By Tara Murray
Whittlesea Pacers coach Damon Lowery is loving his time in the Basketball Australia 3×3 basketball program.
While Lowery spends his weekend’s coaching the Pacers women’s state championship side, he is also part of the coaching set up for the newest Australian basketball teams.
He’s a development coach with the women’s program and was given the opportunity to coach the side earlier this month when it qualified for the World Championships in the Netherlands later this year.
The side, which included Women’s National Basketball League players Rebecca Cole and Alice Kunek, went through the qualifying competition without dropping a game.
Lowery, who played in the National Basketball League many years ago, said 3×3 was a format he loved.
“I’ve done a lot of training with some of the girls who are in the program, so it’s a natural progression to be involved,” he said.
“I first came on board as a development coach … as I’m working with a lot of those girls anyway, it made sense for me to coach them as well.”
Matt Patton will coach the side at the Asian Cup in China, with Lowery saying a decision is yet to be made on the coach for the World Championships side and, further down the track, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Lowery said he would jump at any chance to coach the side again.
“It’s an exciting format and it’s the way I like to play the game,” he said.
“You play instinctively and can be creative. In five on five, it can be a bit more structured.
“If I was to make the Olympics, I would try and carry the flag at some point [during the opening ceremony].
Lowery, who is also the Whittlesea Pacers coaching director, said any experience he gained with the Australian program would be a plus for his local association.
“It’s a great opportunity … I enjoy coaching Whittlesea and this is a little bit extra.
“Anything that I can steal that will benefit Whittlesea, I will bring back.
“You learn things you won’t learn in the Big V.”
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