WABL Wrap – Week 4 -15/5/22

WABL Wrap Week 4 – 15/5/22

Round 4 – Every week I look forward to reading through the coach’s comments and its pleasing to see a common theme of team growth through-out. Nice work Suns!

All of our “Player of the Game” superstars will receive a FREE PIZZA from our friends at Domino’s Kalamunda – Thanks Guys!

Players of the round:

Boys (U12)

Leyton Rooke – Another great performance this week with 11 points and 14 rebounds. His weekly improvement is not a surprise to the coaches as he works hard every week at training and listens to instructions, he is also a great team mate and very unselfish on the court.

Girls (U18)

Oceana D’abbs – She had a tough task guarding the tall girl for the other team and did an excellent job making her life as difficult as possible. She ran the lane really well and rebounded the ball well.

U12 GIRLS (LAWRENCE WEST)

Won against Perry Lakes Hawks (52 – 25)

COACHES NOTES

Unfortunately, the Hawks were affected by Covid this week, only managing to get 6 players to the game. For us, this week saw us continue to improve on our decision making and spacing. It’s nice to see the girls starting to embrace their roles and finding our identity as a team.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Eloise Clince – Great shot selection and efficient shooting saw Eloise share the top scoring spot with 14 points, along with a bunch of rebounds on the offensive end

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

It was great to see how willing we were to sacrifice for each other this week, there was no hesitation to pass the ball ahead. This allowed everyone to get involved and was a great team effort. Also a massive thank you to Adam, Scott and Kylie for keeping things running so smoothly in my absence, you guys are the best!

U12 BOYS (LIZZIE FALCONBRIDGE)

Won against Perry Lakes Hawks (40 – 38)

COACHES NOTES

Our team defense is improving weekly which is pleasing to see, as the boys work very hard during the week at training. Also, great to see a couple of our defensive leaders speaking up more and organizing the team in the crucial moments of the game. Offensively, our ball movement was excellent for most of the game which resulted in open shots for our shooters, unfortunately they weren’t dropping in the first half but they didn’t give up. They hit some clutch shots in the 4th to get the win.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Reuben Johnston – Awesome to see him have a great game this week. Starting to take on the coach’s feedback to help him develop his game to the next level, especially on the defensive end.

Elisha Dixon – So great to see ‘Smiles’ getting back to himself after suffering a fractured thumb preseason. Before the game we challenged him to be more active on the defensive end and it was great to see him go out there and execute the game plan.

U12 BOYS (JOEL WARNER)

Loss against Perry Lakes Hawks (17 – 66)

COACHES NOTES

The team was again struck by illness, with only six available players. Despite the score-line the team was gritty and found a few positives in the experience, even though there were considerable challenges. Some players showed that they can compete and meet the expectations of WABL basketball, while valuable in-game tuition helped our inexperienced players. Despite the loss our leaders gave 100% from start to finish… The effort on show by our leaders is of great importance and shows the necessary character that is a large part of becoming a successful sportsperson.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Adam Matthews. This week Adam was thrown into the starting line-up and made his size and versatility matter. Adam showed his length defensively, troubling a few of his opponents. More importantly, Adam gave it everything on Sunday. He works so hard to play our systems and learned a lot in-game, spending the majority of the game on-court. Adam is the ultimate ‘Team Guy’ and deserves this week’s player of the round. Keep persevering and learning Adam, well done!

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Led by our co-Captain Chad, plus Jeremy and Tala – there was no shortage of effort this week from these three. All three had very little rest and they left everything on the court on Sunday. Tala went down with a hard fall, but begged to get back in the game, Jeremy carried the ball all game, dealing with various traps and defensive schemes and Chad willed his team mates from start to finish. A coach only dreams of this level of effort and care for the team. Well done boys.

U12 BOYS (TIM HART)

Loss against East Perth Eagles (31 – 49)

COACHES NOTES

Declan was hungry for the ball in Q4, contributing more this game on both ends of the court. Players appeared to watch the ball better in defence, but there were occasions where we lost sight of our player and a pass to the opposite side of the keyway resulted in an easy score for the opposition. We had another slow start in Q1 (like last week) (6 – 12) . In the 2nd qtr we out-scored East Perth 11 – 8. Unfortunately, they bounced back and tripled our score in the 3rd qtr (4 – 14). Q4 defensive and offensive effort picked up, but the game continued to run away from us.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Ram, for maintaining his effort throughout the game at both ends, despite the score. We saw the best performance so far from Ram so far this season. Making quick decisions to cut, and picking up 8 points in the process.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Austin played his first game for us, he showed his speed on the court and desire to make a difference to the game, we hope to see him improve through the season. Preston delivered on points for us, as his decision making improves to look for a cutter, drive and dish, or drive and retreat when shut down, we will see more from them offensively. Matthew continued to look for driving lanes, and cut while calling for the ball, he top-scored for us this week.

U14 GIRLS (ANDREW HERBERT)

Won against Hills Raiders (47 – 42)

COACHES NOTES

After a tough loss in Bunbury the previous week, the girls bounced back and controlled the game from the opening tip. Having 3 girls out this game, the 7 girls showed great discipline and came away with a great win.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Isla-Rose Gray – This week it could have gone multiple ways but with our other starting guard out Isla made sure we played out game tempo.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Isla-Rose GRAY – 12, Jessica PRIOR – 12, Kaia RUKUATA – 11, Asha WINDSOR – 8

U14 GIRLS (JEMMA / JAYMEE)

Won against East Perth Eagles (30 – 23)

COACHES NOTES

Rebounding and defence was outstanding

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Ashlyn as she had a ripper game, was aggressive both ends of the court and made sure the team got the rebounds every time

U14 BOYS (ROB REES)

Won against Perry Lakes Hawks (48 – 44)

COACHES NOTES

We only had 6 players due to injury and covid, so we need to play a very controlled basketball game both defensively and offensively, which the boys did.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Kobe Seubert

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Both Joshua Mahama, Haruto Olson scored 16 and 14, everyone contributed defensively, which eventually won the game.

U14 BOYS (THOR AMUNDSEN)

Loss against Hills Raiders (43 – 66)

COACHES NOTES

Better use of our set plays and offence which allowed us more options with the ball. With two late withdrawals we needed to adapt our rotations against a hungry opposition and whilst we moved the ball well at both ends, we struggled to put pressure on the boards and were unable to capitalise from the opportunities in offence.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Taj Jeffery battled hard in defence and put up 7 points. Always working to get his team going, Taj is our player of the round this week.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Kalin Bertonlini was solid in defence, positioning well and pressuring opposition passing lanes.

U14 BOYS (LUKE POYNER)

Won against Rockingham Flames (41 – 36)

COACHES NOTES

A heard earnt win today with a close game coming down to a strong final quarter push to seal the game. Starting strong in the first quarter saw us ahead by 4 points at the first break. The second and third quarters were closely contested with almost every loose ball ending up as a jump ball. Flames managed to close the gap by the third break, but we dug deep for the final period and grew our lead back out with some great back court pressure giving us the upper hand.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Alfie Peacock – Played a dominant role inside the key with a strong defensive game, denying access to the key and controlling rebounds. Stepped up his defensive positioning to the next level.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

The team is really starting to see their offensive game mature with some excellent movement creating opportunities to score. Defensively, Logan Haines and Alfie Peacock were a tough combination inside the keyway as a wall of solid defense.

U14 BOYS (SHANNON TREW)

Won against Hills Raiders (61 – 34)

COACHES NOTES

Defence was superb, boys had a target to keep their opponents under 40 points and also have a target of scoring 60 points which they achieved both. Press and deny defence worked well and our movement with and without the ball was very good. I always able to give my development players lots of game time and they played very well when on.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Jack Murphy is a small guard but played as 5 fast strong smart players in offense and defence. He was everywhere and had a hand in alot of our points and defensive stops. Loves his little Floaters over the bigs!

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Was able to give the kids little scenarios/ challenges during the game to test their decision making and mental game.

U16 GIRLS (MATT HARDING)

Won against Mandurah Magic (81 – 48)

COACHES NOTES

Sunday’s game went to plan as I requested the club to allow Magic to have both officials for the game. We showed Great discipline and respect towards the game and as a team we are trying to just focus on US not what’s happening around us.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Anna

U16 GIRLS (CHARLIE SMART)

Unfortunately this game was re-scheduled due to Covid

U16 BOYS (BAILEY FERGUSON)

Won against Cockburn Cougars (72 – 53)

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Oscar Jenkins – Oscars intensity kept our defensive pressure intact as well as hitting crucial shots and great decision making on the offensive end to get us the win

U16 BOYS (LACHIE RILEY)

Loss against Perry Lakes Hawks (54 – 79)

COACHES NOTES

It was a massive team effort to take it to the top team. We outscored them in the 2nd quarter and only down by 4 at half time. Players stuck to our game plan which included taking more 3’s which we ended up with 4 for the game.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Zayden was a machine down both ends of the court, top scoring with 17 points.

U16 BOYS (RAE D’SYLVA)

Unfortunately this game was re-scheduled due to Covid

U16 BOYS (TYRON NEIL)

Loss against Perry Lakes Hawks (59 – 81)

COACHES NOTES

Fought out a tough game and were neck and neck going into the last quarter.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Laker Nelson was good all around the court in both offense and defense.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Showed they can take it up to the best team in the division.

U18 GIRLS (DYSON LOWE)

Loss against Mandurah Magic (64 – 91)

COACHES NOTES

We had a great start to the game shooting the ball well and getting defensive stops. Our energy from the bench was unmatched the whole game.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Oceana D’abbs. She had a tough task guarding the tall girl for the other team and did an excellent job making her life as difficult as possible. She ran the lane really well and rebounded the ball well.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Tamara coming back from Covid this week, being the second highest scorer with 11.

U18 BOYS (COOPER LOWE)

Loss against Mandurah Magic (84 – 97)

COACHES NOTES

It was pleasing to see that we fought all the way to the end. Went down 15/20 points on multiple occasions after bringing it back to under 10. Just need to not dig ourselves those big holes early in the game to be able to give ourselves a chance down the stretch.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Hudson Lowe was the standout for the game, superb on both ends of the floor playing on guards and bigs, and scoring a game high 35 points to give us a chance down the stretch.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Again, seeing the boys play all the way to the end no matter the score, is always pleasing to see.

U18 BOYS (ANGUS HYWOOD)

Loss against Perry Lakes Hawks (69 – 89)

COACHES NOTES

Sunday early on we were playing our best basketball. It was great to see us defensively pressuring the opposition into turnovers pushing them baseline for fumbles out of bounds, our talls standing up and were strong for us both ends getting boards to outlet transitions, and the shooters looked on target hitting some great momentum building shots. Outscoring the Hawks 43-34 in both the 2nd,3rd quarters we were strong in defence and went into the last quarter only two shots down against a sharp Hawks line-up.

Unfortunately we let them pressure the court up high, challenge us and the 4th quarter slipped away from us with them outscoring us 31-15. A sustained Four Quarters is to be the goal to take home the W and reach our potential as a group.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Heath Rose – If you want an on ball defender your got, if you want a shooter on the outside this is the guy, you want a guard to run the floor and take the hard layup for the and one!! You bet you take Heath Rose in that moment. Well done mate, great game!

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

U18 BOYS (HAYDEN BIRD)

Loss against Eastern Suns (72 – 117)

COACHES NOTES

Certain times in the game we have great sparks of intensity and we’re looking like a great put together team stopping the other team scoring and be able to have great movement with the ball

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Wayne Beier, was consistent all game and when we needed him he stepped up to the plate

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

The boys having great communication and team work, while also not dropping their heads no matter the score

U18 BOYS (RICK BATISTA)

Won against Eastern Suns (117 – 72)

COACHES NOTES

Switched on mentally all day from the tip, defence was special and teamwork was great this week.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Michael Luce finally breaks through after putting together very consistent weeks, Both sides of his game were exemplary

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Honourable mentions to Rhiley Gardner a development player earning minutes because of injuries and setting the tone defensively for his team when on the court with his desperation and diving hustle. Lachlan Moy our centre hit 5 threes and found his stroke. Special mention to my team manager/assistant coach/team mum Katrina who makes life easy for these boys and me and NBL 1 player Kirby Chiffings who got to training and the game this week to support and help the boys.

U20 BOYS (DAN VLAHOV)

Won against Mandurah Magic (109 – 44)

COACHES NOTES

After allowing an understrength Mandurah to score 18 points to end the first quarter 2 points up, the Suns realised that they needed to bring more effort to ensure that this did not become a missed opportunity for a win and a percentage booster.

With Mandurah only scoring 11 – 8 – 7 in the following 3 quarters, and the Suns pushing up the court regularly to ensure the score bench had to stay alert, the resultant 65 point win has pushed the team up to 5th on the ladder after 4 rounds and shown what this talented team are capable of when the are switched on and playing together.

All players contributed to the scoreboard with 8 of 10 players knocking down shots from 3pt range (Alex Jenkins and Stephen Phipps with 3 each and Jason Moore with 2) whilst defensively everyone stepped up after the first quarter and Mandurah’s scoring options in the 3rd & 4th quarter came, for the most part, from the charity stripe.

Jack Burrowes and Ethan Nash’s increased commitment to get in front and stop the play with chest blows was also notable and rates a mention this week. The coaching staff look forward to seeing this from everyone in every game moving forward.

Haydn Williams (25 Points) & Kiarn Linaker (21 Points) stood out with some impressive dunks & blocks whilst Kiarn Linaker again showed why he has won his WABL team defensive player of the year for the last few years.

If this team can continue to build on their trust, communication and recognise that they need to come out of the tip off at full speed, we we will definitely be seeing them at finals time.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Kiarn Linaker – A stand out again this week at both ends of the court with another double double.