KATE Malpass feels the Willetton Tigers team of 2015 might even be more talented than the one she played in a three-peat with and the returning star is confident they are now clicking well as a group as the playoffs begin to approach.

Malpass is a four-time women's SBL championship winner and was a key component of the three-peat winning team of 2009, 2010 and 2011 before work opportunities took her away to Melbourne for the last three years.

The star former WNBL guard had some great experiences with basketball and outside of it in her time in Melbourne and then before returning to Perth with fellow Indigenous basketball star Patty Mills, but now she is back with the Tigers in 2015 and making her mark again.

Malpass left the Tigers originally at the end of the 2011 on the back of the third straight championship and that three-peat winning team will deservedly go down as one of the best in the history of the SBL, but the team she is playing with in 2015 is now chock full of talent.

The Tigers are now on a four-game winning streak to sit on a 14-2 record in second position in the standings just behind the defending champion Rockingham Flames.

Malpass is having a big impact averaging 16.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals a game but the area Willetton has an edge on the competition is with their bigs and Louella Tomlinson, Zoe Harper and Lisa Wallbutton are all in outstanding form.

"We've had a pretty good start to the season and we've got a real mixture of players who have played together before in previous years, but then a whole new group of players coming through as well," Malpass said on SBL Slam on 98five Sonshine FM.

"It's been a really interesting start for us and we're getting to learn how to play together. We've got a formidable post combination at the moment between Lisa, Zoe and Louella so that's also something that doesn’t come along every day in the SBL to have three legitimate big players. That's another thing that we just trying to figure out how to make the most of at the moment."

Having that trio inside is why Malpass rates this team right up there in terms of talent with the championship teams she's been part of and now they look to get their chemistry just right ahead of the playoffs.

"We've got a far better team on paper, but in order to win a championship you can have as many solid players as you want, but if you don’t use them in the correct way and if you don't play together and for each other, you won't win a championship," she said.

"I feel like this past weekend that's an area we have really improved on in terms of playing together and for each other. It's definitely an aim for us leading into finals and for the rest of the season."

Malpass had a massive night last Friday with 32 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and five steals in the 100-62 win over the Lakeside Lightning, but again she gives much of the credit to the work done by Tomlinson, Harper and Wallbutton inside.

"You come across some games where having big players in the post helps players like myself," Malpass said.

"We are very privileged to have that and it opens up some perimeter shooting and things can happen for us on the outside. I think Lakeside was spending a lot of time trying to shut down our big players and that left us outside players open quite nicely, and I was lucky enough to benefit from that."

While Malpass is enjoying her time back in Perth and playing again with Willetton, she wouldn’t change anything about her time away following the 2011 championship winning season.

Malpass made history by becoming the first ever Indigenous physiotherapist with the Richmond Football Club while also being named the Youth of the Year at the 2013 National NAIDOC Awards for her basketball prowess, work in the AFL and as a mentor for the Indigenous youth.

Then to top it off after she had made the decision to return to Perth in 2015, Malpass spent time with Australian basketball star Patty Mills to rehabilitate his shoulder that he had surgery on following his NBA-championship winning performance with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014.

"I left Perth after the three-peat with Willetton at the end of 2011, and I had just graduated as a physio so I went over to Melbourne where I was very fortunate to get a job with an AFL team, specifically the Richmond Tigers which was a fantastic experience for me," she said.

"I was able to play a bit of SEABL over there as well for the Sandringham Sabres which again was really good and then I made the decision that I wanted to come home for family reasons, but made a quick pit stop in San Antonio on the way home where I was invited personally by Pat to be his physio.

"After the Spurs' last championship, he had a shoulder reconstruction and a rotator cuff repair so he wanted an Australia physio with him, and Basketball Australia recommended that he took me.

"That was a pretty exciting time in my life and I got to do some of the most unreal things any basketballer or NBA fan would dream of. I'm very thankful, but loving being back home and part of the Willetton basketball community again. It's been really good so far."

While Malpass is looking forward long-term to seeing what the Tigers can do in the playoffs this season, her immediate focus is on playing the on-fire Kalamunda Eastern Suns on Saturday night at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

"It's a big game down at Willetton down at this weekend with the Suns beating us last time, so fingers crossed we get it together and get the win this weekend now," Malpass said.

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Grant Lauterbach