KEILOR Thunder coach Carey Paps has a message for his opponents in the semi-finals of Big V women’s division 2 basketball this weekend: the pressure’s all on you.
The Thunder qualified in fourth place and will face No. 1-ranked Werribee Devils in a best-of-three series for the right to move into the grand final.
Paps told the Weekly that if his team could pinch the opening game it would put immense pressure on the premiership favourites.
“I think the pressure’s more on them than us,” he said. “They finished top and if we can knock them off in the first game, that’ll put a lot of pressure on them.”
The Thunder reached the finals from a long way back in the field. They were slow out of the blocks, a mediocre 2-4 in the opening month, but for valid reasons.
As a new coach, Paps first had to make his whiteboard drawing clear to new minds and they then had to put it into practice.
And the team had found its groove after having former coach Steve Toy’s ways engrained in their mindset.
Once it started to click, the Thunder showed it could match it with any team in the competition.
“We’re all pretty excited to reach finals, especially after we had a bad start, but we worked hard and we got there,” Paps said.
“The team work was a lot better and the team got used to a different game structure with a new coach. I think we’ve got some momentum.”
Jessica Francke — one of the stars of the team with an average 10.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists a game — is the only player with a slight injury concern.
She bruised her back in the penultimate round but should be 100 per cent fit for the first final.
Jodi Impey is another player to watch in the finals, having averaged 18.1 points and 11 rebounds a game.
While Francke and Impey are the cornerstones to the lineup, Paps knows it will take more than just two players to win a premiership.
“We know what Jodi’s going to do and Jess Francke can do, but the opposition don’t know what these guys can do off the bench,’’ Paps said.
“Winning a championship comes from the bench; we have a strong bench.”
The Thunder’s men’s division 1 and youth league 1 men’s teams will also feature in the finals.
