Wolves, Cougars coaches reflect on top of table clash

THE Joondalup Wolves and Cockburn Cougars did battle over top spot in the Men's SBL last Friday night and Wolfpack coach Ben Ettridge was delighted with his team's response to another challenger while Matt Parsons was proud to see his side bounce back on ANZAC Day.

The Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars made a tremendous start to the 2016 season winning six of their first seven games leading into the clash with the defending champion Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves last Friday at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

The Wolves prevailed 108-95 to claim top spot in the standings following Week 6 of the competition for 2016. Ettridge was delighted with his team's response to a potential title challenger on the back of a 31-point win over the Perry Lakes Hawks the previous Saturday night.

"We have faced two teams that have set their targets for 2016 on winning an SBL championship. Both the Hawks and Cougars players and staff have put it out there that they want to win the championship, and that is their ultimate goal," Ettridge said.

"When teams are coming at you with that mentality, they are going to give you their biggest swing. Our team and coaching staff has been pleased, but not content with the toughness and consistency we have shown against these title favourites."

While Wolves stars Trian Iliadis, Kevin Davis, Seb Salinas and Rob Huntington continue to stand up, Ettridge is just as happy with the strong contributions from a host of others include Reece Maxwell on return to basketball and new import Bobby Evans coming off the bench.

"We have been impressed with the progression of Ben Ironmonger, Ngor Manyang, Sam Curtis and this week Jordan Wellstead, who returned from a few weeks out with an elbow injury," Ettridge said.

"Reece Maxwell, Rhys Smyth and Bobby Evans have slotted into their roles with the team and provide us with great energy and leadership. If there was a 6th man of the year award in the SBL, Bobby Evans is it so far."

Meanwhile, Cougars coach Parsons learned a lot from Friday's loss to the Wolves and was happy with the way his team fought hard despite the eventual loss at a venue the Wolfpack just do not lose at.

"The Wolves game was really an eye opener for us as a group. To dig ourselves out of two big holes, on their home floor with all 12 players contributing just isn’t going to get the job done," Parsons said.

"Credit to Joondalup for their constant pressure and depth for the full 48 minutes makes them the measuring stick again this season. But we need to get better and make better decisions when things aren’t going our way."

Cockburn then backed up on ANZAC Day with a clash against the Lakeside Lightning at Wally Hagan Stadium and the Cougars came away with 112-92 victory.

Parsons was delighted with the response from his group as they improved to a 7-2 record ahead of a clash at home against the Perth Redbacks this Saturday night.

"We bounced back with a pretty good second half against the Lightning. We didn’t hit our team targets in the first half but made the change at the break and were able to sneak away with the win," Parsons said.

"Coming off a loss it was extremely important that we don’t focus too much on the negatives of Friday night and start preparations for this game, the beautiful thing about the season is you don’t have to wait too long to right the wrongs."

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography




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