KEY DATES
- Midseason Pub Crawl date coming soon!
- Plans for a December social event being discussed
- Dates for Player's Player and Club Lunch to be out shortly
- So no key dates yet...
SAABL DIVISION 1
A's
ROUND 1 By Brandon
Royals vs Reds 58-50
It's a new look for the A's this year with only Golds remaining from last years version. We started off relatively well offensively with Selfy making some shots early but our defence left a lot to be desired. We struggled to stop their main scorers from penetrating and our help defence needs some improvement. There was some bright spots in the second quarter as we closed the gap with good ball movement and some transition buckets from Foo and Selfy. We squandered some easy chances to go ahead in the game and the score ballooned out to a 8 point lead for the Royals towards the end of the first half. Golds started to heat up in the 3rd with a couple buckets and was joined by B and Jang making some effort plays. The fourth was much of a muchness from us, we failed to crash the boards with 2 of our bigs out. We changed to a 3-2 zone and whilst we were able to force some tough shots it only compounded our rebounding issues. Shout out to Jang for holding it down for us whilst all the guards who were above 6ft were too precious to get dirty down low and crash the boards 😎😎. Whilst I've spent most of this paragraph explaining what we didn't do on Saturday, there were some positives and some good moments from everyone. Hopefully with time and the return of some quality players we can threaten for the title for some years to come.
Points: Self 24, Golding 10
SAABL DIVISION 2/3
B's
ROUND 1 by Mike
Reds vs SPOC White. 47-32
B’s only have 2 returning players from their line-up last year, Angus (Garbo) Crawford and Nick (Fancy) Krantz. Dropping down from A’s is (Big) Phil Farrer and current Club Champion Mike (HAHAHA) Hill. Coming up from the D’s Talented Duo Ollie (Focca) Fox and Tim (his mum makes me dinner) Sibly. Final positions filled by (Dangerous) Stu MacDonald when he isn’t cooking up a storm, and former PAC School captain and overall golden boy, Noah (Harvard) Miles. The team looks stacked, with a lot of complimenting talent.
First game together was always going to be an interesting gelling run. Out of the gates, Saints looked like they knew themselves better, catching reds flat footed and getting to the rim. Phil and Noah keeping the scoreboard within a single basket and combining for Reds first 8 points of the year. Garbo then made himself known to the saints collecting the next 5 points and getting to the line. The Boys in Blue took the lead 12 minutes in at 13 – 15 but Reds battened down the hatches and kept them to just one more score for the rest of the half. Mike chipped in with a jump shot and a long 3, Sibly hit the from the short corner and Garbo cleaned up the last minute of the half with 2 baskets around the rim. 27 – 18 Reds up at half.
The second half start was slower again, taking us 7 minutes to hit our second basket as Saints clawed their way back into the game 29 – 25. Phil is his own harsh critic, getting angry and transferring that anger into 6 straight points, to stretch the lead back out to 10. At this point Phil had more rebounds than he had fingers to count on, which was yet another thing to get angry about. Sibly, keen to cement his space in the higher division connected for 7 points, both lucky and unlucky with a few rolls. Noah and Garbo cleaned up the game with 3 free throws as Reds kept the Blues at an arm’s length. Could have been more of a blowout had they made their free throws and layups.
Points: Crawf 15, Phil and Tib 11
SAABL DIVISION 4/5
ROUND 1 By Pritch
C's
SPOC Blue vs Reds 37-36
Saturday was the first run for the newly formed C team, and whilst the result was not ideal – the boys showed signs of a team that could pose a problem in this division.
Early on we played with speed on offense and an intensity on defence, catching Saints off-guard and quickly gaining an 8-point lead after back to back threes from Andrew Brennan. The Higham brothers were everywhere on the defensive end, with active hands getting to the ball causing multiple defensive stops throughout the game.
We gave up a significant height advantage inside, but Lachie Crawford was getting boards all day – laying a body on the taller opponents and bringing them in. Morgan Hodson showed his renowned hunger on defense, posing an issue for saints by challenging shots and tipping loose balls to our favour throughout both halves.
After a lacklustre start Saints started to hit their shots, and a five-minute defensive lapse late in the first half caused a 12-point turn around on the back of Saints hitting multiple threes. This stretch of play would haunt us for the rest of the game, Saints entered the half with wind in their sails and a commanding 6-point lead.
Sam Karamoshos showed great leadership during the break and throughout the game, calling for changes in the way we approached offense and regained our focus on defense. These changes made an instant impact in the second half, as we were able to claw back into the game after John started to get hot from the midrange.
Harry Tidmarsh was great in the open floor, facilitating his teammates on the break leading to some open shots. Unfortunately, Saints were hitting everything – and we couldn’t capitalise on some open opportunities down the stretch, ultimately falling to a four-point deficit with 20 seconds to play. A closing three from James Pritchard was not enough, and the C’s open the season with a 1-point loss, but with plenty to look forward to this season.
Points: Drew Brennan 8, Seb 6
D's
ROUND 1 by Simon
Somerton Smash Bros vs Reds 23-45
In this new era, a new team combo met at a new stadium in their new uniforms (patiently waiting outside the court) and welcomed Damien Tudini as a new player to the club. The D’s were taking on Somerton Smash Bros and were keen to get this season started. It was a slow start though and unfortunately for the Red men, we never really got going – we were down 31-12 at the half. While SSB did not appear to be particularly athletic or skilful, they had 3 bigs that exposed us early with backdoor cuts. While our D improved over the course of the game, those bigs finished off a couple inside and SSB then dropped a couple from outside. The Reds were getting good looks for some jump shots, but just couldn’t make them, hopefully we’ll get our eye in as the season progresses. We looked a little stagnant in O and need to drive the ball more – the return of BB next week should help with that. Damien showed some good energy on court in first run with the club, as did Manners (we’d expect nothing less from him), Reggie hit the first shot of the game but couldn’t buy another despite good work from teammates to get him open. Captain Max worked hard at both ends but didn’t get the reward, Conor battled hard on the boards and will find his role alongside Cam, who played well and top scored, even hitting a little shot inside over the back of his head (it looked a little like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxoB1JIibIE).
Points: Cam 8, Manners 5, Damien 5
E's
ROUND 1 by RT
Reds vs Port Blazers 32-45
Welcome back Sports Fans!
Usually a long break from competition would have a detrimental effect on a team’s performance. Luckily in the case of the Gold Team, there was no discernible change. Unluckily, we weren’t exactly knocking on the door of the NBA to start with!
With G deciding to sit this season out we recruited strongly during the extended off season, managing to snag Lachy with our priority draft pick (actually, he was just allocated to us, beggars can’t be choosers!).
That gives us a squad almost identical to last year, the main difference being that we no longer need to have a selection of bitch pop in with the beers for post game refreshments…
Having signed in and correctly sanitized we were all set to try on the new soft pink uniforms. The shorts selection certainly gives us plenty of growing room in the crotch department.
Hendo was absent for this opening game, meaning the refs had to go mostly unchallenged, although B-Rad did have a word or two to say at one point.
The opposition were somewhat perplexed by our relaxed attitude to the game, they clearly had sheep stations on the line, while we didn’t have so much as a lamb chop riding on the outcome.
Given our advancing years (at 30, Lachy is our new youngest player, taking over Caldy’s position) we did quite well to keep the Port Blazers somewhat in check, for the first half anyway.
The second half blew out a little, their youth, fitness and a desire to lift themselves from the badlands of the port propelled them to a comfortable 32-45 win.
Trev showed promise with 3x3, no one was counting attempts.
B-Rad was uncharacteristically quiet with two of the floor and two from the line. In front of his biggest fans as well (his parents in tow, nice to have our spectator numbers doubled!).
Nele managed four points from inside and a couple of nice free throws as well.
Caldy and Lachy had an even share of eight points between them and a foul apiece as well.
RT managed two points to prove that he isn’t just window dressing (although close to it).
Flair came out firing and nailed a three, thus bringing his season stats to a higher level than last year’s efforts. Plenty more to come, we are sure.
Points: Troy 9, Daniele 6
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