Saints rested and ready for CBL comeback

The end of the Country Basketball League season is fast approaching, and time is running out for the Saints to secure a space in finals. With just three rounds before the post-season Myrtleford’s men side sits smack-bang in the middle of the pack, sitting fifth with a 4-2 record. After the bye on the weekend, the Saints are prepared mentally and physically to make a push up the ladder and earn a spot at glory. Men’s coach Marcus La Spina said the season had been a whirlwind so far, so it was nice to take a breather and reassess what was working and what still needs improvement. “It was a good time to have a bye,” he said. “In terms of us, we’ve just been really focussing on our defensive rotations and a few of our principles offensively, just trying to add a few extra options in for when things don’t go to plan, and having a basic fallback offensive style we really want to play when we don’t have those fast break opportunities where we can run and gun. “We’ve put a lot of effort into that. “On the defensive side, we’ve been able to work on our rotations – we’ve got a lot of young boys who are still learning where to rotate and who to go to, but we’re trying to make that clearer across the whole team so there’s no confusion, everyone’s on the same page doing the same thing.” La Spina said the nine-round home and away season made it difficult to cultivate a strong team culture and off-field bonds, but they were working hard. “It’s hard to build that team chemistry – it’s only a nine-round season, and as you’ve seen, it doesn’t take much to go from second to fifth,” he said. “It just means that each game is so important, a loss can drop you down to mid-tier and out of finals pretty quickly, so it does add to the pressure of the season. “We’re just trying to really spend the time at training to build that team culture we want, and make sure we’re coming in and doing the hard work, doing what we need to do, but also making sure we’re enjoying the short season with each other. “We haven’t had the long preseason to be able to build that chemistry, so we’re making sure there are still those opportunities to still enjoy each other’s company and build that camaraderie.” The Saints resume their season this Sunday at home to Wallan, a match-up on paper which seems very one-sided. However, the Panthers have shown they are not the invincible squad they’ve projected through the early parts of the season, having just been knocked off by dark horse Wangaratta – Wallan is vulnerable. “I know the style of play they really like to play, they definitely play that typical Vic Metro style of game, obviously having the youth league and a lot of people in their Big V teams and youth league teams,” La Spina said. “We’ll definitely come out with that high intensity and defensive pressure from the start and look to try to push them away from what they’re used to, not give them an opportunity to be able to go to their principles. “We’ll try and push them out, try and make them do something different. “They’ve obviously got a few good, talented players on their side as well, like Ryan Phillipe, another NBL1 player, so we’ll definitely be making sure we’re aware of who their scorers are. “There will be a few boys having jobs on the weekend to try and reduce their players’ impact on the game.” Myrtleford Saints take on Wallan Panthers this Sunday 15 November at the Myrtleford Indoor Sport Stadium from 1pm.

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