THE Mount Gambier Pioneers are set for another tough weekend in Round 13 of the South East Australian Basketball League season.
The side heads to the nation’s capital to face the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence tonight, before taking on the Canberra Gunners tomorrow night, both at the Belconnen stadium.
BA CoE have shown plenty of class this season and are set for the playoffs, with 10 wins from 17 games for seventh place, while the Gunners are yet to win a game.
But neither game will be easy.
The Pioneers still suffer from injury woes, with Sam McDaniel out for at least this round.
Initially the club though he might miss the remaining regular-season games, but he is a possible return for the next round.
Captain Tom Daly is back, training well during the week and should provide plenty of drive from the point.
But it is just a typical week for the Pioneers this season, with injuries making for a tough national title defence.
The side is still in with a shot of making the playoffs, but cannot really afford any further losses.
The Pioneers’ final position will depend largely on results from side’s above them on the ladder, but with a healthy percentage – the fourth best in the league – there is a chance to slip into eighth place should they manage to keep winning.
Tonight will be a big test, with the run home after this weekend including the fourth-placed Geelong, the ninth-placed Melbourne and the 13th-placed Sandringham.
All three of those games will certainly provide a challenge, making wins this weekend even more important.
It is probably fair to say the Pioneers deserve a better position on the ladder than their 11th place considering their injury-ravaged season and have possibly punched above their weight taking all that into account.
But of course the season does not provide for excuses and coach Richard Hill does not make any.
He has belief in his side and said if they can make the playoffs, with a healthy roster they will be hard to beat.
Going on results with much of the roster on the bench this season, it is easy to understand that confidence.
“If we can win two games this weekend we will set ourselves up and I think put ourselves in a good position,” Hill said.
“There are other results hanging, but we could possibly drop another game and still make it.
“We will see what happens I guess.”
Hill said he expects BA CoE to be the tougher game for the weekend, after two solid wins recently.
However, he said if his side can come together they are a chance for two wins, although that has been tough with the constant changes this season.
“We are just in there having a shot,” Hill said.
“The guys are playing good basketball and I see us at training starting to look more comfortable with each other.
“We just have a different starting line up game after game and have not been able to get the chemistry you need on the court by being together.
“Tom will come back this week, but has only played half a game with Alex (Marzette).
“Kyle (Tipene) has been doing a good job, but will have to go back to the bench.
“They are the kind of challenges the players are faced with.”
Hill said nothing had really been said about the playoffs among the team.
He said much of the talk had been about simply improving and claiming more wins.
“I think in the back of everyone’s mind we want to make playoffs,” Hill said.
“You do not play as well as we have in the last three games if you have not got motivation to keep pushing forward.
“The players are very motivated and there has been no drop off in terms of work ethic and commitment.
“We just try to deal with what is in front of us, but I think in their minds they want to make playoffs.
“I think they believe if we can get there, we are as good as anyone.”
While that commitment continues to provide some hope, Hill is under no illusions about how tough the task ahead is.
“If we can get through and get everyone on the floor I think we will take some stopping, but just to make the playoffs would be a pretty good feat at the moment,” he said.
“From there, coming from down the bottom end of that, you have to win four games in a row to win a championship.
“But right now we have three weeks to go, five games, we win four of those and we are still in with a shot.”
