Despite another disappointing men's State Basketball League campaign, coach Jason Chalk believes the Mandurah Magic can break their finals drought next year and even win a championship within three seasons.

The Magic haven't made the playoffs since 1999 - which is the longest drought in the MSBL - and struggled with injuries in 2011 as they finished 13th with just seven wins.

But Mandurah's committee made a huge show of faith in Chalk by granting him a three-year contract extension, in the hope that he could lead the club to its first championship in that time.

The coach, who has also had his recruiting budget increased, said he was confident the program was on the right track and he could deliver on the committee's lofty expectations.

"I said at the start of the year that I wouldn't seek to be re-signed if we didn't make the playoffs, but the committee basically came to me and said they think I'm the best person for the job and that a lot of what happened was out of my hands," Chalk said.

"They see the work we do with the younger ones and they want us to be there leading and going forward.

"The committee want a championship. That's what they told us in a nutshell.

"We're looking to make big in-roads and make the playoffs next year and keep building from there. I'd like to think we could finish between the sixth and eighth spots next year."

The Magic were widely considered a strong chance to make the finals heading into the 2011 season, but the unavailability at different times to key players Andrew Bowman, Ben Smith, Casey Crevelone and Taylor Mullenax severely hurt their chances of that.

Imports Crevelone and Mullenax both missed significant chunks of the season with injury and Chalk said he was in the process of reviewing the status of both players.

"It looks like we've re-signed Taylor Mullenax, while the other import spot it looks like we'll be leaving open at this stage," he said.

"It looks like Taylor's going to give up his season in Europe and get here for pre-season, which will be great for us. He's a quality player and a quality individual.

"Casey's still around the club at the moment, working on trying to get his back right. We have to weigh up our options because we just can't afford to have him come out again and be injured. But if he can prove he's fully fit, we'll have another look at him."

Chalk also said he had identified a couple of potential local recruits who he would pursue once the SBL finals finished.

Article by Jacob Kagi
Photo by Darren Speedie (Vision Inspired Photography)

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