Tara Murray
Keilor Thunder will continue to make adjustments as they negotiate a tough start to life in the National Basketball League 1 South men’s competition.
After winning their opening match, the Thunder has dropped the next three on the road.
Thunder coach Liam Glascott said they knew going into the season, a lot of their early matches were ones they would consider 50-50 matches.
“It’s not an ideal start,” he said.
“We had the toughest road trip in NBL1 South heading to Tasmania and were the first team to do it.
“Then we played Geelong in Geelong and this week we face Mt Gambier. That’s four of the top six teams from last season.
“That’s a tough start.”
Glascott said there had been some good signs and they had taken some of their lessons learned in Tasmania into the Geelong game.
The undefeated Supercats won 84-76.
“We were neck and neck for large parts of the game, but they would then open up a 10 to 12 point lead and then we would get it down to one shot.
“We improved a lot from Tasmania. But we didn’t make the shots or get the stops when we needed them.”
Jacob Lampkin top scored with 29 points, while Zac Triplett in his first game of the season scored 20 points.
Glascott said one area of improvement they would continue to work on was rebounding. He said the side was shown out too easily on the boards at times.
“It’s about having the energy and effort from start to finish,” he said.
“We were down 33-11 at half time [against Geelong] but lost by four in the end. They had 16 o [offensive] boards at half time and only had two more in the second half.
“We can do it when we want to do it.”
Glascott said they were showing that they can be competitive in this league.
Jacob Lampkin has been the standout early in the season, averaging 22.50 points per game, shooting at a high percentage.
Glascott said they needed a few adjustments so they could knock off a side above them.
Triplett will train with the side for the first time this week, while Glascott is hoping that Cirkook Riak will be able to train more, after playing as many games as training sessions early in the season.
“We are a new team in the league,” he said. “We are three rounds into a 16 round season.
‘We will look to make a few little adjustments. Hopefully another week on the court and with trip for two sessions and Riak we will make those adjustments.”
The women’s side fell short against a star studded Geelong Supercats side on Saturday night.
Missing both their imports, the Thunder lost 101-87.
The Supercats jumped out of the blocks and led 34-23 at quarter time. The Thunder was better in the second quarter and reduced the margin to eight points.
The Thunder’s hopes were dashed in the third quarter, with the Supercats kicking away with a 21-12 quarter.
While the Thunder won the last quarter, it was too late with the Supercats winning 101-87.
Maddie Garrick top scored with 25 points, while Aneta Bandilovska chipped in with 21 points.
The Thunder sits 1-3 after the first four rounds.
The Thunder will face Mt Gambier in both the men’s and women’s this Sunday.
