Cats centre plans to keep busy
Perth Wildcats star Matt Knight plans to keep fit over the NBL off-season by suiting up in the State Basketball League.
Knight endured another injury-plagued season with the Wildcats, with a pre-season ankle injury and mid-season battle with concussion restricting him to 18 of a possible 33 games.
But he returned to play the final 10 games and was a big factor in the Wildcats’ run to a record sixth NBL championship, averaging 10.1 points and 5.5 rebounds.
Knight is yet to sign with an SBL club and must first be given the all-clear by Wildcats coaching and medical staff.
The powerful big man might also have to juggle Boomers commitments and has a wedding to prepare for with fiancée Sherelle Johnson in September.
But if things work out, he is eager to play in the SBL after taking a short break on the back of the Wildcats’ grand final win over Adelaide on Sunday.
“I’ll obviously take a couple of weeks but I may play SBL, depending on if the (Wildcats) coaches allow me to,” Knight said.
“I just want to keep playing. I obviously missed a bit of basketball this year so I just want to stay in shape.
“If I take too much time off, my body takes longer to get back into the swing of things.
“So if the coaching staff and (strength and conditioning coach) Will Markwick allow it, hopefully I can play SBL.”
Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis said this week Knight would be given the chance to press his claims for a berth in the Australian squad for the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain, which starts in August.
Knight will likely be invited to the Boomers camp in Perth next month.
The national team meets China in a four-game home-and-away series, with home games to be played at Challenge Stadium on May 29 and 31.
