Heat on a roll in playoffs opener
TOWNSVILLE Heat coach Rodney Anderson has lauded his side’s impressive start to the QBL playoffs after taking down the Gold Coast Rollers 100- 92 in Saturday night’s home quarter- final.
The in- form Rollers jumped out to a six- point lead in the opening quarter, but the Heat came roaring back with 12 points from Harry Froling ( 30 points, 12 rebounds) to lead 26- 22 at the first break.
The lead changed 10 times in an explosive second term, but it was the Heat who emerged on top as Josh Wilcher ( 20 points, 12 assists) nailed a three on the buzzer to give his side a 53- 50 half- time lead.
Townsville took control in the third quarter as their lead pushed out to 76- 70 and the Rollers couldn’t reel them back, with the home side closing out the final term 24- 22.
“That’s real basketball, it’s knockout basketball. It’s really high level and a great way for us to start with a big win,” Anderson said.
“Our home court was a massive factor. The noise that the ‘ Blue Crew’ and the crowd created, just that feeling of being at home was massive for us.
“Talking to their ( Gold Coast) coach, a number of their play calls they couldn’t hear just because of the noise so that’s a really good game for us to get under our belts.”
Anderson said he challenged his side to be more physical on defence at half time, which proved the difference against the in- form Rollers, who rode a four- game winning streak into the playoffs.
“They were being really physical on us so we made sure we were physical back and I thought the referees did a great job of controlling what was physical and what wasn’t,” he said.
“We stepped it up a little bit, pushed the boundary a little bit on defence, and we got three stops in a row to start the third quarter and on the back of that we were really good in offence.”
The defending champion Heat will now host the Brisbane Capitals in this Saturday night’s semi- final as they chase back to back grand final appearances.
Anderson said Townsville still had some room for improvement, but he felt they had laid the perfect platform for a strong playoffs campaign.
“The ball got stuck a couple of times when they started making a run back at the start of the fourth so we have to make sure we’re still moving the ball and still being aggressive to the basket,” he said.
“We can’t just let the ball just be pounded in one spot. If teams have to try and defend us on multiple sides of the floor, I don’t think anyone can stop us.”