Would the Perth Wildcats need or want Martin Cattallini?
Posted by Ashley Proud on January 10, 2009
So the other day I was doing my usual scroll through various basketball websites and I stumbled upon this article. The basic theme of the article was the Cattalini wants to finish his career up in Perth next year and would love to be in Wildcats colours. It is all well and good that he is feeling a bit homesick and would love to go home but the question has to be asked – Would the Wildcats want him?
Perth’s biggest strength over the past decade has been its front court strength. Once again this year they have a wonderful 3,4 and 5 men with Redhage, Victor, Knight, Loughton and Rogers manning the fort. Would the Cat fit into that mix? The biggest strength of Cattallini’s game thoughout his NBL career has been taking advantage of mismatches. If you put a small 3 on him, he posts you up on the block and uses his size. If you put a 4 on him, he creates a mismatch by taking them to the perimeter and using his speed and athleticism to his advantage.
So if I was the owner of the Perth Wildcats for the 2009 - 10 season, would I pick him up? My answer would be yes. I feel that he still has a lot to offer and if he is willing to take a reduced role, you would be crazy not to pick him up. Yes he is in the twighlight of his career but he was pretty much out for all of last season and that should add another year onto his career. He seems to still get the job done and I have noticed that he is playing with a lot of spunk this year. Some people might say that he is taking away a job from a young guy. That is true but until the young guy can outplay the veteran, the young guy should still miss out.
If they added the Cat to the roster for next season and kept their exsisiting front court, I would confidently state that it would be the greatest front court ever assembled on paper in the history of the NBL. Maybe he could help Connor Henry prepare for how to face a zone defense. I could not believe it when he said that he did not prepare his team to play against a zone in preperation for the Taipans game. Hello Connor! The Taipans are undermanned and understrength. What did you think? Were they going to come out and press full court?
Anyway enough of my ramble. I will be back at work in a couple of weeks and the blogs will be back with avengance.
