Dribble Podcast: Perth Wildcats star Bryce Cotton is in extraordinary physical shape ahead of NBL season

Perth Wildcats superstar Bryce Cotton will start the NBL season the strongest he has been throughout his entire career after spending the winter bulking up in America. Cotton’s fitness has been the envy of the NBL and he has led the league for average time on court for six years in a row. Last season his 38 minutes per game was five minutes longer than any other player. Teams attempted to wear him down all season by sending multiple opponents to defend him and he was clearly the most fouled player in the NBL. The four-time NBL MVP spends his off-seasons in America, training out of sight and a photo of him shirtless last week showed how he’s transformed himself into a powerhouse. Coach John Rillie said Cotton always had a clear plan about how to take his game to another level. “He talks about using the off-season to reflect on previous seasons and where he can improve himself to tolerate what the season brings,” Rille told The West Australian’s The Dribble Podcast. “I would say he’s gone away and gone ‘what if I can get myself in a little bit better physical appearance? He comes back and he feels good, and the opposition says ‘holy smokes, Bryce’s approach to this year is a little different. Don’t underestimate the power of a mind game in our league.” Cotton has already produced scintillating performances during the pre-season. he scored 36 points against Yokohama B-Corsairs on the club’s tour of Japan and followed up with 32 points against New Zealand in the NBL Blitz. Tellingly, Cotton only attempted three three-pointers that night as he charged through traffic to attack the rim. The Wildcats will start their season on Friday night with a clash against South East Melbourne Phoenix at RAC Arena and Rillie said he’d built a roster and game style to make it harder for the opposition to target Cotton. “One of the subtle changes with our roster with the additions of the new players is we want to create more space on the floor,” he said. “Teams that played against us last year did a good job of scouting and kind of shrunk the floor and the spacing. Myself and the coaching staff went away and asked how can we give him better opportunity within our offence where he doesn’t have to go through so many defensive players? “When you’re talking about Windler, Pepper, Henshall, hopefully we can give him more space to operate in.”