Perth Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson says his players will cop a smashing from Adelaide if they continue to stay in "cruise control".
The Wildcats (12-8) have lost seven of their past nine NBL games to drop to third on the table, putting their bid for a record 33rd straight finals appearance at risk.
Last week's shock home loss to last-placed Cairns raised major alarm bells about the Wildcats' title hopes.
Gleeson has decided against recruiting a third import to fix the team's woes, instead backing his current squad to break out of the funk.
The revival mission starts in Adelaide on Thursday night when the Wildcats take on the fifth-placed 36ers (10-10).
Gleeson said his players would cop a hiding unless they improved their intensity on the court.
"If we don't (improve that), we'll get absolutely smashed against Adelaide," Gleeson said.
"We've got to match them on the boards.
"Last game we had two offensive rebounds to half time. We've been in cruise control.
"Adelaide play a high-octane offence. If we don't match that, we'll get blown out of the park.
"Hopefully we get back to playing Wildcats (basketball), getting after it and being ferocious out on the floor."
Star Wildcats import Bryce Cotton has been given the green light to play despite rolling his ankle in the dying minutes against Cairns.
Cotton has been a shining light for Perth this season, while fellow import Terrico White and forward Nick Kay have also been solid contributors.
But the Wildcats have lacked impact from the bench - something Gleeson is desperate to rectify.
"Too often we throw the ball to (Cotton) and try to let him do some magic with the ball," Gleeson said.
"And that's not how we're built. We're built on 11 players all putting in, all putting their hands up. We can't just rely on Bryce or Terrico or Nick Kay.
"We need an even spread from our bench and from our big guys to make sure we're just not throwing the ball to Bryce and putting him under the pump."
Gleeson is confident his team can overcome the worrying form slump and get back into title contention.
"The group's great. We're all rowing the boat in the same direction, we're just not rowing fast enough at the moment. Hopefully that will change really soon," he said.
Adelaide have signed former Cairns and Brisbane guard Shaun Bruce as a replacement for American Ramone Moore, who will miss the rest of the season with a calf injury.
