Geraldton Buccaneers legend Dan Hunt says the work the team puts in during the off-season will determine their fortune for season 2013.

Hunt, who now lives in the United States of America, is in Geraldton during the school holidays with wife Helen and sons, Jesse and Liam.

The 2000 premiership player said an intense attitude toward defence was the key to the Buccs’ success 12 years ago.

“Our personnel was strong and we had a strong bench but we prided ourselves on stopping everyone every time down the court,” he said.

“Kevin Jones was our coach and we were not allowed to give up more than 22 points a quarter. If we did, we paid for it at practice.

“We had guys like Alan Erickson who would rather kill you then give up a lay-up, and I do not think the Buccs have anyone like that at the moment.”

The 2012 Buccaneers team are likely to miss the finals series for a second consecutive year and the third time in the club’s history.

They are sitting in 12th position on the SBL ladder and face playoff hopefuls, Kalamunda Eastern Suns this weekend in a must win game at Activewest Stadium.

Coach Ray Evans is still hanging on to hope that the team can make the finals.

Hunt said the Buccs can not afford to sit back and wait til next season to fix their issues.

“What the players need to do before next season is sit back and look at themselves and say I did not do this well, I have to work on this,” he said.

“Things that need to be fixed have to be done before the start of next season, you can not wait til the start of next year and then start working on it.

“It will be interesting to see how hard they work on their game during the off-season, I think the off-season is going to be critical.”

Hunt said attitude plays a major role on the court and can make any team difficult to beat.

“For me it all runs off from the defensive side of things and the intense defensive pressure,” he said.

“Attitude is so much of the game and you need everyone on the same page, that is why we were so good in the day.

“You can create very good offence with intense defence.

“If we are pressuring the opposition the whole time on defence with no mental errors, that can then produce layups at the other end.”

Article by Taylor Courtland (Geraldton Guardian)
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