Star-studded Saints sink undermanned Sharks side
Southland Sharks coach Guy Molloy insists wins are on the way for his NBL side.
The Wellington Saints showed the Sharks a thing or two about playing basketball on Monday night with a 100-75 victory at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill.
Molloy’s team are currently 0-4 and at the bottom of the league table. With a few key players yet to return, there could be a few more losses before things improve.
“It’s been a pretty rugged start and not what we wanted, but it could get a bit worse before it gets better,” Molloy said. “But we do have some key personnel not far away from returning.
“We have just got to keep our chemistry and positivity. And hopefully, once we have all the boys back on deck, the efforts we’re putting in at training will be rewarded.”
The Sharks were down on personnel for the contest, meaning it was always going to be a difficult assignment against a stacked Saints side.
Sharks skipper Alonzo Burton was out with a hamstring injury, Brayden Inger was still to return from the United Kingdom, and United States import Josh Turner has been released from his contract after the team’s recent 83-70 loss to the Manawatū Jets.
The Saints featured five players with Australian NBL experience, while the
Sharks had none. It proved vital as the visitors started strongly and raced out to a 28-14 lead in the first quarter.
US import LaGerald Vick was again a star for the Sharks, and his hot form in the second quarter helped the home side go on a 14-3 run.
They managed to reduce the Saints’ lead to three points. However, by halftime it had blown back out to 14 points.
Vick started the third quarter on fire, nailing some crucial shots, but in the end it was all in vain as the Sharks fell to a heavy 25-point defeat.
Big man Callum McRae showed some nice touches, while Andrew Wheeler and
Scott Telfer tried hard. But Vick lacked the support required to match a Saints lineup that featured Hyrum Harris, a former Shark, and Izayah Le’afa and Tohi Smith-Milner, both of whom have represented the Tall Blacks.
Molloy said the Saints were a sharp outfit. “We showed some great fight in the second quarter and tried to hold on for as long as we could. Their talent wore us down, and without our point guard here, we turned the ball over excessively.”
He said the Sharks had signed a point guard to replace Turner and hoped to announce that this week, while Burton looked set to be nearing a return.
“I was very disappointed,” Molloy said about Turner’s exit. “He was a good basketball player – he had just mentally checked out. He got here and was not really engaged, and that was a big problem.”