Perth Wildcats import Dylan Windler warns it will take several more weeks to gel during NBL seasonCraig O’DonoghueThe West AustralianWed, 24 September 2025 2:03PMCommentsCommentsEmail Craig O’Donoghue
Perth Wildcats import Dylan Windler has warned fans not to expect miracles when it comes to how quickly the newly formed team will start to gel, saying it may take several more weeks for them to find their groove.
The Wildcats lost to Tasmania 75-72 on Saturday night and battled to find cohesion. The team had barely trained together during the pre-season due to a combination of injuries, international duties and the timing their players were signed.
Windler said it was important for everyone to be patient, especially with import Mason Jones who has only been in Australia for two weeks. He said the group had done a lot of work this week but nothing could compare to playing in games.
“We’ll learn quick. Maybe a couple of weeks or so,” Windler said.
“You can drill things a lot in practice but transferring those into a game when you’re in a live, hostile environment, especially on the road (is hard).
“We took some time to review film and point out some things we need to work on offensively. We’re learning as a group. We’ve obviously got a lot of new faces in the gym so we’re just trying to listen to our coaches and listen to the adjustments we need to make. We’ve had a competitive last couple of practices.”
The Wildcats have another huge challenge this week as they prepare for their longest road trip. The team will fly to New Zealand on Friday and play against the Breakers the next day.
Windler is determined to perform better against New Zealand than he did against Tasmania.
Windler looked fantastic during the pre-season but scored only three points against the JackJumpers. The American’s only basket came from a three-pointer and he too just seven shots for the day.
Windler will be needed to have a much bigger scoreboard impact this season and said he didn’t waste any time looking for solutions after the match.
“I didn’t have as many looks as I would like to get,” he said.
“But give Tassie credit. They did a good job on the defensive end at taking away a lot of our strengths. It’s obviously not the game I wanted to have personally to start off.
“I watched the game a couple of times back that night to see what I could have done better and to improve myself and as a team as well. There’s a few things I picked up on.”
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