Week 11 Men's SBL Preview

THE Kalamunda Eastern Suns are looking forward to trying to get its second win of the Men's SBL season against the Perth Redbacks and Geraldton Buccaneers this weekend while the Goldfields Giants host the Stirling Senators desperate to snap a four-game losing slide.

A fascinating Week 11 of the 2016 Men's competition awaits and it also includes a tantalising match up on Saturday night when the defending champion league-leading Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves host the third placed S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers.

The Wolfpack start the round on Friday night, though, up against the Lakeside Lighting at Lakeside Recreation Centre with the Textile WA Perth Redbacks taking on the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers hosting the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles.

Then also on Saturday night, the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants host the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars while the Eagles take on the Mandurah Magic, the Bethanie Stirling Senators face the Print Sync South West Slammers and the Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames tackle the Perry Lakes Hawks.

Lastly on Sunday, the Kalamunda Eastern Suns host the Geraldton Buccaneers at Ray Owen Recreation Centre.

The Suns ended a 26-game losing streak last Friday night beating the Lightning in overtime 128-123 to give them some confidence ahead of their double-header this weekend beginning on Friday against the Redbacks at Belmont Oasis Leisure Centre.

Eastern Suns forward Travis McIlroy is looking forward to the challenge that the Redbacks present and is confident his team can replicate their performance from seven days earlier against a Perth team having won four of its last five matches.

"We played the Redbacks at home in the first game of the season and it was actually a record crowd for the Suns and we tripled our previous record for the first game," McIlroy said.

"The atmosphere was great and I've seen how the Redbacks have struggled over the years as well, but I've seen the progress they've made with two good imports, another good Australian in Vigor and obviously Joel Wagner is a master leader and a great player.

"Yes, we are on a high but the Redbacks are one of those teams who can give us a walloping like we faced at Willetton but it all comes to preparation now and we are both scouting each other. They would know that we like to get up and down the court so they will be looking at ways to slow us down, but we have to be relentless and back up what we did last Friday."

The Lightning, meanwhile, have now lost their last five games after the overtime loss to the Suns to slip to 4-8 in 10th position. It doesn’t get any easier against the top of the table defending champion Wolves on Friday, but coach Sam Oatman is backing his team to hit back hard.

"They’re really deep, really unselfish, and really well-coached," Oatman said.

"We know it’ll be a tough task for our young team, but we’re looking forward to the opportunity and the challenge."

Also on Friday night, the Tigers and Eagles meet in what should be a fascinating contest. Willetton is in terrific form having won three straight to sit in fourth spot at 9-4 but East Perth is a vastly different unit with Tom Jervis there and the Eagles have won two straight with him to improve to 4-8.

Then on Saturday night, the Giants look to end a four-game losing run but it won't be easy even on their home floor up against the second placed Cougars who arrive in Kalgoorlie with a 10-3 record on the season.

Goldfields coach Michael Haney felt his team missed a chance to score a win last week at home to the Eagles and with that loss seeing them fall out of the top eight with a 6-8 record, he knows how big of a game Saturday night is against Cockburn.

"We had a tough loss against the Eagles. It was a game we controlled most of the way but couldn't get much separation and give the Eagles credit they made the clutch shots and made us pay for our mistakes down the stretch," Haney said.

"Happy to be home again but we welcome a top three team no doubt in my opinion to Kal. Cougars will provide another huge challenge but also a great opportunity for our boys to get our confidence back and the winning feeling back.

"Cougars are a well-coached veteran team who do a great job and playing solid defence and getting the basketball where it belongs in order to be the most successful team possible. We look forward to the challenge!"

Also on Saturday, the defending champion Wolfpack back up their clash with the Lightning on Friday by hosting the Buccs in what shapes as a season-defining contest.

Joondalup enters the weekend at 9-2 and Geraldton at 10-4 so the Wolves can either shoot clear or the Buccs can really close the gap depending on what happens Saturday night at Joondalup.

The Eagles also back up their clash with the Tigers on Friday by hosting the Magic on Saturday. East Perth could further close in on a playoff spot but Mandurah is looking to keep its hopes alive as well needing to stop a three-game losing run to improve on a 4-10 record.

The Senators suffered a loss to the Wolves last Friday and will look to bounce back at home to the Slammers on Saturday night to maintain their spot in the top eight. But South West needs to stop a five-game losing slide to avoid falling further out of the playoff hunt.

The Flames and Hawks meet in another intriguing Saturday night battle. Rockingham has steadied its season winning the last three games to improve to 9-6 in fifth position while Perry Lakes holds a 7-7 record and will be looking to start stringing performances together to get ahead of the ledger.

Week 11 will conclude on Sunday with the Eastern Suns hosting the Buccs at Ray Owen Recreation Centre.

The Suns will be coming off a clash with the Redbacks on Friday and McIlroy will be hoping they remain full of coincidence heading into the clash with Geraldton. He also wouldn’t mind if the Wolfpack wear down the Buccaneers on Saturday night before the midday Sunday meeting.

"They have the big man Mat Wundenberg and their import Carter Cook, and a lot of scoring weapons as well and even have Ralphy off the bench. We'll definitely be looking out for them but they are the travelling the team and they play the Wolves on Saturday night," McIlroy said.

"They then have to come up the hill and it's not just down the road for them to play us at midday the next day so we'll try and utilise that to our advantage by pushing the tempo. Let's hope the Wolves do us a favour and take them to three overtimes."

WEEK 11 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Lakeside Lightning v Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves, Lakeside Recreation Centre 8.30pm
Textile WA Perth Redbacks v Kalamunda Eastern Suns, Belmont Oasis Leisure Centre 8.30pm
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers v Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles, Willetton Basketball Stadium 8.30pm

SATURDAY
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants v Lapa Brazilian Cockburn Cougars, Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium 7.30pm
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves v S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers, Joondalup Basketball Stadium 7.30pm
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles v Mandurah Magic, Morley Sport and Recreation Centre 8pm
Bethanie Stirling Senators v Print Sync South West Slammers, Warwick Stadium 8pm
Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames v Perry Lakes Hawks, Mike Barnett Sports Complex 8.30pm

SUNDAY
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers, Ray Owen Recreation Centre 12pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Kez's Creations




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