Week 12 Men's SBL Preview

THE Kalamunda Eastern Suns and Perth Redbacks are both looking forward to the challenge of keeping their winning form going on Friday night to open Week 12 of the Men's SBL up against the East Perth Eagles and Rockingham Flames respectively.

The huge long weekend of basketball begins with the two SBL games on Friday night, another four on Saturday and then one on Sunday evening all leading into the All-Star Games for 2016 at the Bendat Basketball Centre on the WA Day Monday public holiday.

The two Friday night matches see the Kalamunda Eastern Suns host the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles at Ray Owen Recreation Centre with the Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames taking on the Texture WA Perth Redbacks at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Then on Saturday night, the regional powers S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers host the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants while the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves play the Mandurah Magic, the Perry Lakes Hawks take on the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers and the Lakeside Lightning tackle the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars.

Lastly on Sunday ahead of the All-Star game on Monday, the Print Sync South West Slammers face the Bethanie Stirling Senators at Eaton Recreation Centre.

Friday night's clash at Kalamunda could very well be interesting with the Eastern Suns having now won two of their last three games after ending a 26-game losing streak.

They will look to take it up to largely improved Eagles at home on Friday night now with East Perth buoyed by the returns of Tom Jervis and Sunday Dech. As a result, the Eagles have won three of their last four games but still need to string wins together at 5-9 to break into a playoff position.

There could hardly be a greater contrast in styles between the two teams either with the Suns playing an up-tempo, fast-paced game where they apply full-court pressure defence and then push the ball quickly. East Perth much prefers a slower-paced half-court based contest.

It looms as a fascinating contest with both teams in some winning form despite sitting 10th and 14th respectively.

Suns coach Michael Clarke is looking forward to the challenge and of getting to play at home on a Friday night for the first time since Week 1.

"It's going to be huge. This is our first night game at home in nearly a month. We've had a couple of Sunday games and they are tough because a lot of our supporters have WABL or family commitments," Clarke said.

"But the night games on a weekend are something else so we are hoping to absolutely pack the place out this Friday. It's going to be a great contest. East Perth are so much stronger than when we played them the first time with the additions of Jervis and Dech, also Donlagic didn’t play first time around.

"It's one hell of an opponent that we are coming up against and I think it's a real contrast in styles. We are looking forward to the challenge because we think we are a lot better and different as well since last time. We hope to keep getting and progressing with what we've achieved."

Friday night's other contest pits the also improving Redbacks up against the fourth placed Flames in Rockingham.

The Flames have now won four straight matches to improve to a 10-6 record on the season to sit in fourth position and a win on Friday night will see them continue to put pressure on the Tigers in third.

The Redbacks, meanwhile, have been in tremendous form now that they are at full strength with Michael Vigor joining the likes of Joel Wagner, Jourdan DeMuynck, Reed McConnell, Lewis Thomas and Ben Smith.

Perth has won five of its last six games now to improve to a 7-7 record to move up into seventh position and coach Nik Lackovic is confident of keeping the form going on Friday, but is fully aware of how tough the Mark Utley-coached Flames are.

"They're a well-coached team and their core group has been there for a while," Lackovic said on SBL Slam on Sonshine FM 98.5.

"They have added a few pieces as well and Chudier (Pal) is a key ingredient for them so we have to do a good job of putting him into positions to defend and that he's not comfortable as well as doing a job on Cooper (Land).

"He's playing with some versatility this year and some movement, and health which has improved and the Land brothers together are a key component to that team."

Saturday night in Week 12 includes the Lightning facing another significant challenge to stop their losing slide by taking on the second placed Cougars at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

Cockburn travelled to Kalgoorlie last week to beat the Giants to consolidate second position and improve to an 11-3 record while Lakeside lost for a sixth straight time last Friday night even it was only by a point against the Wolves.

With Daniel Alexander and TJ Hallice in terrific form, coach Sam Oatman gives the Lightning a chance of getting back on the winner's list but he knows how tough the Cougars will be to overcome.

"It’s another great opportunity for us to compete against one of the top teams in our league this season," Oatman said.

"We’ll need to play with energy and desire for a full 48 minutes. We didn’t compete nearly hard enough the first time we played."

The Buccaneers and Giants meet at Active West Stadium on Saturday with both coming off multiple defeats.

The Buccs lost twice on the road last weekend to the Wolves by 33 points and the Eastern Suns by 22 to slip from third to sixth position in the standings and to sixth position.

The Giants, meanwhile, have now lost five in-a-row to fall to a 6-9 record and to ninth positon.

But with the amount of talent both teams possess, not only should Saturday night provide a terrific spectacle in Geraldton but the win is crucial for both teams who would still hope to be contending for a championship let alone a playoff position.

Another team on a losing slide is the Magic who have lost their last four matches and will be without important veteran Taylor Mullenax for the rest of 2016 as they head to Joondalup to take on the defending champion Wolves on Saturday.

The Wolfpack have now won three straight to sit on top of the standings at 11-2. They are coming off a big 33-point win over the Buccs last Saturday and have the added motivation of celebrating two milestones.

Damian Matacz will celebrate his 300th SBL appearance with his career featuring two championships, a league MVP award and six club MVP awards at the Wolfpack. Rhys Smyth will also be celebrating his 150th appearance on Saturday night as the Wolves host the Magic.

Another team needing to bounce back are the Hawks as they host the Tigers at Bendat Basketball Centre.

Perry Lakes has lost its last two games to only be just clinging to eighth position at 7-8 but Willetton is in some hot form in third position at 10-4 and having won four straight with Damien Scott, Jay Bowie, Nic Cody, Kyle Armour and Charles Funches in some imposing form.

The round concludes on Sunday with the Slammers and Senators doing battle for the second successive week.

Last Saturday night it was Stirling handing South West a 130-88 defeat at Warwick Stadium.

That result saw the Senators improve to 10-6 in fifth position while it was a sixth successive loss for the Slammers, and it will take a significant turnaround for them to change the result come Sunday despite the home floor advantage.

WEEK 12 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles, Ray Owen Recreation Centre 8.30pm
Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames v Texture WA Perth Redbacks, Mike Barnett Sports Complex 8.30pm

SATURDAY
S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers v Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants, Active West Stadium 7.30pm
Lakeside Lightning v Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars, Lakeside Recreation Centre 8pm
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves v Mandurah Magic, Joondalup Basketball Stadium 8pm
Perry Lakes Hawks v Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers, Bendat Basketball Centre 8pm

SUNDAY
Print Sync South West Slammers v Bethanie Stirling Senators, Eaton Recreation Centre 6pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Sebpix Photography




Comments

Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.

Download the GameDay App!

Stay up-to-date with your favourite teams and keep an eye on your rivals by accessing the latest match results, fixtures and stats via GameDay App.

GameDay Splash Screen
App Store Google Play