New Perth Wildcats coach Scott Morrison ready for ScoMo sledges

New Perth Wildcats coach Scott Morrison has already been mistaken for the prime minister, and he knows he’s in for more.

Scott Morrison says he is up to the task of leading Perth to title No. 11. Picture: Randy Belice/NBAE via Getty Images

Newly appointed Perth Wildcats coach Scott Morrison knows he will have to get used to people confusing him with the man he shares a name with — the prime minister.

Morrison has signed on to be the head coach of the NBL’s most successful team for the next three years.

He will replace outgoing coach Trevor Gleeson, who led the Wildcats to five championships during his eight seasons in charge and has accepted an assistant coaching role with the Toronto Raptors in the NBA.

Morrison was most recently an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics for five years and also had experience coaching in the NBA’s G-League and at college level in Canada.

The 43-year-old is well aware of the coincidence of sharing his name with the prime minister, revealing he has copped abuse on social media in recent years from people who thought he was Australia’s most powerful politician.

“I haven’t checked the polls but I’m sure I’m trending pretty good right now because we haven’t lost any games,” Morrison said with a laugh.

Scott Morrison (right) has experience as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics in the NBA. Picture: David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images

“Over the years it’s been funny to get a lot of people hitting me up on Twitter, cursing at me, complaining about me and I’d been asleep for the last 10 hours so I wasn’t really sure what they were upset about.

“It hit home a little more when this job came up and we started talking.

“I think if the shoe was on the other foot and my favourite Canadian team hired Justin Trudeau to coach the team, I think I would get a great kick out of it.

“I don’t blame anybody for laughing. I hope my spot on top of the Scott Morrison polls is the same at the end of the season as it right now.”

Morrison and the Wildcats are unsure when their new coach will arrive in Perth, with Australia’s strict quarantine rules and caps on international arrivals making travel arrangements difficult.

Making matters more complicated, Morrison and his wife are expecting their second child this weekend.

The Canadian plans to move to Perth with his wife, their one-year-old and newborn baby.

“If the other Scott Morrison can help me cut down my quarantine, I’m happy to step down and give him my role,” Morrison joked.

Morrison will take charge of Australia’s most successful basketball team. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

But it’s not all fun and games for Perth’s new coach, who is taking charge of a franchise which has won 10 NBL championships and made the playoffs an astonishing 35 years in a row.

“I’m excited for the challenge, I’m excited to get back to being a head coach after a few years of being an assistant, and I’m very honoured to be joining Perth’s great history of winning,” Morrison said.

“There’s an expectation for this organisation to do well, and to live up to the past, but that’s not something I’m afraid of.

“I’ve always been the kind of person and competitor that embraces the pressure. It just makes achieving your goals that much sweeter.

“I know that the Wildcats 10 championships is a record for the league, which makes it easy for us to determine what the next goal is — and that’s number 11.”

The NBL season is scheduled to begin on 18 November.