THE Willetton Tigers returned to the Men's SBL playoffs in 2015 under Alan Black as coach and now will be hoping the signing of Jay Bowie can help them become a genuine title contender.

Willetton was coming off three underperforming seasons of not reaching the post-season before Black took over as coach for 2015.

The improvement was instant and the Tigers ended with their best record since 2011, finishing on 14-12 to come up in sixth position leading to a quarter-final match up with the South West Slammers. While they came up short it was a season of growth for Willetton.

They have been able to keep the majority of the group together now as well for 2016 with Kyle Armour, Andrew Black, Mitchell Clarke, Nic Cody and Damien Scott all important players who have returned.

Ephrem Davis and Corey Easley put up decent numbers as imports last season, but the Tigers will be looking for Bowie to almost put together what that pair combined to produce on his own after what he proved he could do last season with the Goldfields Giants.

Mark Heron has also joined from the Geraldton Buccaneers where he was coaching, but he has now come back to the floor as a player with the Tigers for 2016.

Josh Johnson is also on board after time at college with Oregon Tech and Yusef Khadembashi from the Perry Lakes Hawks looms as another who could make his mark for Willetton this season.

The loss of Jake Burston and Hayden Noordhoek who are trying their hands at Australian Rules Football will hurt though.

Willetton went through the SBL Blitz at Warwick Stadium undefeated recording impressive victories over the Joondalup Wolves, Mandurah Magic, South West Slammers and the Metro team.

The Tigers begin their season on the road to the East Perth Eagles on Friday March 18 before playing their home opener at Willetton Basketball Stadium 24 hours later against the Rockingham Flames.

ROSTER
Nic Cody, Andrew Black, Damien Scott, Kyle Armour, Michael Collins, Daniel Casey, Mitchell Clarke, Jay Bowie (restricted), Joshua Johnson, Mark Heron, Lachlan Evans, Mitchell Hampson, Yusef Khadembashi
Coach – Alan Black

EXPERTS THOUGHTS
Championship winning coach – ADAM FORDE
PREDICTION – 5th
Already with a well-balanced line-up, but an additional big in their remaining restricted player spot would help make a push for top two. Whether they are saving that for an NBL big or an import for the latter half of the season won’t hurt their top eight chances, it’ll just hurt their placing in the top eight.

MATT CECCINS
PREDICTION – 8th
The key off-season signing throughout the league this year is Jay Bowie. I thought he was the best import last season after Ray Turner and his play this season for the Tigers will be crucial. Whether the Tigers add a second import is unclear at this stage, however they have talented point guard Kyle Armour and forward Nicholas Cody. Damien Scott will look to have a more consistent season and he needs to play up to his huge potential.

ANONYMOUS
PREDICTION – 6th
Jay Bowie is a great pick up after the year he had with the Giants and they still possess arguably the best Australian point guard in the league Kyle Armour and Damien Scott and Nic Cody can be even more productive in 2016. Alan Black will need to balance Armour, Scott and Bowie who all like the ball in their hands but the announcement of their second import could determine how far they can go this year.

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Hoop Shots