Supercats just going for win, not position
GEELONG Supercats centre Ma’alo Hicks says stealing second spot from Nunawading won’t be front of mind when the two sides clash at The Arena tonight.
The second-placed Spectres have dropped just six games for the season, one of them at the hands of the Supercats, 79-73, earlier in the season.
But Geelong would have to win its last two games – against Nunawading and AlburyWodonga – while the Spectres would have to drop their last three to swap spots.
Hicks said his side was content with the position it was in.
“We’ve secured our spot in playoffs, that’s all we wanted to do,” Hicks said.
“I’m not really worried if we get second spot or not, I’m just going in wanting to win this game.
“If we get second spot, that’s a bonus.”
The Supercats’ lack of consistency in matches continues to be a sticking point when it comes to declaring them premiership contenders.
They led 44-32 at halftime against Sandringham last Friday before holding on for a narrow two-point win.
Hicks said his side’s second half highlighted its flaws.
“The last four weeks has been up and down really,” he said.
“We haven’t been too consistent but we do show halves and quarters of the really good basketball that we can play, but we’ve only got two or three more games to get a good 40minute start to finish.
“Games like that, once we get a little bit of a break, we need to put our foot down really and not let teams get a sniff, otherwise close games like that happen.”
The 28-year-old ranks sixth in the SEABL for average rebounds a game (above 100 rebounds for the season), going at 9.4 a game, while import Demarcus Gatlin (8.4 a game) has also been prolific.
It’s an area of his game the 201cm player has made a focus.
“I don’t really mind how many points I score, as long as I’m aggressive, getting rebounds, communicating on defence, that’s where I see myself being more impactful,” he said.