GUARDING THE GUARDS IS KEY
LOCKING down on the dangerous Mt Gambier guards will be a key for Geelong United as it guns for a Country Basketball League title.
United faces the Lakers tonight at 8pm in Portland for the southwest division crown.
Big man Jack Terrill said his side was planning on shutting down the opposition’s back court.
“(The Lakers are) big but they run through their guards, so if their guards can’t operate, nobody can,” Terrill said.
“We’re focused on just communicating about everything and making sure our guards have every opportunity to do what they can by letting them know screens are coming and stuff like that.”
Geelong was humbled when it met Mt Gambier earlier in the season, suffering a 28-point thumping.
Lakers Kyle Tipene (25 points) and Simon Berkefield (18) led the scoring that night and combined for 51 points in the 104-64 semi-final drubbing of Colac Kookas last weekend.
United will look to lean on scorer Cohen Blythe and an in-form Wang Nyieth tonight.
The summer CBL is treated by most players as a chance to fine tune their game before more serious Youth League or NBL1 duties.
Terrill said that was no different for him — the 18-year-old has focused on energy and defence as he makes the transition to senior basketball and the Youth League — but once the chance to claim a title became clear the team switched on.
“This team means a lot, you’re supposed to get your break over summer but a lot of the guys have committed to just improve,” he said.
“I’ve enjoyed working with the guys I haven’t worked with before.
“(Winning a title) means we really accomplished something, we all came in this summer looking to improve but you don’t sign up if you don’t want to win the championship.
“So to accomplish and do what we set out to do is going to be big for us moving forward.”