THE Mount Gambier Pioneers will play their second home game of the South East Australian Basketball League season tomorrow night and for one player it will hold a little more incentive to record a victory.
Erik Burdon has been with the club since 2010 and will rack up his 200th game this round, forming a core group which includes Tom Daly and Brad Hill who have been together for the past six years.
Burdon has tasted plenty of success with the club, which has achieved an unprecedented five straight conference championships, along with three national titles in the last four years.
Known for his outside shooting, Burdon’s ability has not waned over the years, with last week’s 26-point effort including six three points shots from eight attempts.
It was a timely performance, with both Brad Hill and Majok Deng sitting on the sidelines nursing injury.
In similar scenarios Burdon has risen to the occasion, with last year’s national championship game seeing 22 points, also with six from eight outside the arc.
In his 199 games to date, he has averaged 14.6 points-per-game, shooting at around 41.6pc from the field and close to 39pc from three-point range.
In 2014 Burdon claimed championship titles with both the Perth Wildcats in the NBL and the Pioneers in the SEABL competition.
He has been part of all the Pioneers’s recent success, remaining this year to attempt to keep the success going.
Also a former Allan Scott medalist, as a result of his 200 games Burdon will qualify for life membership of the club.
The mild-mannered shooter told The Border Watch this week while it was a big milestone, he had tried to approach the game low-key.
“Originally I thought of it as just another game, but I have had time to reflect on the past, the friendships I’ve made throughout that time and the enjoyment I’ve had down here,” he said.
The success of the club in recent years has been helped in no small part by Burdon’s ability to find the basket and he is confident it can continue, with last week’s game an example of the team work involved with the Pioneers.
“With two of our star players missing the game (last) Friday night, the young guys stepped up,” he said.
“Kane De Wit, Dellon Brown and Chol Luk just stepped up into those roles and played our system.
“It seems to work, it doesn’t really matter who is on the floor at the time, as long as we play our system it goes well.”
But Burdon said that does not come without consistent hard work, which he said had as much to do with the recruits brought in each year as the regular players in the roster.
“We bring in competitive people who love competing, who want to win, who want to put in the hard work,” he said.
“It is a constant thing with our group, we set a standard we want to reach each year and we bring in guys who will accept what needs to be done to achieve that goal.”
Despite his time in the club and the game at such a high level, Burdon said he is ready for another successful year with the Pioneers.
“I’ve had a pretty good pre-season and feel in probably the best shape I have for a few years,” he said.
“Not that I’ve been in bad shape, but I had ankle surgery after my Perth season and it has taken a while to get back to full health.
“That feels 100pc now and I feel like I have put on a bit of extra strength in the off-season.
“My body is feeling good, which I think is the main thing at the moment.”
As far as his statistics are concerned, Burdon said he does take notice of them, but it appears the team always comes first.
“It is more about playing my role in the team, but as a shooter, you do set yourself benchmarks to reach or goals to achieve each year,” he said.
“As a three-point shooter I look at that percentage, but I can usually tell if it is higher or lower, if I’m taking bad shots.
“Ideally I would like to shoot around the 50pc mark from three, but over the last four or five years I have been in the low 40s, which is decent.
“Being known as a shooter you get scouted as that as well, but in our system and with our team, we have guys who can get me open and try to get me in spots I like to shoot in.”
In his typical style, Burdon has one simple desire for tomorrow night’s game.
“I am just hoping for a win really,” he said.
“For me, once the game starts I probably wont be thinking about how many games I have played.
“I’m just looking forward to building on last week’s win and hopefully continuing that.”
