Wildcats lure back Trueman
The Perth Wildcats are confident Jeremiah Trueman will be cleared in time to make a return appearance against Melbourne at Perth Arena on Friday night after the Kiwi international centre agreed to a short-term deal with the club.
Trueman trained with the Wildcats yesterday and will be signed as a temporary injury replacement for Matt Knight, who has been ruled out for at least three more games because of his latest bout of concussion.
Trueman was released by the Wildcats last year after 71 games in three seasons with the club.
He signed a two-year deal with the New Zealand Breakers but was placed on a waiver by the reigning champions to make way for Gary Wilkinson in October.
Trueman has been working out with New Zealand national league team Manawatu.
He will come off the bench in support of Tom Jervis on Friday.
Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson said Trueman would add strength and hustle to the line-up in Knight's absence.
"The guys spoke very highly of JT as a teammate," Gleeson said.
"He's a hard worker and can bring energy to the team.
"For us it was a quick phone call and hopefully everything will go smoothly. He's always high energy on the court, he scrambles for the ball and he's a good teammate.
"We certainly need some more muscle under the basket without Matty there and hopefully he can fill that void for us."
Knight had scans last Friday to determine the extent of the damage after copping accidental blows against Cairns and Townsville in rounds 11 and 13.
"We've got to take precautions and slowly get Matt back into the swing of things," Gleeson said.
"He'll definitely be out for the next couple of weeks and we'll slowly increase his workload.
"Hopefully he'll be back sooner rather than later."
Knight has endured a long list of injuries since joining the Wildcats in 2010.
He has struggled with calf and shoulder complaints in recent years and missed the first six games of this season with a torn ankle ligament.
