By Lance Jenkinson
Altona Gators coach Des Radoslovic is confident his side’s season-opening 97-84 loss to Southern Peninsula Sharks in the Big V basketball men’s division 2 is just a “speed bump”.
Handed one of the toughest road trips against one of the likely contenders, the Gators’ 13-point loss undid some of the progress they made during a pre-season campaign.
Radoslovic was adamant the strong pre-season form, which saw the Gators win four out of their five matches, was not a mirage.
“It was a hard one to open the season with,” Radoslovic said.
“[It’s a] tough game on the road playing against one of the better teams in the league.
“We just need to carry through that good form from the pre-season and get over the speed bump that we had over the weekend.”
Altona was pummelled by a barrage of three-pointers from Southern Peninsula.
The Gators perimeter defence had no answer as the Sharks landed 14 threes.
“They shot the hell out of the ball,” Radoslovic said.
Where Altona had the advantage was in the paint, but it did not make it count.
With new big Jovan Bojanic, brought in from division 1 Melbourne University, entering the fold with inside players James Till and James Webster, it could take time for the players in the paint to gel with the rest of the team.
Altona has also added wing players Tobi Swinley and Maverick Clissold from state championship side Keilor Thunder and shooting guard Joey Mausar has returned after two years out of the game.
The Gators have much stronger depth after last year’s transition season, but will still need time to find their groove after such a high turnover of players.
“Last year was a rebuilding year and we ended up with 10 wins with a very committed group of players,” Radoslovic said.
“We had a bunch of soldiers, but were missing a little bit of star power.
“We’ve got three recruits from higher divisions, plus Joey returning, so it’s going to take that little bit of time to get everything gelling perfectly.”
The Gators will need to find their rhythm before this weekend’s double header against Sherbrooke Suns away on Saturday night and Wallan Panthers at home on Sunday, otherwise they could be playing catch-up for a while.
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