Rillie on Cotton: 'If you put in the work, good things happen'

Cotton became just the second person ever to win four Andrew Gaze trophies as the competition’s most valuable player.

Only Australian basketball great Gaze, a seven-time winner, has won the award more times than Cotton, whose 118 votes was well over double that of runner-up Chris Goulding of Melbourne United (53).

Rillie felt Cotton’s award was thoroughly deserved and described his two-month stretch to help the Wildcats’ turn around a horror 2-5 start as “probably one of the best in NBL history”.

The 31-year-old also took out the Fans MVP Award and earned All-NBL First-Team selection for the seventh time in eight seasons after averaging a competition-high 23.1 points and 4.3 assists per game.

“It’s thoroughly well deserved,” Rillie said.

“I am lucky enough to be around him every day. When we talk about every day, it’s not October, November, December, it is June, July, August.

“What people don’t see him doing to prepare for the success that he has an individual kind of gets lost in it all. In June and July, he’s in the gym for five days a week, making sure he is ready to capitalise on those moments.

“When we as a team were going through those struggles with our record, that’s where you can just lean on those things you’re doing in June and July. That’s what I preach to our team.

“If you put in the work, good things happen. For that two-month stretch, he was playing at an unbelievable level. Probably one of the best in NBL history.”

Gaze paid tribute to Cotton during the announcement.

“One day he might kick me off the trophy,” he said.

The second-placed Wildcats take on the winner of Tasmania and Illawarra in a three-game play-off series, starting at RAC Arena on March 9.

Click here for more ticketing information