Season synopsis 2016–17 Perth Wildcats season

trevor gleeson became decorated wildcats coach in 2017 after winning third title

after lacklustre season opener in brisbane against reintroduced brisbane bullets on 6 october, in defeated 72–65, wildcats turned on 2 days later in perth defeat cairns taipans 84–74 in overtime. hero of game jaron johnson, who, after struggling on first 3 quarters of game, stepped play in fourth quarter nail 4 triples, including game-typing three-pointer sent game overtime. 3 games season, wildcats felt johnson not right fit team , replaced him three-point specialist andre ingram. however, ingram managed 2 games wildcats before leaving perth due mental health concerns. injuries martin (jaw & knee) , kenny (groin) left wildcats no choice reactivate johnson s contract, elevate development player corban wroe, , sign jackson hussey. martin s absence throughout november , december showed, wildcats dropped 4–1 record 7–9 (last place) following round 12 loss adelaide. result of poor run of form—losing 6 of previous 7 games , recording 1–6 road record on season—the team made tough decision release johnson second time 2 days before christmas. johnson s replacement, bryce cotton, made immediate impact 26-point outing in debut on 7 january against sydney—the wildcat on debut, surpassing james ennis 25-point effort 2013.

bryce cotton on 6 march 2017, day after scoring 45 points in game 3 of 2017 nbl grand final series.

a rejuvenated wildcats side, led prather, cotton , martin (who returned injury on 7 january), finished annual five-game road stretch in december , january three-game winning streak, lifting them last place second place 10–9 record. 72–68 victory on bullets on 9 january marked first time in 3 years team managed win 3 consecutive games on road. coming final round of regular season, wildcats had 13–13 record , needed win both of round 19 games cement place in finals. behind 55-point weekend prather, wildcats successful in defeating sydney , melbourne, extending nbl finals streak 31 seasons sneaking third spot. cotton-prather duo went on lead wildcats game 1 semi-final win on second-seeded taipans in cairns, cotton (34 points) scoring points wildcat in post-season game since shawn redhage s 35-point effort in 2008. in game 2, prather (24 points, 10 rebounds) , jesse wagstaff (20 points, 5 threes) led wildcats 74–66 win. series sweep earned wildcats trip sixth nbl grand final in 8 years , 13th in franchise history. wildcats matched-up fourth-seeded illawarra hawks in grand final, after defeated adelaide 36ers—who minor premiers—in semi-final series. result, wildcats attained home-court advantage in best-of-five grand final series; nbl opted best-of-five series first time since 2009. wildcats went on sweep hawks 3–0 claim eighth title, going back-to-back first time since 1990/1991. bryce cotton named grand final mvp after averaging 27.7 points on 3 games, including 45-point effort in game 3, setting new all-time grand final scoring record in nbl history.

the wildcats won 7 straight games finish 2016–17 season , amassed 13–4 record between 31 december , 5 march, after starting out 7–9 , being ruled out of playoff contention in december. going back-to-back in 2017, wildcats defended title second in history, while trevor gleeson became first wildcats coach guide team successful title-defence campaign.