Men's Game Preview - Eastern v Central Districts
Saturday April 17, 8:15pm at Adelaide Hills
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Eastern Mavericks |
Central Districts Lions |
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Minor Round Record |
10th – 1 Win and 4 Losses |
9th – 1 Win and 4 Losses |
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Head Coach |
Steve Breheny |
Scott Whitmore |
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Top Scorer |
Shane Breheny – 15.6 ppg |
Matt Atkins – 14.6 ppg |
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Top Rebounder |
Shane Breheny – 11.4 rpg |
Wade Pidock – 8.0 rpg |
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Top Assists |
Ben Dearman – 2.5 apg |
Matt Clarke – 6.0 apg |
The Mavericks and Lions have had starts to the season that can only be described as unpredictable.
Centrals, with new 6'8" American in Wade Pidock,, headed into a round 1 game against a Norwood team missing its three "bigs", lost by 31. Three weeks later, sitting dead last without a win and facing the undefeated Rockets at Hillcrest, the Lions won by 8. In their next game, they perplexing lost to a Southern team that was minus Mark Paget and Paul Smith due to football commitments.
To be fair, Scott Whitmore is dealing with a changed roster from 2009. Pidock will take some time to become accustomed to the league, and the Lions have also added Daniel Wilson who didn't play in 2009, Zane Reeves who played interstate last year, and Tom Cioffi from Norwood. As a result, expect their second half of the year to flow better than their first.
Eastern's unpredictability has been more related to their changing lineup from week to week. Despite adding 6'8" former 36er Jordan Dodman and former 36ers Assistant Coach Steve Breheny, the Mavericks started the season with a 32 point loss to West Adelaide. A week later, Eastern defeated Southern by 24, on the back of a 28 point output from Brad Hill. Against Forestville and Sturt, Hill was rested due to his involvement in the High Stakes Hoops tournament, and Eastern lost both games.
Eastern's reliance on Hill will lessen as the season progresses. As Dodman finds his form, so too will the Mavs. The mid-season addition of Ben Madgen will also help. In the meantime, Eastern will need others to step up, such as Andy Sakkas, who had an astounding 20 point performance against Sturt in his first real minutes of the season.
If Hill plays, Lachlan Parker will most likely get the job on him, in the hope that his longer reach wil be able to limit Hill's scoring. Dodman and Pidock, two back-"to-the-basket" centres, will have a great battle in the paint. With both teams part of a four-way tie for 7th (also last) place, there's more riding on this game than you might think.
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