Tara Murray
Keilor Thunder believe they have the right mix as they take to the court into the National Basketball League 1 South men’s competition for the first time.
With a new challenge ahead of them, the Thunder under coach Liam Glascott have put together an exciting squad.
Glascott said they were excited for the season to kick off this weekend.
“It’s been a long pre-season,” he said. “We started early last year, but we’ve been waiting for guys to arrive from overseas and through the NBL.
“We’re hoping to have everyone [for round one], pending some NBL protocols. Obviously they keep changing with rising cases, but we will hopefully be close to full strength.”
Glascott said they wanted to make sure they got the right mix when putting the team together.
He said they were confident their whole squad would make an impact at this level.
“I think we have a mix of everything,” he said. “Some guys who have come through our junior program are in their early 20s or late 20s and some that have been part of it a long time ago.
“We’ve got a mixture of the youth between the 20-25 and some guys with experience from 28-plus.
“I think we have a good balance in the group, with our guards, our wings who can score and our bigs as well. We’re willing to play different line ups.”
Imports Jacob Lampkin and Tyler Kidd have already made an impact with Glascott said both would be very good at this level.
He said with the two going to high school together they’ve already got a good connection going,
“They fit in really well with our local guys and are living in a house with two other guys as well. The chemistry between those four is really good already.”
Rhyss Lewis will also get his shot playing for Keilor, after his first stint in 2020 was cut short by COVID-19.
Kian Dennis will be another key, having previously played in the NBL.
One key focus for the Thunder was local talent.
Matt Spencer, Joel bellman, Chuck Long and Luke Sist were all part of the Thunder’s Big V side last season.
Glascott said they were excited to see some of the younger players who have returned to the club.
“Zac Triplett is one who has been playing with Melbourne United. Broden Collins is another, who played NBL1 for Ballarat last season. They are Keilor kids and teammates in under-12s.
“Carlo Camp is out of the youth league and he’s another who has been part of our program since under-12s.
“Abiola Akintola who went university in Denver is a local as well.
“Getting those guys through and showing the pathway to our juniors youth league kids is super exciting, we’ve added some kids through our development players.”
Having played about 10 practice matches in the lead up to the season, Glascott is confident they will be more than competitive in their first season.
Their first match is at home on Saturday against Bendigo Braves, with the club hoping for a big crowd.
“We want to go in an be competitive as possible,” Glascott said. “If we can do it in our first year, I think our expectation is to push for finals and if we can finish around that sixth to eight mark… I think our goal is to finish above .500. We have 22 games if we finish 12-10 we give ourselves a pretty good chance to make finals and be around that mark.”
Tickets for round one: www.intix.com.au/events/rd1-keilorthundervsbendigobraves.
