Promising signs for the Jets
Despite having their second loss of the season the Manawatū Jets are showing good potential as they get close to being at full strength.
The young Jets lost 97-78 to a strong Southland Sharks team at the Arena on Sunday night to be 0-2 to start the season.
But Kiwi Shane Temara and two of their imports have arrived, with one more import to be signed, and they should make a big difference on the court and with their leadership.
Coach Natu Taufale expected their international clearance to be completed before their next game, at home again on Friday night against the Canterbury Rams.
The shooting was improved from the loss to the Taranaki Mountain Airs in the first week and they pulled Southland back in the final quarter when it looked like the Sharks were getting away on them.
To Southland’s credit, it looked like they never needed to hit top gear.
They would go on scoring bursts and the Jets couldn’t keep up.
‘‘We felt there were bits of the game that were really good,’’ Taufale said.
‘‘Offensively we shot a lot better, we shot about 30% from the three-point line.
‘‘But generally I feel like with another game under their belt, they grew in confidence as well and did a better job all round, bar turnovers. There were some parts of our offence that we executed well.
‘‘Our defence, Southland, they’re a great team. They have got two guys who played in Australia and an import as well. We’ve got a rookie group and to play against that talent is promising.’’
Their shooting was up to 41% this week from 37% last week.
Southland led 48-33 at halftime and were threatening to pull away in the third quarter.
But Taufale said some of their play in the fourth quarter was sublime as they out scored Southland, who were playing their second game in 24 hours, in the final stanza. This group, they play hard and they continue to play hard regardless of what the score is.’’
The young players are starting to learn Taufale’s systems and are getting better on court, although it may take time for Temara and the other latecomers to adjust.
Taufale used his whole bench and he was pleased with their aggressive play.
The bench made a good impact, with Tu Kaha Cooper (15 points) and Isaac Faamausili (12) their two biggest contributors.