Giants left stranded by Buccaneers
Giants coach Wayne Creek has promised his players will rebound a month out from the play-offs, but even he admits their State Basketball League championship hopes took a major hit.
Geraldton shored up their title credentials with former NBA draft pick Ben Pepper a dominant force as the seven-foot centre came off the bench to rack up 24 points and 22 rebounds.
It was the first time since 2001 the Giants have lost three home games in a row, with Geraldton becoming the fifth team in 11 games to win in the gold capital this season.
The loss saw Creek’s team slip two spots down the ladder to sixth position with a 13-9 record.
The defining moment in Saturday’s clash came in the second period when the Giants were trailing 32-31 with five minutes remaining in the half.
Creek substituted arguably his best defensive player Matt Leske for young guard Hamish Bowden.
It coincided with a change in momentum as the Giants went missing in action on the defensive end, with Geraldton going on a 16-0 run to hold a 50-34 lead at half-time.
After the break, the Giants held sway and were only narrowly beaten on the scoreboard 46-44 for the half, but the damage was already done.
“There was a patch there for three or four minutes where defensively we stopped working as a unit,” Creek said.
“Offensively they went to their zone and it put pressure on us to shoot from outside – they didn’t drop – and then we didn’t attack the basket enough.
“That patch really hurt and we got in a bit of a rut after that. “It wasn’t that the guys didn’t try, they were having a crack, but when you shoot 39 per cent for the game, you’re not going to win many games.”
American import John Vaudreuil, playing in front of his parents who flew in from Minnesota, top-scored for the Giants with 15 points and also collected 10 rebounds.
Guard Jimmy Bowler (12 points) was also among the Giants’ best, but surprisingly spent the entire second period on the bench after starting so well on dynamic Geraldton import Ryan Zamroz (22 points).
Zamroz had come under some close attention early in the game, which peaked when Vaudreuil put him on his backside in the middle of the court with a solid block.
But Zamroz and Daniel Thomas (24 points) had the last laugh as they sunk nine three-pointers between them.
Creek said his players’ confidence has taken a hit with three successive losses. “Once you lose three in a row at home, especially when your home court is a bit of a fortress, it does take a bit of a dent,” he said.
“The guys know they’re good basketball players, they know they’re a good team and it’s just a matter of replicating what we were doing earlier in the season.
“It (confidence) doesn’t take such a dent that we just throw it all away and say the season’s done, because it’s not. You take every team on their merits each week. The guys will back it up, they’ll keep working and it will start happening again.”
With four regular season games remaining, it is still a mathematical possibility for the Giants to miss the playoffs with next weekend’s double-header against Lakeside and East Perth shaping as a season-defining road trip.
Article by Jarrod Lucas
Photo by Travis Anderson (Andmedia/SportsVision)
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