Trevor Jackson
THE NBL1 South focus turns to Frankston this weekend where the pre-season Blitz will take place.
The Mount Gambier Pioneers men and women will head across for the tournament, with two games each against Waverley and Bendigo.
The weekend provides the chance for teams to fine tune their game prior to season tip off on April 1, where the Pioneers will hit the road to take on Sandringham Sabres.
The season also creates some new history for the club, as the Pioneers teams embrace their new facility at Wulanda.
A shoot-around will be open to the public on Thursday to showcase the new facility.
For men’s head coach Richard Hill the new facility is a great opportunity for the club and the city.
“It is a sensational facility,” he said.
“It is certainly not the Icehouse … it is fully air conditioned and the same temperature all the time.
“For our supporters it will be comfortable and it is close to everything in town.”
As for the new roster for the Pioneers men, Hill said everything is starting to come together.
Two games on the weekend against Keilor and Ballarat showed the side can certainly put a score on the board, with each game producing more than 100 points and winning margins around the 30-point mark.
“Neither of those teams were at full strength and we had everybody,” Hill said.
“But they were very good hitouts and very important for us because we are so new, trying to get to know each other.
“We played well in patches and now we have another three weeks of training and a couple of games in Melbourne this weekend to try to get on top of things.
“It will take a while with the new group.”
However, Hill said he was pleased with the weekend, as his players continue to gel.
“I felt significant improvement on the weekend,” he said.
“We scored over 100 points in each game so scoring is not a problem.
“It is just connecting, defending, getting to know the strengths and weaknesses of each other and me as a coach getting to know what the guys can and can’t do.
“It was a successful weekend for us.”
With the NBL1 pre-season Blitz on this weekend, the opportunity is there for further improvement against a couple of tough sides.
“I feel like we will be stepping up another notch,” Hill said.
“We play Bendigo and Waverley who look like they will be strong teams.
“We will get tested this weekend which is good … we need to be.”
