Perth’s star import on why energy beats shooting

Brandon Knight didn’t need long to remind the Perth Wildcats what they’d been missing.

Back from the hamstring soreness that had sidelined him for two games, Knight came off the bench and piled on 8 quick points, including 2 threes, in the first quarter on Thursday night. He was aggressive from the moment he hit the floor, but after the game it was veteran bigs Angus Brandt and Jesse Wagstaff he was quick to praise.

Knight played only 21 minutes but finished with 23 points and 5 assists, shooting 3/6 from deep and 8/12 at the foul line, as Perth beat the Tasmania JackJumpers 98-92 to avoid a fifth straight defeat.

He had full confidence in his body and would probably have preferred not to sit out as long as he did. Still adjusting to the NBL, he made a point of attacking straight away.

“I’ve been itching to get out there for a little bit now so the team has been doing a great job of keeping me kind of steady, so I don’t get too ahead of myself,” Knight said.

“But I already knew that if I’m gonna come back and play, that our team needed some energy, and that was gonna be with getting in the paint, pushing the ball and that’s what I’ve seen from my time just sitting back and observing the last couple of weeks.

“I saw that we lack energy at times and so how can I insert myself and bring energy? It’s not necessarily making shots, but just putting pressure on the other team and getting guys involved. And just doing whatever is necessary.”

Knight’s return and the key roles played by fellow imports Kristian Doolittle and Dylan Windler were central to the win. Even so, he knows how much Perth leaned on Brandt and Wagstaff.

The third quarter showed it best. In just over six minutes, Brandt had 6 points and 2 rebounds. More importantly, he was +15 in that stretch while battling Josh Bannan and Will Magnay inside.

Brandt returned to the NBL this season after six seasons in Japan, and Knight has been nothing but impressed.

“Gus does an amazing job on a day-to-day, not just being prepared, but being a great teammate and you talk about being consistent, positive and he’s one of the pillars on our team that’s sturdy, not just in how he looks, but how he handles himself,” Knight said.

“He’s been amazing so me and Gus have been spending a lot of time together just in little times throughout practice where I’m giving him feedback, he’s giving me feedback and even tonight, he’s telling me that when I get downhill he’s gonna seal and that I’ll have a layup.

“Then we got that and then I’m telling him to roll, I’m gonna take two and you’re gonna be open on the backside so we’ve been talking about these things for weeks.

“But he’s consistent and at some point, it’s gonna work out because he’s been planting great seed every single day, so when you do the right thing, it ends up working out.”