Friday 7th April 2017 Geelong vs Dandenong 6pm Women | 8pm Men Supported by
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GAME NIGHT PROGRAM FRIDAY 7th APRIL 2017 Printed by
14 Hepner Place North Geelong 3215 Ph: 52722558
VS SEABL WOMEN – 6:00PM SEABL MEN – 8:00PM
TONIGHT’S GAME SUPPORTED BY
FROM THE FRONT OFFICE Welcome to the Geelong Arena for the third week in a row and round 3 of the 2017 season. After an impressive start to the year our SEABL Men will be looking to maintain their undefeated record with a win tonight over Dandenong and then on the road tomorrow to Bendigo to take on the reigning champ Braves. Our women got themselves on the right side of the ledger last weekend with wins against both Ballarat and Melbourne, so tonight as they themselves take on the reigning champs they will look to continue building on the positives from last weekend and aim to set up a strong year. We are excited to note that DeMarcus Gatlin and Sara Blicavs were named in last weeks SEABL Teams of the Week, DeMarcus for the second straight week and Sara in her return weekend to the SEABL after a week off to recover from the WNBL season and celebrate brother Kris’s wedding.
As noted last Friday night it has been a big week for our association, with the club agreeing to terms on the lease of a warehouse in Belmont that will be redeveloped into a 6 court stadium. Earlier this week we took some of the regions junior players to the site for a photo shoot with the Geelong Advertiser, it was great to see the looks on the faces of the players and parents alike as they walked into the massive shed that will become the future home of the Geelong Basketball League. This development is aimed at increasing the number of courts in the region and allowing for Basketball Geelong to continue to grow the domestic basketball association. As passionate basketball people we hope that you will help us make this stadium and the association itself the best it can be by donating through our Australian Sports Foundation account, and contacting AWA Alliance Bank to discuss how they might be able to assist you with your banking needs. On other basketball notes, we are about to enter a period of a month between SEABL home games, during that time we encourage you to get to the Arena and support the Supercats BigV state league teams. If you are a Supercats Member entry is FREE so get to the Arena and show your home town support. Game days before next SEABL Game: Sat 8th April Youth Women 5pm & Youth Men 7pm, Sat 22nd April D1W 5pm & D1M 7pm, Sat 29th April Youth Men 5pm & D1W 7pm, Sun 30th April Youth Men 12pm & D1M 2pm. #SeeRed #SupercatsFamily Regards, Dean Anglin CEO
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ROUND 2 REVIEW Match Report by Wes Cusworth in the Geelong Advertiser
WOMEN - Up to scratch but room to improve TWO emphatic wins to spark their season, but Geelong Lady Supercats’ coach David Herbert says there is still plenty of room for improvement for the region’s premier women’s outfit, following the weekend’s second round SEABL action. A standout game from Sarah Blicavs (28 points), along with crucial contributions from centre Chantel Horvat (16) and Isabella Brancatisano (12) combined to deliver the Lady Supercats’ their first win of the season by 26 points over Ballarat on Friday night. Just one day later and Herbert’s line-up thrashed the beleaguered Melbourne Tigers 90-62, with Ebony Rolph (24) dominating the glass and emerging guard Eve Braslis enjoying a breakout game with crucial minutes culminating in 16 points. Brancatisano once again provided great support with 17 points. “They’ve had a week of turmoil at Melbourne and it certainly hasn’t been the best situation for them,” Herbert said. “But even though we won easily and I was able to rest Sarah Blicavs and Alex Duck for much of the game, I still feel there is a lot of improvement possible.” The Supercats burst from the blocks and established a remarkable 23-0 scoreline against a Tigers’ outfit that was clearly outclassed. Managing the tempo of the game, Geelong was able to hold the host at arms-length eventually producing a comfortable 28-point win. Despite the ease of the contest, Herbert refused to be satisfied and said his roster is far from complete. “Alex Bunton is still in Russia with Euro-league finals, but should be ready to join us in May,” he said. “Right at the moment, without our full playing list, I’m just happy to be winning games.”
MEN - Gatlin off leash in scorcher GEELONG Supercats’ coach Leon O’Neill says SEABL fans are finally getting to see the real DeMarcus Gatlin after the US import scorched Ballarat for 26 points in Friday night’s win at the Arena. “This is the DeMarcus we knew we were getting when we recruited him. His attitude is simply to play hard and do whatever we need to win,” the O’Neill said. “We’re keeping it simple, letting him be aggressive, guarding his man, but also being a scorer. “He has the potential to do this night in, night out.” In his second year at the club, Gatlin put up 24 shots from the field, at 45 per cent, while also setting a suffocatingly tight standard for his teammates on defence. The performance followed a game-high 20point, eightrebound contribution in the season-opener a week earlier. Gatlin wasn’t the only Supercat to fire in the comfortable 24-point defeat of its regional arch-rival, with Nathan Herbert back to his best with 22 points at 50 per cent.
The Supercats’ defensive pressure forced Ballarat into some poor shot options, limiting the visitors to 37 per cent from the field, although the home side struggled to contain the potency of the Miners’ Davon Usher, who finished with a game-high 30 points. Ballarat’s towering former AFL-draftee Craig Moller also proved a headache for the home side as he ripped down 13 boards to go with his 16 points. Geelong won the battle of the glass overall, 53-46, and broke the game open with a 32-17 second term, enabling it to hold the visitors at bay throughout the second half.
MATCH DAY PREVIEWS MEN vs Dandenong 07.04.2017 & Bendigo 08.04.2017 For the first time in season 2017 the Supercats Men have to leave the friendly confines of the Arena and hit the road and it’s not an easy road trip, it’s to take on the reigning champs in Bendigo on Saturday night who will be fired up after losing the Grand Final rematch last weekend in MtGambier. However before we get to the Braves, the Supercats men have to take on the Dandenong Rangers who will be trying to put a halt to our undefeated start to the 2017 season. The Rangers are a vastly different team to the one that has been a traditional rival over so many years with stars Andrew Harms, Daquon Montreal and Chuck Long having either retired or moved onto other clubs. But that wont worry them, as the Supercats still need to be wary of a number of talented players including point guard Lucas Barker and imports Chauncey Orr and Brennan McElroy. McElroy is the first player from Basketball Geelong Aussie Basketball Combine to make a SEABL roster and is an exciting Power Forward. The team has had a great week on the training track and once again expect to have all players firing and ready to play, with the exception of injured Point Guard, Nick Owusu. DeMarcus Gatlin has been in tremendous form notching up his second straight SEABL TEAM OF THE WEEK nomination and we will be looking to him to lead from the front once again as we firstly take care of our home court and then look to make an impact in Bendigo. The Braves have reloaded and will once again be a force in the SEABL with quality imports and fringe NBL players complimenting their local talent. Coach Ben Harvey will no doubt have prepared well for our arrival and we will continue to rely on our deep roster as we strive to maintain our start to 2017.
WOMEN vs Dandenong 07.04.2017 & Kilsyth 08.04.2017 The Supercats SEABL women face two of their toughest tests this weekend, Dandenong Friday night, then backing up Saturday night to play Kilsyth on the road. Last years two grand final teams have both dropped one game so far in 2017 and David Herbert’s girls will be looking to add to that. With the Lady Supercats still missing key members of the squad, Herbert said his focus is on improving what they are currently doing and developing our style of play. “we still don't have a full squad and adding pieces to the puzzle does not allow us to gain any rhythm” “Our other challenge is playing the two perennial finalists as a double header. I feel we are up for this challenge and ready to surprise a few teams.” an upbeat David Herbert said ahead of the weekends games. Friday night will see the return of Rosie Fadljevic to Geelong after the WNBL Dandenong Ranger decided to stay with the club for the SEABL season. Geelong last played Kilsyth in Round 18 of the 2016 where the Cobras ran out winners 85-66, league MVP and new wife of Kris Blicavs Steph Cumming had 31 points in that game. Coach Herbert will be pleased to know Steph is not lining up against him this season. While the Supercats and Rangers haven’t played each other since June 18th 2016 and the line ups for both teams look vastly different, with 8 changes to the Supercats roster from that day and 6 to the Rangers.
LUINA GEELONG SUPERCATS SEABL WOMEN Number
Full Name
Position
Player Sponsor
Age
5
Alex Duck
Guard
26
8
Agnes Emma-Nnopu
Guard/Forward
15
9
Chantel Horvat
Forward
18
13
Alex Bunton
Centre
23
15
Sara Blicavs
Forward
24
20
Ebony Rolph
Forward
22
24
Isabella Brancatisano
Guard
22
19
Georgia Tauschke
Guard
21
30
Charlotte Brancatisano
Guard
20
44
Eve Braslis
Forward
17
Head Coach
David Herbert
Assistant Coaches
Glenn Sharp & Darren Busuttil
Team Manager & Assistant Team Managers
Beth Davis, Marcus Lovell & Malik Davis
Strength & Conditioning Coach Physio
Chelsey Cameron provided by Corio Bay Health Group
DANDENONG SEABL WOMEN Number
Full Name Amelia Todhunter
Guard
Aimie Clydesdale
Guard
Rachel Antoniadou
Guard
Bree Whatman
Guard
Clare Papavs
Guard/Forward
Lauren Scherf
Centre
Anneli Maley
Head Coach Assistant Coach Team Manager Team Manager
Position
Guard/Forward
Rosie Fadljevic
Forward
Sophie Tarabolsi
Forward
Amy Baum
Guard
Taylah Gilliam
Guard
Renee Dabas
Forward
John White Michelle Brogan Suzi Porter Robyn Houghton
NEXT HOME GAME SATURDAY 6th MAY 2017 WOMEN 5pm & MEN 7pm
Age
NEW VENUE A GAME CHANGER Written by Damien Ractliffe 05.04.2017
BASKETBALL Geelong has moved to grow participation numbers in the region after acquiring a new venue in Belmont to become the home of basketball. The association’s members will help cover the $1.65m bill — if they switch their banking to AWA Alliance Bank. Basketball Geelong has acquired a fixed lease to the former Crows Rd warehouse, which will house six new courts by next season to help alleviate the chokehold on the sport’s growth. “The key part for us is increasing the number of courts available to domestic basketball, so we set ourselves the task of finding a commercial property that would be suitable to fit some courts into,” Basketball Geelong CEO Dean Anglin said. “From our point of view, we’re trying to consolidate what we do a little bit. The six courts at Crows Rd won’t be big enough for us on their own — we’ll still need external facilities — but instead of using six or seven venues on a weeknight, we can break that down to two or three.” The league has casual leases at Corio Leisuretime, Try Boys Stadium, Geelong Grammar, Geelong College and Christian College — among others — to host nightly domestic basketball, and has a fixed lease with The Arena in North Geelong. Anglin said he expected the use of The Arena to decrease from next season, but the venue would still host Geelong Supercats games. “At this stage we’re continuing at The Arena,” Anglin said. “We’ll need more courts than just the six at Crows Rd, so we’re working through that with council to try and make sure the combination of the two venues works for us. “All things going to plan, we’ll be at The Arena and Crows Rd as our primary venues (next season).” Seating has not been factored into the Crows Rd site, with the emphasis placed on fitting as many courts as possible into the building. Basketball Geelong will have year-round access to the Belmont stadium, allowing the league to host external events. “The big thing for us is it really does give the ability for our competitions to grow,” Anglin said. “We’ve been turning away teams and running double byes in some our competitions for a couple of years now because we just can’t get enough facilities on a Monday and Tuesday night. “This facility with another six courts being injected into Geelong really does change that for us. The additional benefit to that is Basketball Geelong control the food and beverage in the facility, so we’ll have the ability to run external events and generate an income from them.” That flexibility was something the four-court The Arena didn’t offer. “The challenge we face with The Arena was that external events cut into our ability to access the courts,” Anglin said. “The key for us is making sure we have a facility that we can access 365 days of the year, 24 hours a day. We can build programs for schools, we can build basketball programs that are not related to our domestic basketball competition.” Basketball Geelong members can help the league pay off the $1.65 million loan, which will be used to fit out the site . “We’ve got a partnership with AWA Alliance Bank, that allows for Basketball Geelong members to generate a return on investment for the club that goes towards the repayment of that loan,” he said. “That’s simply through them moving their banking across to AWA, and then a shared profit arrangement with the bank that we’ve been able to enter into. We see that partnership as a game changer; this project wouldn’t have been possible without the alliance we’ve built with AWA.” City of Geelong’s director of community life Linda Quinn said the City was “currently undertaking an analysis of the impact of potential games being removed from the Arena.”
LUINA GEELONG SUPERCATS SEABL MEN Number
Full Name
Position
Player Sponsor
Age
5
DeMarcus Gatlin
Combo Guard
24
8
Kris Blicavs
Combo Gard
28
9
Nick Owusu
Point Guard
32
11
Nathan Herbert
Shooting Guard
32
15
Ma'alo Hicks
Power Forward
29
17
Nathan Freind
Guard
26
21
Kristian Rocci
Shooting Guard
23
24
Liam McInerney
Power Forward
26
42
Eric Gaff
Centre
30
52
Jamie Medved
Shooting Guard
34
54
Ash Cannan
Power Forward
35
Head Coach
Leon O’Neill
Assistant Coach
Luke Beauglehall
Team Manager & Assistant Team Managers Physio
Jesse Drever, Nathan Scarlett & Marcus Lovell provided by Corio Bay Health Group
DANDENONG SEABL MEN Number
Full Name
Position
1
Liam Gibcus
Centre
3
Mitch Riggs
Guard
5
Dieuson Biyendolo
Forward
6
Jordan Page
Guard
7
Jack Perry
Guard
8
Brennan McElroy
Forward
9
Josh Oswald
Forward
10
Chauncey Orr
Guard
11
Lucas Barker
Guard
15
Tim Lang
Centre
34
Luke Hughes
Guard
Head Coach Assistant Coach Assistant Coach Team Manager
Mike Funke Nick Mihai Warren Brown Brad Crole
NEXT HOME GAME SATURDAY 6th MAY 2017 WOMEN 5pm & MEN 7pm
Age
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