AS the Mount Gambier Pioneers head into another South East Australian Basketball League season, one new recruit is itching to hit the floor.
Standing at six-foot-eight in the old scale, he is set to make his mark around the basket, but also on the floor, with his attitude towards the game and his new club a perfect match.
Lewis Thomas signed in the off-season from the Hobart Chargers as a versatile big man.
He brings experience from the Australian Institute of Sport, the British Basketball League and two colleges in the USA.
That experience is sure to hold him in good stead as he slots into arguably the most successful club in SEABL history.
The decision to head to Mount Gambier appeared to be a no-brainer when Thomas spoke to The Border Watch before the season kick-off, after enjoying a successful pre-season with the club.
“For me it was about being part of a really good organisation,” he said.
“It seemed like a good opportunity to come to Mount Gambier, get better and try to win – that’s the main goal.
“I thought this would be a great spot to be in, personally for my basketball and to be with a great group of guys as well.”
After about month in town and seven pre-season hit-outs, Thomas said he was settling in well to the system coach Richard Hill runs and the players at the club.
“It is part of what I wanted, with the amount of work we do and how close the group is here,” he said.
“I have tried to slot myself in as well as possible.
“I have had a good time so far and the pre-season tournaments have been great.
“This is the best place to be if I want to make it to the next level.”
For any player, to fit into such a successful side would surely come with some trepidation, but Thomas has taken it all in his stride, with some impressive pre-season statistics and a good rapport with his team mates on the training track.
“In the end it is basketball and the ball still has to go through the hoop,” Thomas said.
“Mount Gambier always has a target on its back, so I’m here to help the guys out and hopefully we can win another one.”
That help will obviously come through Thomas’s imposing height around the hoop, but he says there is more to him than just slam dunks.
“A dunk is a dunk and if I get open, I will take it,” he said.
“But I’m here to play hard and win.
“I will play just as I normally do, as an athletic big who can run the floor, shoot the ball and get other people open.
“I intend to play hard on defence and try to get after it on all areas of the court.”
While coming from Hobart to Mount Gambier may seem like a culture shock, Thomas said his time in the USA provided a similar experience he would expect here.
He attended two colleges in the USA – at California’s Santa Barbara, then the Western Oregon University, the smaller of the two.
“I went to college in a small area, a town of about 15,000, so I know what it’s like to sit down and knuckle into your craft and play basketball,” Thomas said.
“That’s what I’m here for.”
It is hard to separate his love for the game with his personal goals, with the lines blurred between the two.
“Personally I’m looking to win games really and everything else will take care of itself,” he said.
“Richo puts us in a great position, every single player, to play hard and well and achieve what we want individually, but in the end we are here as a team, to win and that is my goal.”
