Basketball On The Internet.

IF he hadn't done it already, yesterday Perth Wildcats superstar Bryce Cotton cemented himself amid the NBL's all-time greats, topped James Crawford's club record for single-game points and turned on a magnificent, magical, memorable 59-point solo performance against New Zealand Breakers.

It was a joy to watch as it unfolded, even if a few of his more selfish teammates could have used a clip behind the ear for failing to help Cotton pass the mythical 60-point mark.

Or to see him catch and break the 43-year-old record set by Reg Biddings of 63 points in a 40-minute game way back for Forestville against Bankstown in 1981.

Let's park that for now and savour the magnificence of this once-in-a-generational superstar, who smashed Crawford's Wildcats single-game individual record of 57 which the "Alabama Slamma" set in 1987 against Melbourne Tigers.

And that was in a 48-minute game.

Bryce had eight less minutes to compile his 59 on 18-of-28 shooting (64%), 16-of-17 from the free throw line (94%), with seven 3-point makes.

It was a tour de force and easily the greatest individual output by such an exceptional player since the NBL returned to 40-minute games in 2009-10 after the league tipped off in 1979 playing 40-minute games.

The format only changed to 48-minutes in 1984 which also saw the introduction of the 3-point line.

In the case of Bryce's brilliance, what also tickled a lot of us dinosaurs was the recreation of the picture of him holding a simple sign with his tally on it, a la Wilt Chamberlain in the NBA in 1962.

In Chamberlain's case, only 4,124 attended the game in Hershey, Pennsylvania and there was no footage of it. In fact it was absolutely fortunate someone took this iconic photograph in the aftermath of his 100-point onslaught.

Of course, since Wilt's historic performance, at least some 40,000-plus have claimed to have been in attendance.

The difference for Bryce is 12,505 actually were at the game in Perth's RAC Arena, and thousands more were glued to their TV sets mesmerised by his skill and talent. And anyone who missed it can find it via the NBL.

Cannot help but believe New Zealand coach Peteri Koponen even tried to help Bryce get to 60 when he took time out with 21 seconds left and advanced the ball, taking up just the 14 seconds. That ensured Perth would have a final possession.

Even Wildcats coach John Rillie appeared to work it out in time to run a final play which, unfortunately, came up empty.

But hats off to Bryce Cotton for the greatest single-game return since Chris Goulding hit 50 for Melbourne Tigers in 2013-14 and Brisbane's James Batemon's scored 51 against the Wildcats a couple of weeks back.

* * *

FOR Naismith's sake, can we please stop all the NBL double-talk about this being the greatest individual performance in the so-called "40-minute era" ... as per the league's INCORRECT graphic?

It isn't.

So here comes the next NBL disclaimer. It's now allegedly the most points "in the modern era"? 

WTF is that supposed to mean? Was Al Green's 71 in the 48-minute years - still the most points scored by any player in an NBL match - in the "ancient era"? The "outdated era"? The "traditional era"?

Or is the "traditional era" the one which ran as 40-minute games from 1979-1983 inclusive?

Because, pre 3-point line, Reg Biddings scored 63, shooting 25-of-37 from the floor (68%) and 13-of-14 from the stripe (93%).

How do I know this? I cannot pretend to have been there, but I did write the story and, though I make no claims on being a hoarder, I do have stuff like this in my book shelves:

In the media guide, on Page 53, it runs us through the records ahead of the 1982 season, those in existence from 1979-to-1981.

Check them out, to the right here.

So what have we learnt? That Cal Bruton's memory of scoring 53 for Brisbane was two points off. He had 51 which means he and Batemon share the Bullets' record for most points in a 40-minute game.

(Clearly, Cal confused his return with the Page number in the corner.)

Ken Richardon's 56 was the best return in 1979 and stayed so until Sir Reginald knocked in his 63 in 1981.

There's no such thing as a "40-minute era" or the "modern era". As we've written before, it's bullshit and only serves to confuse newcomers to the game - particularly those in the media - while today's NBLers try to turn what is black-and-white into grey.

Congratulations again to Bryce Cotton. Few words can adequately convey how brilliant he was and is. He now holds the record for the second-highest score in a 40-minute NBL game, leap-frogging Ken Richardson's 56. He is an absolute dead-set champion of the highest order and in every conversation about our greatest player ever or our greatest import ever. (Not just in the "modern era".)