Coach lauds 'character-building' response

Following a much-maligned loss to Melbourne United, who fought back from 14 down to win by one point, all eyes were on Perth and how they would respond.

The proposition wasn’t easy, though, welcoming the red-hot South East Melbourne Phoenix to RAC Arena for an Ignite Cup battle.

Despite trailing by as many as 12, the Wildcats won the fourth period 26-16 to secure a vital victory over the Heartland club.

The gravity of the performance wasn’t lost on Wildcats coach John Rillie, who knows what a victory like this can mean for his side.

“It was a great response from our game on Sunday. We stuck with it, and it was good to see our character and how we responded in a tough situation, with a lot of guys stepping up in big moments,” Rillie said in Wednesday’s post-game press conference.

“The response to a disappointing play is what I gauge [our team on], but our starting backcourt is so young, and they are learning. How [Ben] Henshall is responding now is different to how he would have earlier in the season.

“I'm confident that this is a tight group and one that’s got character. We've been tested this season, and these tests will give us an opportunity to find out how good we can be.”

The element of Perth’s tough defeat to United in Round 18 was the post-game incident involving Kristian Doolittle and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.

The former apologised for the incident earlier in the week and post-game, while South Sudanese international Lual-Acuil Jr, who posted 18 points, 6 boards and 3 blocks on Wednesday, played it down.

“There was nothing difficult about the last couple of days; everything about it was blown out of proportion, and Kristian and I are both competitors and want to win, that's all it was about,” Doolittle said on Wednesday.

“We were back playing video games that same night while everyone was going crazy.

“I made a joke out of it because it had become such a thing, but we spent Christmas together. We're really close, and our families are close, and it was just like two brothers going at it.”

The 17-11 Wildcats now travel to Wollongong to play reigning champions Illawarra on Saturday from 8pm AEDT, live on ESPN.