"It was unacceptable": Rillie pulls no punches

No matter the short turnaround or the absence of two key players, John Rillie refused to lean on excuses after Perth’s loss to Sydney. In his eyes, the Kings simply wanted it more.

There was also the absence of Ben Henshall with an ankle issue and Dylan Windler battling a heel injury, while David Duke Jr was just in his second game back from an elbow setback. Still, Rillie refused to hide behind personnel challenges after his side led 29 to 28 at quarter-time before fading.

"Absolutely not (make excuses) because everyone's always looking for opportunity and when your opportunity comes now it's a great test," Rillie said.

"Tonight was a great test but after next week there's no more coming back after you lose and we've been in this mentality for a little bit of our season, and tonight was the ultimate test.

"I never worry about the scoreboard because if you focus on the attention to detail and do all the little things, that will work out for itself but tonight we just didn’t have the application and the discipline in certain moments to give ourselves a legit chance."

For Rillie, it wasn’t about who was missing or what the ladder looked like. It was about standards. And in a game that felt like a finals dress rehearsal, he made it clear Perth didn’t meet them.

The Wildcats arrived at Qudos Bank Arena as the second most in-form team in the NBL, having won nine of their past 10 games. Their only slip in that stretch was a one-point heartbreaker to Melbourne United. Ironically, a win in that game would have already locked in fourth spot.

Instead, Perth had another chance to secure it on Sunday after Melbourne’s earlier loss. But what unfolded after quarter-time left Rillie unimpressed, labelling his side’s performance unacceptable.

There’s no shame in losing to a Kings outfit now sitting top of the table with 10 straight wins. It was the manner of the 102–84 defeat that stung most.

It leaves Perth in a precarious spot. If Melbourne win Thursday’s Throwdown against South East Melbourne, the Wildcats may need to beat Bryce Cotton and Adelaide on Friday night at RAC Arena in the final game of the regular season just to hold on to fourth.

There had been plenty of positive signs across the previous 10 games, but what Rillie saw on Sunday fell well short of the standard they’re chasing.

"It's not about the opposition, because they're (the Kings) playing at a phenomenal level right now, but the way we performed is not how we've been performing of late," Rillie said.

"The way we showed up and performed today, that isn’t like championship-level material and we talked about their ability to play in transition, cluck back after makes, get offensive rebounds and it was unacceptable.

"When I review the tape the grading's going to look like my high school report card."

Some on the outside might point to the schedule: a home game against Brisbane on Friday night, then a cross-country flight on Saturday, before facing the league’s hottest team on Sunday afternoon. But Rillie wasn’t interested in going there.

There was also the absence of Ben Henshall with an ankle issue and Dylan Windler battling a heel injury, while David Duke Jr was just in his second game back from an elbow setback.

Still, Rillie refused to hide behind personnel challenges after his side led 29 to 28 at quarter-time before fading.

"Absolutely not (make excuses), because everyone's always looking for opportunity and when your opportunity comes now it's a great test," Rillie said.

"Tonight was a great test, but after next week there's no more coming back after you lose and we've been in this mentality for a little bit of our season, and tonight was the ultimate test.

"I never worry about the scoreboard, because if you focus on the attention to detail and do all the little things, that will work out for itself, but tonight we just didn’t have the application and the discipline in certain moments to give ourselves a legit chance."

For Rillie, it wasn’t about who was missing or what the ladder looked like. It was about standards. And in a game that felt like a finals dress rehearsal, he made it clear Perth didn’t meet them.