Perth Wildcats' coach John Rillie challenged import Dylan Windler to limit Brisbane Bullets' sharpshooter James Batemon's effectiveness in a recent NBL game. Windler succeeded, helping his team to a 117-89 victory as Batemon scored just 10 points.
Inside brutal road that led first round NBA pick to the NBL ... and how Australia could be ticket backFresh out of the FIBA break, Perth Wildcats coach John Rillie issued import Dylan Windler a challenge: stop the same player that dropped an NBL record 51 points just a fortnight ago.Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.
“He’s getting healthy and you can see he’s a really good player, which is the reason he was a first-round draft pick.” In that sense, Windler’s route to the NBA — and now to the shores of Scarborough — was far from traditional and as much as he admits to going through some of “the toughest times” of his life when injured, he said those setbacks early in his career “made me the player I am today”.recently spoke with Windler to reflect on his unlikely basketball rise that almost never was and how he has found his new home, at least for now, in Perth.
Dylan Windler eventually earned a contract at Belmont. “I knew I wanted to play something in college and pursue something at the next level and just kind of see where it would take me,” Windler added. Finally, Windler was about to get an extended look and at a local tournament too — the Spiece Run n’ Gun in Indianapolis. He played “lots of minutes” and Indiana ended up winning the tournament too.
“It all hit me really quick and you’ve got to grow up really fast. You’re taking calls from head coaches all over the country and they’re asking all types of questions and you’ve got to figure out what teams you want to visit with and it was a lot all happening in a very short period of time.”Only adding to the pressure was the fact Windler was so late in the process, with it being after his junior year.
But of course, even if Windler finally knew which sport his future was in, that hardly meant anything was guaranteed — especially for a player who, by his own admission, has been on “a much different path” from the start.There are some players who, even from a young age, always seemed destined for the NBA.
I never had jump off the paper athleticism or anything. I was never able to jump out of the gym or dunk when I was 12 years old or anything like that. By the end of his sophomore year Windler had earned more minutes, headlined by a 21-point and nine-rebound game against Georgia in Postseason NIT, but he was still left feeling he had plenty more to give.
It showed on the court. Windler went from averaging 9.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in his sophomore season to 17.3 and 9.3 as a junior before taking his game to another level in his final year at Belmont, averaging 21.3 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals — all career-high numbers. What followed was a dream come true and then, not long after, “one of the toughest times” in Windler’s life.Just a few weeks earlier Windler had been Cleveland’s headline act at Summer League, the only one of the Cavaliers’ three first-round picks to play in the NBA’s pre-season tournament.
He eventually made his NBA debut in December 2020 but just nine minutes into that game Windler fell hard, fracturing his hand. Another month on the sidelines followed. “Physically it was tough, rehab and all of that trying to get back and play basketball at a high level... but mentally it was the hardest part for me.
That is, except for Australian Danté Exum, who missed his entire sophomore season after suffering an ACL tear before a string of injuries hampered the former No. 5 overall pick’s development from that point. And as hard as those early seasons in Windler’s career were, he said that ultimately it is what “made me the player I am today”.Windler during his time at Los Angeles. Windler was assigned to the Cleveland Charge six times in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons before signing with New York the following year, where he played for its G League affiliate the Westchester Knicks, breaking the all-time record for rebounds in one game.
“It’s definitely a big step back when you go from playing competitive basketball at a Division 1 level and obviously in the NBA. He was staying in a rental apartment that the Wildcats provided him with for the first month or so before finding another space, a little condo in a “great spot” right across the beach.
But there is nothing relaxed or slow about the pace the Wildcats play at, with Windler getting an early glimpse of what his new life would be like playing with Bryce Cotton at HoopsFest. Mills, who was appointed to the general manager role at Perth in 2021, knew Windler’s two-way eligibility was running out ahead of this year’s Summer League. In other words, he knew the former first-round NBA pick would have to look overseas if he wasn’t offered a guaranteed contract.
He is definitely playing well as of late. Beyond that lockdown effort against Batemon, Windler also averaged 11.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in November.
Dylan Windler Perth Wildcats James Batemon Brisbane Bullets NBL Basketball
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