Underdog Dragons OK

DEAKIN Dragons coach Mitch Stoop says his team goes to Taiwan with nothing to lose when it competes in the Buddha’s Light International Association Cup in Taiwan next week.

Stoop and Carly Vuillermin are the two local representatives in the team, which secured its spot in the university basketball tournament after claiming gold at the Australian Division 1 University Nationals.

Their first game is against East China University of Science and Technology on Tuesday, with Stoop happy for his team to carry the underdog tag for the tournament.

“The reason we have kept the approach of going into the tournament as underdogs is (two-fold),” Stoop said.

“We are travelling to a country with some unknown teams. (And also) we kept the same approach when competing at the Australian Division 1 University Nationals as we were ranked bottom of the competition.

“We took each game as it came and had a plan/goal for each quarter of play. Winning the gold medal was an extra reward. We will approach this tournament the same way.”

The tournament runs from July 16-21, with games at the world-renowned Kaohsiung Arena against teams from Canada, China, New Zealand, the Philippines, Taiwan and the United States.

Stoop, who coaches at Corio Bay Stingrays, said he had touched base with some of his international connections in an attempt to scout his opponents.

He estimated he had got through nearly 10 hours of footage to make sure he had a full understanding of the teams he will be up against.

Stoop predicted the American team to be the hardest to beat. And he described Vuillermin as a “young, raw, talented player” who had a future in the game.

“She provides great athletic ability in protecting the paint, as well as being very active on not only defensive boards but offensive as well,” he said.