Tough trip for Lakeside (Round 3 men's preview)
Perennial men's State Basketball League title contenders Lakeside Lightning face their first true test of the season when they head on the road to face Geraldton Buccaneers on Saturday.
The Lightning, last year's minor premier, have won their three games so far by an average margin of 31 points but a vastly improved Buccaneers side is sure to provide a stronger challenge in the round three clash.
Geraldton is expected to be without former NBL centre Ben Pepper, who has a knee injury, while it is also short an import earlier in the season but the Mid-West side will be buoyed by the way it overcame those problems to beat Willetton last week.
The Tigers will be looking to bounce back after suffering their first loss of the campaign in Geraldton but face a difficult task against reigning champion Wanneroo Wolves, the team that knocked them out of last year's finals.
Despite the absence of captain Greg Hire through his Perth Wildcats commitments, Wanneroo has impressed in winning all four of its games so far.
Willetton also faces losing Grand Finalist Perry Lakes, which saw its unbeaten start to the season ended by Perth last weekend.
South West Slammers will be looking to continue their positive momentum gained when they ended a 27-game losing run last week when they host Stirling Senators on Saturday.
The Senators, who finished fifth last year, have been wildly inconsistent already this season and will be desperate to put that behind them with a victory.
Mandurah Magic have stood out as one of this season's biggest improvers but face a huge challenge against Perth.
In a game originally supposed to be in Albany but relocated to Belmont due to funding issues, the Redbacks will be favourites after winning three of their first four games.
Goldfields has lost two of its first three games and will be desperate to get into good form when it hosts the winless Kalamunda Eastern Suns.
Like Kalamunda, Rockingham will be looking to move past a difficult start when it faces Cockburn Cougars, who broke through for their first win at Goldfields last week.
Article by Jacob Kagi
Photo by Helen Theoharakis (Hoop Shots)
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