Well St George has definitely felt the wrath of Shoalhaven to start the season with their Saints White squad becoming the most recent victim of the Tigers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Coming off a statement victory vs last years premiership team the St George Saints Red, the Tigers continued their momentum, showing improvement across the board.
READ MORE:
The team cruised to 99-76 victory showcasing their strong defense again while also clicking on every cylinder offensively.
Head Coach Ben Bagoly said last week while he was pleased with the squad, he felt they didn't play up to their potential, however in their matchup this week they did "all the little things well."
"We were a lot more patient this week, slowing the game down meant we could really pick our spots and let the game come to us," Bagoly said.
"Second game in, they start to feel that game pace a little bit more, and everyone starts to become more comfortable in the system."
The team showcased terrific shooting prowess, knocking down 13 three pointers, spearheaded by Bruce Ozolins and Aaron Puljic who each knocked down five.
"Bruce and Aaron were shooting the lights out, and everyone feeds off that, it helps instill confidence in the rest of the guys, and then the game becomes really fun," Bagoly said.
"It was great to see across the board that the guys were confident putting up shots, the ball movement was just fantastic."
Bagoly said the biggest strength this year for the Tigers is their depth.
This was headlined again by combo guard Aaron Puljic who scored 21 points off the Tigers bench, but it was the collective effort of the unit that truly propelled them to the victory.
"I have about four guys who could start on almost any team and they're coming off the bench," he said.
"That's a good problem to have as a coach, and it's just a luxury to have so many options."
So early in the season, it's been really rewarding for Coach Bagoly to have all the players buy into their defensive gameplan,
That side of the ball is really propelling the team right now as they continue to make it hard for opponents to get into an offensive flow.
"It's great to see them all committed on that end, because I can't go out and do it," he said.
The team has prioritised transition defense, because if you can negate the effectiveness of the fastbreak for the opponent, you take away the games easiest points making it much tougher for the other team.
"People are going to score, that's the game, but you just try to make them as inefficient as possible," he said.
Coach Bagoly cited Billy Campbell as one of the standouts from this weeks match for his tough nose defense on the oppositions better players.
"I challenged him to take on more of a lead defensive roll this year, although he didn't score the most (10 Points) he impacted the game the most out of anyone, he was excellent."
To start the year both the mens and the junior teams have been very well rounded in the scoring department, with five different players in double figures this week.
Coach Bagoly states it's a testament to all the coaches the boys have had before.
"They are all fundamentally sound, if you have guys out there who can't shoot and can't dribble then it's pretty hard to play basketball, but this team, all the boys have the basics down-pat and could really play in any system."
The Shoalhaven Mens Youth team have their first home game this weekend, and Coach Bagoly encourages people to get down to the Shoalhaven Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday at 12:00am for what is set to be a great match.