Keilor Thunder has a licence to thrill in the Big V basketball men’s division 2.
The Thunder has assembled one of its most athletic line-ups in years and has the green light from new coach Steve Toy to showcase it to the fans.
Toy told the Weekly that he wants his side to be known as one of the most entertaining to watch in the competition.
“I’ve already told the boys, any chance they get to dunk it, do exactly that,” he said. “We want to put on a good show at our games. We want people to come and watch, get excited and enjoy the game.
“Out of the 14 guys, something like 10 of them can dunk it quite easily, so we’re expecting them to put on a pretty good show.”
The Thunder tips off its season on Sunday with a road trip to the Coburg Giants.
It will be a vastly different line-up to the one that had a succession of finals appearances under Peter Jukes. Gone are experienced players Matthew Jukes (Melton), Brent Radoslovic (Altona) and Andrew Freeman (overseas). In their place is a host of youngsters wanting to make a name for themselves in the senior ranks.
It’s not often that you would have the words youth, inexperience and finals in the same sentence, but Toy’s plans are exactly that.
“We’ve rebuilt from the youth league ranks, who won the championship last year,” Toy said. “There’s some good talent coming though, they’re all extremely athletic, they all get on well together, so I think the chemistry is right.
“We’re hoping to do some real damage this season and hopefully take the next step.”
Toy talked excitedly about the young players he would be working with this season.
Scott Drysdale, installed as captain, immediately leapt off the tongue.
“He’s got a mature head on his shoulders, he’s strong, quick, athletic,” Toy said. “He really leads from the front on the court and runs extremely hard for a big guy.”
Mitch Lukey will run the point and do it with breakneck speed.
“He’s very quick, a very exciting point guard and penetrates the key extremely well,” Toy said. “His decision-making is very good and brings the other guys into the game.”
Dusan Skenderovic, Blake Charles and Patrick Craig will share the minutes at centre.
Perhaps the most exciting of the lot is Australian under-age representative Joel Smith. The son of former AFL star Shaun Smith, who took the AFL’s mark of the century, has inherited his dad’s high leaping ability.
“Once he gets to the basket, you aren’t going to stop him,” Toy said.
Meanwhile, the Thunder’s women’s side will tip off its division 1 season with an away trip to the Sunbury Jets on Sunday.
