THE Perth Redbacks played their last five quarters last weekend without captain Joel Wagner and still managed two strong wins over top eight teams with coach Nik Lackovic confident the character, balance and commitment of his group will stand them in good stead.

Coming off a disappointing 2015, the Redbacks made a slow start to 2016 with Michael Vigor yet to return from England and then an early injury to Lewis Thomas.

But both are now up and firing creating perhaps the best four-five man combination in the SBL while imports Jourdan DeMuynck and Reed McConnell have fitted in tremendously, and Ben Smith is providing good punch off the bench amongst some talented youngsters.

The glue of the group continues to be point guard Wagner who is in the middle of an outstanding season. He was having another strong night last Friday against the returning Bryton Hobbs and the Perry Lakes Hawks until he landed awkwardly on his ankle in the third quarter.

That ended his night early but the Redbacks still beat the Hawks by 20 points and then went on to beat the East Perth Eagles impressively by seven points on Saturday to have won five straight to improve to an 11-7 record in sixth position.

Wagner is expected to be out for the next several weeks with his ankle injury and while he's not someone who can be replaced, Lackovic has every reason to be confident his group can stand up with DeMuynck handling the ball more and Smith moving into the starting line-up.

"We are really blessed with the character of Ben Smith. He was an All-Star in 2014 and he's still an All-Star in our eyes in this team, particularly in the role he's taken. He still plays his 30 minutes a game and his efficiency is through the roof," Lackovic said.

"He is now likely the guy to step in during Joel's absence. And we are blessed with a guy like Jourdan who I believe is one of the most skilled imports in this entire league. He can play the one through three, defend and has no real weaknesses.

"He is selfless as well and he will carry the responsibility a little bit more but Joel is our energy guy so as a group we will need to make sure we are playing at that same level of energy."

While the Redbacks could very well end up being a championship contender this year, that's not something they are even thinking about.

That's because they learned some hard lessons from 2015 after they were so close in 2014, then added MVP Ray Turner to the group and ended up having a disappointing season missing the playoffs.

Lackovic just felt their overall balance was wrong and that they were too focused on being a championship contender they forgot to give each game along the way full attention.

That's something that hasn’t happened this year and as a result they are solely focused this week on playing the fourth placed Willetton Tigers on Saturday night.

"You look at last year and this year, and you would say that last year the balance wasn’t right in every aspect. That's one of those things that as you grow as a coach you start to realise and understand," he said.

"Last year we were too outcome based and we'd had a great in 2014 losing the semi finals to the eventual champions so we thought if we brought two great imports into the group we had we would have a great chance of winning a championship.

"Now we are only interested in focusing on our next opponent each and every week so as a coach you learn so much after going through what we did last year."

The group's commitment to each other is something that Lackovic continues to be proud of and it is the shared beliefs they all agreed upon that keeps them holding one another accountable.

That's why when hiccups occur like losing someone like Wagner to injury that other players are ready to step up.

"We've got a purpose and a trademark with how we want to play and that's something that we sat down as a team in the early weeks of the season and we worked out our identity. Off that we've got three core values that align to our trademark and our purpose," he said.

"The greatest example was this weekend when one of our guys go down and someone else steps in and they follow what our core values are, and the rules out there to sustain what we are doing. It was a great sign for some of our young guys to get the opportunity."

It's not the playing group only that Lackovic has been impressed with this season. He has enjoyed bringing in Bryn Arnold as an assistant coach while he is happy to see the Women's group a playoff team again following some tough years.

"Our balance wasn’t right across a lot of areas. I've got an amazing support staff and Bryn Arnold has been exceptional this year. We bounce off each other so well and he's a guy who puts in good work, and is loyal and supportive," Lackovic said.

"The guys who work behind the scenes as well and our whole support staff is good. The women's program is doing really well.

"They recruited well and continue to climb and improve, and our men's program maintained that belief. It was just a matter of fine tuning a few things, and staying together. The rewards are starting to come now for it."

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Sebpix Photography