Week 6 Men's SBL Player Column – Gavin Field

BEING on top of the ladder is always good no matter the time of the season but we still feel as though we should be undefeated.

We blew what I think was a 23-point lead against Stirling when they made us play their game instead us being us. But all in all you can't be upset with sitting on top of the ladder.

Looking back to the start of last year, the first point in us being able to turn things around was having two great imports in Najee and Eric. They fitted in perfectly and I think the biggest thing was our chemistry and everyone fitted into their role perfectly.

The other big thing from the two down years before was getting Sheldon McIntyre back. He is the ultimate glue guy in the team and does everything you want him to, and he does nothing wrong and is an amazing player and leader.

It was all the unknown last year because we didn’t know the kind of imports we were going to get and honestly going into the season, if we made the finals I was going to be happy. But then after five weeks we realised we are gelling well together and can actually go a fair way. Then at the end of the day we felt disappointed we ended up losing in the quarter finals. We felt we should have gone a lot further. At the start of the year there was a bit of angst because we just weren’t sure about replacing all the people we lost, but we fit well together and the chemistry was great and everything clicked for us.

As soon as I heard that we were keeping Najee for this year I was over the moon. I have great chemistry with him and we know where each other is going to be on the court. And then with Marcus, with all the wraps we heard on him he was going to be a good, solid player for us and he has been great so far. He gives us that big body and takes a bit more pressure off me, Najee and Sheldon McIntyre with the rebounding and everything he's providing.

Getting DT and Rhett Della in has been great as well. They just know how to play. They have both been around the league for 10-plus years and they know how to play basketball. For me personally it's been great. Over the last couple of weeks I've had down weeks because teams have been face guarding me and I've had faith that my team as a whole and our system would work. And that's what has happened and we've still been winning.

Ideally we want everyone clicking at once but it doesn’t always happen. Then when teams face guard me, sometimes the best option is to give the other guys room to go to work. It also has to do with our system. Matt Parsons has put in a great system that goes with everyone's strengths and that is getting people in the right spots to succeed. That's all we as players can ask for.

We play the Wolves this Friday in a massive game. We have actually had a pretty good last couple of years against them beating them twice at home but up there at their place it's a bit tougher so that makes it a little bit different. It looks like we could actually have our full squad for the first time this year as well and I'm pretty sure they are close to full strength so it should be a good battle. It's about doing all the little things right and hopefully we can get over the line.

We then take on Lakeside at home on Monday too. It is strange having that schedule in the SBL but I've had that experience in college of having games three or four days apart so for me personally it's not too bad. But we have had to change things up a little like having a Shootaround on Sunday just to get refreshed. This week our focus is all on Joondalup and then we'll meet up on Sunday to go through what Lakeside do and get us all on the same page going into Monday's game.

Overall, I always love basketball but winning on top of that is the icing on the cake of enjoying it. In terms of me not having to do as much scoring wise, that just takes off some of the pressure where I don’t have to play 48 minutes like I have in the past. It's not just me, but other players should be fresher come the finals because we're sharing the load. Then if need be come the finals, if I have the right match up it will go in my favour or the same with Najee if he does. Any time you are winning it makes it all much better so it's very enjoyable right now.

Article by Gavin Field
Photo by Mick Cronin




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