SBL Blitz Preview
Perennial men's powerhouse Lakeside Lightning and reigning women's champions Southlands Boulevarde Willetton Tigers will be two of the main teams to watch in this weekend's State Basketball League Pre-Season Blitz tournament.
Each of the 14 men's and 12 women's sides, in addition to composite metropolitan and country sides for both genders, will play four games at the WA Basketball Centre from Friday to Sunday to finetune for the season proper, which begins on March 16.
On the men's side of the draw, Lakeside will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing end to the 2011 campaign with wins in a tough series of matches.
The Lightning, who dominated the 2011 regular season before falling in the semi-finals, face the team to knock them out of the final four in Perry Lakes on Friday and local rivals Cockburn in their most notable fixtures.
Other drawcards in the men's competition will be country rivals Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants and Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers.
The Giants, who surprisingly missed out on the finals in 2011, have made significant personnel changes while also appointing Dan Fisher as their new coach and will be keen to show they can be big improvers with wins over Southwest, East Perth, Perth and Geraldton.
But the Buccaneers also have a point to prove after missing the finals for the first time since 1998 and have also made major changes.
In the women's draw, seven-times champions Willetton will be aiming to show they can again contend despite the departures of key players Zoe Harper, Ebony Antonio and Kate Malpass and coach Glenn Clarke.
The Tigers' biggest fixture comes on Saturday at 7pm when they face East Perth, who have retained the bulk of their 2011 side, in the rematch of last year's Grand Final.
Southwest will be one of the other teams to watch after recruiting WNBL players Harper and Kara Hargreaves and two imports in a big to improve on a poor recent record which has seen them win just six games in the past three seasons.
The Slammers' biggest test will be against 2011 semi-finalists Perry Lakes on Saturday afternoon.
Article by Jacob Kagi
Photo by Grant Lauterbach
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