NEERS WELCOME NEW COACHES
BASKETBALL: Danny Breen knows what it takes to achieve success at the QBL level, and he is hoping to bring that winning mentality to the Mountaineers men as they look to continue climbing the ladder.
After a lean few seasons, Toowoomba was deep in the race for the playoffs in 2018 before a few late losses ended their season prematurely.
However the 2002 QBL coach of the year believes they have laid the platform to take the next step forward.
Breen said he hoped to continue the progress created by former coach Danny Morseu, as he returned to a familiar city.
“I was up here 22 years ago as a development officer so I’ve got local contacts here,” Breen said.
“When Danny Morseu had to head back north for all the right reasons a couple of calls came and then a few more calls came and it all sort of fell into place from there.
“It’s a bit of a homecoming to a certain degree but it’s something that’s exciting because Danny started something and now we have to take a couple more steps forward.
“What he’s put in place is positive. Hopefully me coming in with slightly different aspects and views, but with the polish that’s already started, that we will generate more fun, more good times and more wins.
“It’s a community thing. If we can win that generates the positive side of it, if we battle but don’t win it still generates positivity.
“We set that foundation this season and hopefully we can take two, three or four more steps next year which we hope works out to be more years and a finals appearance.”
Breen said that he would look to fill the import slots of Damon Bozeman and Harold Ridgeway once local players were assembled, but indicated interest was there from potential players.
“Hopefully once we sort out our local players and who is going to re-commit again, once we know that we can look at imports.
“You want them to be a player first and foremost, but you want them to have the right culture.
“This is Toowoomba. It’s a town, it’s a community and we want them to represent basketball in the town.
“If that’s 20 points a game instead of 30, but he’s doing all those other things, that’s a positive. “I’ve been smashed on Facebook via Messenger and my friend requests have gone through the roof from all parts of the world.
“Whether they’re the right players or people, I don’t know until I have a look (at them).
“Until we know the direction and budget it’s hard to make that decision.”
CICOLINI STEPS UP TO WOMEN’S ROLE
The Mountaineers women are coming off one of the most challenging seasons in the team’s history, going 0-18 with a number of heavy defeats.
While new coach Kabe Cicolini isn’t promising any miracle turnarounds in the space of 12 months, he hopes a clearer direction can help get them back on the right path.
The TGS director of basketball has been working closely with a number of the U18s Mountaineers as coach of the undefeated Southern Cup team.
He said he recognised the talent coming through the door needed time to be able to grow, and was hoping a more fine-tuned approach helped to bring on improvements.
“The results (of 2018) speak to the fact that we’re youthful and inexperienced,” he said
“If we can be a little more process driven and distinct on what our role definitions are for our players than we’re not too far away from trending the right way.
“Good teams know what their jobs are and they just do them. If everybody does that the results start taking care of themselves.
“I think there’s plenty of talent coming through and by taking this role it creates a more streamlined process, and manes we can keep the girls working and developing.”
Cicolini said a patient approach to imports to work alongside local talent would position them best to further develop.
“The first thing for us is making sure we return the right core of local girls.
“We have the right blend of youth and experience from previous years.
“Once we have an idea of what the core looks like (we’ll be looking at) adding imports that complement our style of play, address certain weakness and maximise the strengths that we have.
“There’s no point going and picking our imports if it’s not going to match what our locals can do or require assistance with.”
Photo: Kevin Farmer