Tara Murray
Some much needed reinforcements have arrived for the Keilor Thunder in the National Basketball League 1 South competition.
The Thunder has lacked depth and height in the opening few rounds, winning just one of their first four matches.
Thunder coach Trevor Burnette said having that extra height in the side would make things a lot easier for everyone.
“We had one arrive last week, she showed up on Thursday night,” he said. “She played on Saturday.
“Another one came in yesterday [Tuesday] morning, one of the big girls. We’re finally getting size.
“We get one more on the sixth and one more to come after that.”
Eva Kristjansdottir scored four points in her debut for the Thunder, while Juna Umezawa had her first training session on Tuesday night.
“They are two great girls,” Burnette said. “We had our first training session all together.
“It was a sigh of relief to have some more size.”
Burnette said a lack of size and imports in the first few rounds had impacted their results.
He said the younger girls had to step up and take on some big loads.
“We’ve had some ups and downs and had some really hard results,” he said.
“Sometimes they were playing the way we wanted them to, but they’re still kids so don’t always compare as hard to what they are meant to, it’s a learning curve.
“We’re asking these girls to play 30 minutes a game, but they can’t play 30 minutes a game at this level yet.
“We are getting better, that’s for sure.”
The star so far for the Thunder has been captain Lana Hollingsworth. Burnette said despite all the pressure being put on her to stop her, she was leading the league in three-point shooting, shooting 55 per cent from beyond the arc.
Grace Graham has also had an impact after missing the first couple of games with injury.
“All the young ones have cupped in.”
The Thunder was back in action on Saturday against Diamond Valley and then Eltham on Sunday, both after deadline.
They lost both of those matches.
Speaking before those games, Burnette said they were hoping to see the margins reduce and get a few more wins on the board.
“It might take some time to blend together,” he said. “The games should be a lot closer.”
