going to be a big challenge for us, we have nine games to go and it's time to start stepping up," he said.
"For me I think both teams have had a core group of guys together for a long time. They run their system well and don’t really change week in and week out. They are the same team each week and I think we are very similar. We haven’t really changed anything up in three years. We have nine guys returning from last year and I think that's the key to both teams."
As for the inevitable physical game that is to come, Robbins feels both teams should just stop talking about it because with the way they play it's always going to be that way.
"It's going to happen with the way both teams play. Both teams are very physical and it's always going to happen," he said.
"I don’t think there's any particular animosity and we certainly aren’t revving it up as it's going to be this great, big WWF hit out. It's just the way we both play and it's inevitable really."
Robbins is having a tremendous season, possibly the best of his 190-game NBL career to date, and that included five steals as his pressure took Townsville right out of their comfort zone last week. As for this week, he's preparing for CJ Bruton and a bit of Cedric Jackson as his opponents.
"I think with Corletto now playing the two that CJ will have to play a bit more of the one because they don’t have a senior back-up point guard," Robbins said.
"I would say that CJ will play that one and two role, and me and Damian have been playing together now at times which is odd for us I guess. I would say that I will match-up on CJ at some stage and he's definitely a big piece of their puzzle."
