GOLDFIELDS Giants coach Michael Haney took positives from his team's loss to the Joondalup Wolves while Lakeside Lightning coach Sam Oatman was disappointed his team let another double-digit lead slip and the Cockburn Cougars did well to overcome a hot shooting East Perth Eagles.

Those were just some of the reactions by coaches in the Men's SBL following Week 8 of the 2016 season.

The Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants hosted the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves on Saturday night and while they fell 20 points short of the defending champions, it wasn’t all bad news according to coach Michael Haney.

He was particularly impressed with the Giants' effort in the first half and will take the positives from that into a road double this weekend against the Stirling Senators on Saturday night, and the Rockingham Flames on Sunday.

"We lost to a really good Wolves team that will only get better! We will move on and take the positives from what was a close game at the half," Haney said.

"We showed if we play at that high level we can compete but it's the moments when you relax that good teams make you pay."

The Lakeside Lightning suffered a third straight loss on Friday night going down to the Mandurah Magic by eight points at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

The Lightning had chances to win each three of those games as well against the Cougars, Senators and Magic which is the frustrating part for coach Sam Oatman.

"I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but we let another double-digit lead slip away," Oatman said.

"Mandurah wanted it more and played much tougher than us, so give them a lot of credit.

"Remmerswaal and Simpson played really well off the bench, and Setty hit some big shots in the second half after not shooting really well in the first.

"Our execution was poor, but mostly I’m disappointed we didn’t play with any fire. That’s completely unacceptable."

Former Eagles Women's head coach Conrad Francis took over in charge of the Cougars on Saturday night against East Perth in the absence of Matt Parsons, and oversaw a strong 16-point win for his team on the road.

East Perth certainly made Cockburn earn the victory with Thomas Korf nailing eight three-pointers and Rhys Vague three in his 22 points and 14 rebounds.

The Cougars got big games in the end from Najee Lane (31 points, nine rebounds, five steals, four assists), Marcus Goode (29 points, 15 boards) and Gavin Field (27 points) but Francis is fully aware that the Eagles will only continue to improve as the season goes on.

"East Perth were shooting the lights out, we had to adjust and when we finally got into our defensive structure our transition game allowed us to regain momentum," Francis said.

"With a full strength side East Perth will be dangerous in the back end of the season."

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin