Jason Cameron (JC) of the South West Metro Pirates has had quite the large shoes to fill this season.  With Coach CJ Bruton pushing the team to a Semi Final in 2007, it was always going to be tough for the Pirates to recruit someone who could fill that void- great leadership, intensity and the quality of setting standards, particularly on defence.  JC has stepped up to the role of player/coach in 2008 and in doing so has not only met, but completely exceeded each of these criteria. 

General Manager of South West Metro Basketball and Assistant Coach of the team David Derwin indicated that “when we approached JC to play we knew what we were getting having played with him previously”.  “With myself moving into the GM role, we decided that I would not take over as Head Coach and it was something that JC thought he would try knowing that he had good support behind him” Derwin said.  What an appointment that has turned into with the team currently tearing along in leaps and bounds, unbeaten after 8 games and making it happen with very much a modest local roster. 

The collaborative coaching efforts within the Pirates camp- JC , David Derwin and Aaron Harding, is something that seems to work well with Cameron spending a lot of worthwhile time on-court  (averaging 17.4ppg and 8.1rpg).  This see’s Derwin and Harding step up to the plate and make a lot of game decisions and the results so far (8 and 0) are certainly speaking for themselves.  The team’s recent quadruple overtime victory (the first in State League history) was a huge win for the team and as described by Derwin, Coach Cameron’s motivation to strive for a winning culture is spreading throughout the Association. “Well after the win, you could imagine that most coaches and players would be elated, but JC came in and said ‘we should have won that in regulation’. ‘Too many mental errors in regulation and in all OT periods that almost cost us the game’.  So you can see that he doesn’t accept mediocrity” Derwin said.  “This group is very young and now that we have had them together for a few years, we are starting to achieve the success. By bringing in JC’s experience, knowledge and competitive spirit along with his playing skills, we are seeing fantastic results for South West Basketball” he said.