Over its 43-year history, 10-time NBL champions, the Perth Wildcats, have had numerous champion players.<\/p>\n
From Andrew Vlahov, Ricky Grace and Scott Fisher, to Damian Martin and Shawn Redhage, the Red Army have had plenty to cheer about during that time.<\/p>\n
But according to one of those greats, one stands above all in the Perth pantheon and that is five-time NBL MVP Bryce Cotton, who returned to RAC Arena for the first time joining Adelaide on Sunday.<\/p>\n
“The Red Army showed up and they showed out [on Sunday],” Ricky Grace said on Tuesday’s NBL Now.<\/p>\n
“They gave Bryce the respect he deserved. They showed the love that he deserved because let’s face it, there is no equal to what he achieved in the time that he was there at Perth.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Grace, who won four championships with the Wildcats, went on to say how impressed with the 36ers’ fight back on Sunday, to win by one point over the Wildcats.<\/p>\n
“I’m very impressed with the 36ers and just how they never gave up,” Grace said.<\/p>\n
“They kept plugging away. They kept trying different things. They had plenty of energy. Their spirit never broke.<\/p>\n
“Let’s face it [though], they do have some damn good players.”<\/p>\n
On the flip side, Grace took positives from his former side’s fourth-quarter collapse.<\/p>\n
“[All you can do is] just control the controllables,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I know the Wildcats are a bit frustrated these days with some of the officiating, but that’s neither here or there.<\/p>\n
“You just can’t finish the game on a 19-2 run.<\/p>\n
“[Big picture though] the Wildcats have had a really good few weeks of basketball against the top teams in the league.<\/p>\n
“They would still walk away [from Sunday] feeling like they got punched in the gut, but there\u2019s still plenty of [positive] signs there.”<\/p>\n
The Wildcats will look to rebound on Friday night when they host the Sydney Kings at RAC Arena from 9.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.<\/p>\n
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