Round 1 vs Saints

For Shane and Matt, their very first game! Very nice to have you both on board. Lost narrowly, about 35 to 38. Nice to have the youth and running power of Lewis and Jessie McK, plus the strength and experience of Robbie. The game was played in excellent spirit by both sides. A very encouraging start to the season with this new team! 

 

Round 2 vs Goolwa

For Andrew, his very first game!  Very nice to have you on board.  Some great long-distance shooting by Jessie McK and some "clutch" free throws by Robbie in the last minute or so saw us get home, about 29 to 25, in a see-saw game. Another highlight was Shane's first career goal. Goolwa played with great competitive spirit, and were unlucky to go down in this close contest.

 

Round 3 vs Celtics

Brett had his first run for the season, and showed plenty of experience and know-how.  Highlight was not one but 2 goals by Matt, his first in basketball.  From the side I also liked watching Lewis wrestling with his larger opponent, and listening to Robbie instruct us to not give away any unnecessary fouls (quite rightly) and then watching him go out and go straight up the back of an opponent AFL-style!  All very entertaining!  Adding to the high-octane atmosphere was the vocal support of the WAGs on the sidelines, which I am sure went a long way to explaining why Robbie suddenly felt he was back on Footy Park.  After it was all over, following a few easy goals in the dying stages, the score was about 43 to 25 in our favor, which was a bit unkind to the Celtics as they were very competitive (and fair) from start to finish. Overall, after 3 rounds, a very nice start to our season, where we are aiming to be exquisitely fair and respectful yet still competitive every time we hit the court.

 

Round 4 vs Pistons

The absence of Lewis on his running ultra-marathon caused no problem for the team, as he was more than adequately replaced by Brett. We ran out reasonably comfortable winners against the Pistons.

 

Round 5 - bye

 

Round 6 vs Saints

We were soundly beaten (60-odd to 20-odd) by the Saints as they found too many gaps in our defence. Oh well, we live and learn!  The game was played in excellent spirit throughout.

 

Round 7 vs Goolwa

A competitive effort throughout the game saw us lose by about 10 or so points (about 30 to 20). The Goolwa team used their taller bodies to defend well, plus they shot pretty well at the other end. Another game played in excellent spirit.

 

Round 8 vs Celtics

Brett filled in again for us again, and added some very handy defensive skills to our game. With 30 seconds to go, and the scores locked at 29-all, Lewis was fouled and brought to the free-throw line. He nailed his second throw, and then soon after Jessie Mc laid up to give us a 3 point advantage with about 20 seconds left on the clock. It looked beyond the Celtics, but one of their players took steady aim from beyond the 3 point line and with 3 seconds to go lobbed it straight in. An excellent finish to a hard-fought game, played in pretty good spirit throughout; a few too many fouls on our part so we will try to learn from that. It was Lewis' last game as he will become locked to our div 1 side after next Wednesday. That should prove helpful to his basketball and will make for a good challenge for the rest of us to cover his loss. So after 7 games we sit 3-3-1, an excellent outcome.

 

Round 9 vs Pistons

We tried hard, but were simply outclassed by a more experienced side. We didn't give up and we played in good spirit, and we will continue to improve the more that we play. Final score was 50-odd to about 19, so we weren't humiliated, but it was a pretty comprehensive thrashing none the less. We have a few weeks break now, before we get stuck into our final 6 minor round games.

 

Round 10 - bye

 

Round 11 vs Saints

A good, consistent, competitive effort against the Saints tonight; they had a couple of players that we couldn't really stop from scoring, but we persisted throughout each quarter and so were never humiliated. Final score was 44 to 28; our newest players Matt Cousins and Andrew Jones continue to improve; Andrew shot a nice goal tonight. We were very well led by Robbie on the court, who gave us all plenty of helpful instruction about where to position ourselves. We welcomed Matthew Zimmermann for this game; he has plenty of skill and running power, and was a real asset for us; thankyou very much Matthew. Thankyou also to his big sister Rachel, who scored for us (again). And most importantly, the game was played in really good spirit by both teams, which for me makes it most enjoyable!  Good job team - hopefully we can display that same competitive spirit at Goolwa next week.

 

Round 12 vs Goolwa

Another very competitive effort, this time we came out on top (just!), thankyou in particular to some brave work by Robbie running around with only 1.5 functioning hamstrings! Score was about 30 to 26, so all our games against Goolwa have proven to be good, even contests.

 

Round 13 vs Celtics

Celtics had only 5 players and so they tired somewhat as the game went on; we ended up comfortable winners, but most importantly, the game was played in an excellent spirit.

 

Round 14 vs Pistons

The Pistons are proving a hard team to beat, and this match was no exception. We were competitive but there is still a bit of a gap between us and the 2 top teams. However, we continue to play in good spirit and this makes the whole situation enjoyable for everyone involved, win, lose or draw.

 

Round 15 - bye

 

Round 16 - vs Saints

Much like the Pistons, we find the Saints just a bit too strong at the moment. They were comfortable winners, despite the excellent efforts of the Zimmermann boys and Jessie McKinnon in particular. So we will try to learn from what we experienced tonight in case we come up against the Saints in the finals.

 

Round 17 vs Goolwa

In what proved to be a dress rehearsal for the semi-final the following week, we managed to extract a hard-fought, confidence-boosting win over the 3rd placed team. As always this season, Goolwa implemented a hard but fair game style, but even without Robbie, now nursing a bung knee, we were able to cling onto a very solid win. Our defence has improved significantly over the course of the season, thanks to the guidance of Robbie and Brett, and so we don't seem to leak as many easy goals as we were earlier on in the season.

 

Semi-final vs Goolwa

Yet another even contest (our 5th this season) against Goolwa. They took an early lead in the game, thanks mainly to a couple of 3 pointers, but we were managing to hang in there. They were conceding a lot of fouls, and so we were getting plenty of free throws, but not too many were going in. In the final quarter Brett and Shane managed to nail some free throws, putting us slightly ahead. Once again, our improved defensive actions proved to be the difference; very few fouls but still generally managing to prevent easy goals for the opposition. So, onto the preliminary final! Not bad considering the relatively inexperienced side that we have. A big thankyou to Rachel Zimmermann and Zoe Wade for doing the scoring so cheerfully and so well.

 

Preliminary final vs Pistons

Talking to Matt Cousins before the game I said that I hoped we would be able to put up a reasonable fight, rather than get thrashed; Matt was a little more confident than me. Word also has it that Robbie McK left home that evening telling Kerrie that this was going to be his last game of basketball, so clearly he wasn't full of confidence in the team either. So, as it turned out, we caught a few people by surprise in the prelim final; we led from start to finish, thanks particularly to big efforts by the McKinnon boys and the Zimmermann boys. The final score was about 45 to 32, so it was a very solid win. The game was played in very good spirits by both teams. Our defence has improved a huge amount in the 2nd half of the season, as has our ability to hang onto the ball and so not turn it over too often. A big thankyou to Rachel Zimmermann and Zoe Wade for (again) doing the scoring so cheerfully and so well.

 

Grand final vs Saints

Very bad luck for Andrew who has missed the last few games on account of a serious shoulder injury, and so he unfortunately missed out on this game. But everyone else was up and about and so our 8 other players took on the youthful Saints team, who had beaten us (often quite soundly) in each of our 4 minor round games. Still reeling a little from our upset win in the prelim final, our team took the initiative early and never looked back. We led by a few points at quarter time, about 10 points at half time, and close to 20 points by three quarter time, before winning 45 to 26, or thereabouts. Fine games by all, but particularly by Brett and Matt Zimmermann, the latter winning the MVP (from the GSABA) for the grand final. A big thankyou to Suzi Wade for doing the scoring so cheerfully and so well, and to all the families that were there to support the team.

The only blemish to the whole weekend was the phone call i got from a distraught Matt Cousins at 11am on Monday morning following the grand final; he was sat there drinking all alone in the front bar of the Grosvenor, just him and the pokies and the TV horses, pulling some of his best-ever Mad Monday moves, but not a team-mate to be seen; so sorry Matt, our very bad!

So, our brief journey has ended! Thankyou to Andrew, Matt and Shane for agreeing to give basketball a go; Andrew is having the summer season off to mend his shoulder, Matt is having the summer off to work on his tennis serve (insert smiley face here!), and Shane, who by the end of the season was clearly the cult figure of our team, intends to play on and fill-in for Grant Mann's div 3 team as required (as do I). Now we (Lakers) just need to get our hands on the rest of the Wade family!!!

Thankyou to Jessie Brown, always enthusiastic and always accountable, and never complained about time on the bench even though i am pretty sure he always wanted to be out on the court playing. Thankyou to Lewis for his valuable contributions in the early rounds, before taking up a permanent spot in div 1; he gave the team a lot of confidence in the early part of the seaon, and helped us win some early games to give us some faith in our team.

Thankyou to Fiona Zimmermann for sharing Brett and Matt and Rachel with the team; thankyou to Matt for helping out so willingly; so much talent and so much humility; it was a pleasure to watch you play. A really big thankyou to Brett who i know only really wanted to play occasionally but ended up playing almost all the games after Lewis' departure and became the player around whom the team was built; we 4 "newbies" learnt a great deal from playing with Brett.

Thankyou to Kerrie McKinnon for sharing her 2 boys with us. Jessie (like Matt) was such a great asset to the team, and a pleasure to play alongside; always capable, always trying and always humble. And finally Robbie, who battled sore knees and troublesome hamstrings, but was the real competitive spirit in the team, as well as being (like Brett) a very valuable leader and teacher, either out on the court, or on the sidelines. I remember straight after our round 9 game, when the Pistons had thrashed us, and we were just leaking goals like a sieve, and Robbie was talking to us (not angrily but with a bit of a sense of frustration) about his wish to be part of a competitive team and to play finals, and i had this sinking feeling that he was going to pull the pin mid-season. I am so glad that he didn't, and he instead stuck with us and helped us to become better at keeping possession and defending. And the rest, as they say, is history!

Most importantly of all, I think we achieved our mission of consistently playing how all div 3 teams around the world should play: enthusiastically, fairly and respectfully, and with a sense of fun and humour and humility! I hope that you all have enjoyed the ride as much as I have. Signing off now.

Chris Horwood