Dumped Perth Wildcats import Mason Jones has flown home quietly after being released by the club, as he contemplates the next move in his career.
Jones was told his time in Perth was over on Thursday, just five matches into the NBL season. The NBA G-League Finals MVP arrived with enormous fanfare, hype and energy but cut a forlorn figure at Perth airport on Friday night as he prepared for his long flight back to America.
When asked by The West Australian if he had any parting message, a disappointed Jones simply replied: “Nah. I’m good.”
It has been a tough start to the season for NBL imports. Jones joined Vrenz Bleijenbergh (South East Melbourne), Javon Freeman-Liberty (Brisbane), and JaQuori McLaughlin (Illawarra) in being dismissed. Adelaide also terminated Montrezl Harrell’s deal amid uncertainty over when he’d be allowed to play following a positive drugs test in China earlier in the year.
Wildcats coach John Rillie will have to re-configure his starting five for Sunday’s game against the Sydney Kings.
Starts had already been a major issue for his group. They didn’t score for more than four minutes at the start of the game against Illawarra and trailed by 14 points during the first quarter. They were nine points down in the blink of an eye against Cairns and then faced the same deficit after just three minutes against Brisbane on Wednesday.
Ben Henshall appears the most likely to move into the starting unit given that was his role last season. Jaron Rillie has also been having a significant impact when on the court.
Experienced guard Sunday Dech will play his first game of the season after recovering from a calf injury. But he is expected to be managed carefully.
Rillie was shocked by the Wildcats’ lack of defensive intensity during Wednesday’s loss to the Bullets and said he’ll learn a lot about the team on Sunday.
“When you make a decision like we’ve made, Sunday becomes a really important game for us, to see who we really are as a group. “How can we get back to what we were in those first four games?” Rillie asked.
“Our defensive mindset – Brisbane the other night just scored way too many uncontested where that was lay-ups or three-point shots. Our resistance was minimal.
“The group that we have, I am very comfortable moving forward with those guys. We do need to find the right piece (import) but I love this group of guys. We’ll be ready to go on Sunday.”
