Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants coach Dan Fisher has warned his players not to focus too much attention on returning former captain Shamus Ballantyne in tonight’s State Basketball League clash with the Willetton Tigers.

Ballantyne, who returned for the Tigers this year after a battle with cancer, will play his first game in the Goldfields since 2009.

Fisher said Willetton were a dangerous side with a lot of depth in their squad.

“They have a great import in Robert Kampman who is a tough guy to play against, ” Fisher said.

“Willetton also have an experienced back-court in Adam Nener and Alex Prince and they have a young kid called Rob Cassir who is becoming a really good SBL player.

“Another player is their other import Ephrem Davis who is starting to find his feet in the league.

“They are a dangerous team and as much as we have to worry about them, we need to concentrate on our own game and we should do all right.”

The Giants are expected to regain veteran Lordan Franich after he missed last Saturday’s 92-86 away victory over Geraldton.

“We have been resting Lordan (Franich) because he has work and study commitments, ” Fisher said.

“He has missed a few of the away trips but hopefully he will be available this weekend.

“He will add some height and experience to the side which will be really helpful.”

Goldfields will be without American import Darnell Dialls who continues to recover from a pre-season ankle injury.

Fisher said Dialls had resumed training but is still a couple of weeks away from his season debut. “He (Dialls) started running around last weekend – he should be good to go in the next couple of weeks, ” he said.

“It is a bit of a tricky situation because we have a bloke who is three months behind everyone in his preparation.

“It’s one thing to get his ankle better but then we need to get him up to scratch with conditioning.

“And when Darnell gets back he will have some pretty big shoes to fill because Mike (Haney) has been ripping it up this season.”

Haney has averaged 19.7 points and 11 rebounds since his first appearance for the season against Cockburn.

He was also named the SBL player of the week for his 27-point haul against the Buccaneers.

“He (Haney) is a coach’s delight – he brings that intensity and the desire to win to every game, ” Fisher said.

“Hopefully some of the younger players can feed off that and step up their own game.

“The thing I was really pleased with in the Geraldton game was the way everyone contributed.

“If we do that this weekend and everyone sticks to their role we should be able to get the win.”

Tonight the club will hope to celebrate Jimmy Bowler’s 250th SBL match with a win after playing 242 with the local side and eight with the Redbacks.

Article by Michael Philipps (Kalgoorlie Miner)
Photo by Darren Speedie (Vision Inspired Photography)