Former NBL star Lanard Copeland tips Bryce Cotton to score 50 points against Perth Wildcats on Sunday

Perth Wildcats have been warned Bryce Cotton will be primed to score 50 points when he plays against them for the first time on Sunday, with one former star saying his new teammates will be doing everything possible to make that happen. The highly anticipated match-up between Cotton and the Wildcats will occur at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Sunday. Cotton shattered records as a Wildcat, with five NBL MVP awards and an astonishing final season which included him scoring 59 points in one game. But Cotton wasn’t happy with the way his contract negotiations occurred when he was a free agent at the end of last season and tension has hung in the air since he departed. Cotton scored 53 points in just his sixth game for Adelaide 36ers and former star Lanard Copeland is confident he will produce a similar figure when he takes on the Wildcats. “He’s going to try to go crazy and his team is going to help him,” Copeland told The West Australian. “The players and coaches are listening to the media and Bryce is going to try to drop big numbers. The team will have his back. He’ll want to make a statement. I would not be surprised if he dropped 50. “If the Wildcats double-team him and leave other guys open, it means they are trying to prove a point and just shut him down, instead of worrying about the team. Adelaide have other guys on the team who can score. So I think he’s going to try to go crazy. He’s good enough, the team is good enough and they’ll be trying to get him the ball. “One thing is for sure, do not add fuel to his fire. If you add fuel to his fire, that fire will explode.” Copeland said one of Perth’s biggest issues is that Sunday Dech is the player most suited to guarding Cotton given he has done the job previously, but he’s been battling injury. Dech has played only five games this season and is averaging eight minutes per game, which means he isn’t ready to defend Cotton for extended periods. Copeland warned against handing new import David Duke the job, despite the American being a noted defender. He said Cotton would seize upon his lack of NBL experience. “It baffles me when coaches have new imports who come out here and they try to put them on Bryce Cotton or Chris Goulding,” he said. “These guys know how to score. If you’ve never seen Bryce play or have never played against him, he’s going to kill you. Bryce Cotton knows how to get himself open. “There’s no doubt David Duke can play. He’s a bigger guard. But when you get an American who comes over here, you struggle with the way the referees call the game. They call a different style of basketball to in America. With Bryce’s jump shot, the way he gets to the basket and his ball useage, I am seeing big numbers. “They don’t have one individual guy who can shut him down. They’ve got some really talented players on that team but they are more motivated offensively than defensively. If you’re focused on trying to get your numbers and you’re playing against Bryce, he’s going to have a big one.”