Marlins strong despite loss
The Marlins have dodged a bullet with experienced guard Jarrad Weeks expected to miss just one game after rolling his ankle and not returning in their grinding win over Toowoomba. Weeks, a Taipans regular, left the game on Friday night after playing just over 18 minutes following his injury. The explosive guard, who had 16 points on 6-8 shooting when he went down, looked to be in extreme discomfort after the incident at the Fish Tank.
THE Marlins have dodged a bullet with experienced guard Jarrad Weeks expected to miss just one game after rolling his ankle and not returning in their grinding win over Toowoomba.
Weeks, a Taipans regular, left the game on Friday night after playing just over 18 minutes following his injury.
The explosive guard, who had 16 points on 6-8 shooting when he went down, looked to be in extreme discomfort after the incident at the Fish Tank, hitting the floor a number of times with his hand as he struggled to get up.
Marlins coach Jamie Pearlman will not take any risks with his star guard and he will miss Friday’s clash with Rockhampton.
“That is probably the smart way to go about it for him personally and his career,” Pearlman said.
“There is no point rushing him back in at this point in time. If we were leading into a final we might have pushed it.
“I do not expect him to play this week but he should be back in two weeks’ time.”
The plucky Mountaineers got an early jump on the Marlins on Friday evening, skipping out to a double-digit lead in the first term, before the defending champions slowly reeled them in.
The visitors’ athletic forwards Manylok Malek and Paul Aleer caused problems inside for the Marlins as the Mountaineers took a lead into halftime.
But, the silver lining of the Weeks injury was the assertive play of Anthony Fisher in the 100-94 victory.
Of all the Marlins, Fisher has needed to change his role the most in 2017 to accommodate Weeks, regularly playing off the ball instead of running the point as he did last season.
With Weeks watching from the sidelines and Damon Heuir having a rare quiet outing, Fisher took over the game in the second half, finishing with game-high points, on 11-16 shooting, and rebounds, 27 and 10.
“Fish was extremely tough and really showed his qualities,” Pearlman said. “He recognised the situation and took control of the game.
“Damo was not having one of his best shooting games and Fish was fantastic in that second half down the stretch.
“He made the right plays, he rebounded the ball well, he did it on both ends of the floor.
“It is a strength of this team in the guard position, in that we have three really high quality weapons.”
The win lifts the Marlins to 6-2 and fourth place on the ladder as they tackle the Rockets, who are 3-4, and sixth on the ladder.