WINNING ROLLERS
YOU’D hate to see Rollers coach Mick Conlon after a loss.
“I’m hoarse from yelling at the boys,” he said after yesterday’s 99-84 season-opening win against the Capitals.
“The way we played, we were ugly.
“We could have been 40 or 50 points better and we could have gapped them, but we let them stay in the game.
“I’m proud as hell of the boys but we have a hell of a lot to work on.
“But that’s good because it gives me ammunition to go at the boys at training.”
The Rollers, armed with one of the tallest rosters in QBL history, gave Conlon reason to get frustrated at The Southport School, giving up 21 offensive boards and missing some simple lay-ups.
“We looked like one-arm bricklayers from Beirut, we were throwing that many bricks,” he said.
“Defensively we made a bunch of mistakes.
“But we were up by 14 or 15 at half time and I challenged the boys to win the second half which we did by a point.
“That was a nice little win inside of a bigger challenge.”
Given the manic pre-season hit by Commonwealth Games and late-arriving imports, Conlon admits his squad may need to change pace.
“We need to trust each other more because there’s not a lot of trust,” he said.
“We lacked communication on the floor and because it’s been such a disjointed preseason we might need to ditch a training session and go and
have a barbecue to help build that.”
The bench rotation contributed 49 points, with Dwayne Vale (19) singled out for praise.
Meanwhile, Seahawks coach Ricardo Lawyer says his side now knows they can compete with QBL rivals despite a double loss on the Sunshine Coast.
North Gold Coast went down 86-78 to USC Rip City on Saturday night despite the efforts of import Jerron Jamerson (28 points).
Yesterday, the Phoenix claimed a 106-97 victory.
“We learned that we are competitive,” Lawyer said.
“At least the guys now know that they can deal with it (this level of competition).”