Coach lauds Anderson’s defence ahead of Rollers clash ‘ The best I’ve seen’
TOWNSVILLE Heat coach Rod Anderson has anointed Jamell Anderson “the best defensive player I’ve ever coached” as he prepares to guard Gold Coast scoring machine Torrey Craig at Murray Stadium tonight.
Although the Rollers have won just two of six matches, they are stacked with former NBL talent and Craig leads the league in average points with more than 28 a game.
The Brisbane Bullets import drained 40 points in last week’s 92- 79 loss to QBL leaders Mackay.
“They’ve got a pretty talented team with Torrey Craig in the line- up. He’s heading over to Denver after he plays Cairns on Saturday night to go and play some NBA summer league,” Anderson said.
“They’ve also got a host of former NBL players with Scott McGregor and Dwayne Vale and Thalo Green.”
Anderson has played the last two weeks returning from an ankle injury and now looks ready to return to his best.
“It was good to get him back on court and it’s going to be a pretty big task with the job on Torrey Craig,” Anderson said.
“But he’s probably the best defensive player I’ve ever coached and last week was a good time to blow the cobwebs out.
“They’re a bit of an older team, so we’ll definitely play a faster style and try to limit what Torrey Craig does offensively.
“If we can reduce his numbers and make it hard for the other veterans to get going as well, that will go a fair way to winning that game.”
The Heat have won their last five games to improve to a 6- 2 record, due mainly to a huge improvement in defensive cohesiveness.
“We’re much better than we were at the start of the year on our defence,” Anderson said.
“We’ve worked really hard on working together and the offence is going to take care of itself when you have the offensive talent we have. It seems to be working the last few weeks.”
The Townsville Heat will start strong favourites in the women’s clash with the Rollers yet to register a victory this season. TONIGHT QBL round nine: Townsville v Gold Coast at Murray Stadium ( women 6.30pm, men 8.30pm)