JOONDALUP Wolves centre Kevin Davis has had a remarkable impact in his two SBL seasons and now if he can win a second championship in Saturday night's Grand Final it could help him return for a third year.

Davis arrived at the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves at the start of the 2015 season after graduating from Central Washington University in 2014 and he has made a tremendous impact.

The centre has proven an outstanding rebounder, strong defensive presence and a reliable scorer around the basket with dunks, alley-oops, put backs and scores in the post.

That saw him average 18.8 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.8 blocks during 2015 when the Wolves went on to win the Men's SBL championship and now he has averaged 21.4 points, 11.3 boards, 2.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.4 blocks in 2016.

Davis has loved his two seasons with the Wolves and the way he has been able to play to his strengths by not trying to do things out of his comfort zone and that's why he is shooting well over 60 per cent over his 60 SBL games.

"The coaches are putting me in the right spot on the court and allowing me to play to my strengths," Davis said.

"Then my teammates keep pushing me in practice all the time so that helps me and I also look at other big men in the league to motivate me to perform as well. A lot of things all combine to motivate me and I really enjoy playing here."

The Wolfpack are preparing for their fourth Grand Final in six years ahead of Saturday night's clash with the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars at Bendat Basketball Centre.

Back-to-back the next goal as Wolves achieve sustained success 
Young gun Pesava hopes for Cougars title on road to college 
Field putting own pain aside to pull for Cougars' championship 

Davis has had a tremendous time in his two years in the SBL with the Wolves and he now is as hungry as can be for a second straight championship come Saturday night. If that eventuates, the pull to try and win a three-peat would be mighty tough to ignore.

"I would be very happy to play with this club again next year especially if we win this one I would feel like I have to come back and try to three-peat. I would have to come back and try to make that sort of history," he said.

"To be out here for my first year professionally it meant a lot to finish out the season in first place and then to top it off with a championship was a great feeling. To do it again is a tough feat honestly and hopefully we get the job done. It would be a great feeling to win a second one if we are able to win on Saturday night."

Coming off a championship and keeping the majority of the group together on top of the returns of Rhys Smyth and Reece Maxwell, the Wolves would have been disappointed not to have at least made a Grand Final in 2016, but Davis also wanted to be truly tested along the way.

That happened last year for the Wolfpack in the quarter finals against the Perry Lakes Hawks and this year it came in a hard fought three-game semi-final series with the Willetton Tigers.

"With the expectations we set ourselves, it would have been disappointing not to have made the Grand Final and that's not based on what we did last year. But coming into this year we thought the team we had we should be able to do well but it's great to now be in the Grand Final," Davis said.

"It was a tough series but we needed that work out. Just like last year when we lost the middle game to Perry Lakes in the first round, so it was just something we needed to work through. It was just what we needed and now we are fired up for the Grand Final and I feel like they are due for a loss."

Looking ahead to the Grand Final on Saturday night against the Cougars, Davis is looking forward to a heated affair and he would want it no other way.

While he also can't wait for his individual match up with Marcus Goode featuring the two best big men, and perhaps the two best all-round players in the SBL.

"Of course it's going to be a good one, it always seems to be when us to two teams play especially being the one and two teams. It has built up and the hype is what it is now so I'm looking forward to it," he said.

"It's always good to go up against someone like him to see where you are at yourself. That's how I look at every game honestly, just to see how I match up and now to go up against someone as good as Marcus who is an MVP chance, that will be cool.

"With him working from the outside, it just depends if his shot or not so that has a lot to do with his game, but I play the same way every game."

After finishing at college, Davis wasn’t sure what his basketball future was or if he would have a professional career. But when the opportunity arose to come to Australia and play with the Wolfpack he liked everything he had heard.

Now two years later, he has been more than happy with the decision and he wouldn’t rule out being back for a third year in 2017 if he was wanted.

"When I decided to come here last year, it was just the opportunity to play professionally that I was looking forward to. I wasn’t playing before then so I wanted to come out here to play basketball and that's just something I wanted to do," he said.

"And I wanted to continue to do that and to do it with this team for two years has been great. I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone else that's for sure. If the opportunity is there, I would love to continue playing out here and I honestly love living here."

Having been through the championship celebrations 12 months ago, Davis has no doubt the Wolves can take that to another level this time but he knows a lot has to go right for that to eventuate.

And while he hasn’t got anything lined up just yet, he is hoping to pick up another gig shortly after the Grand Final and if it all works out timing wise, he could back with the Wolves in 2017 if they want him.

"We would have to make the celebrations bigger this year and we have the chance to do the things that we wanted to last year, so that will be a lot of fun. But we have to take care of business and win this first," Davis said.

"I haven’t got anything lined up, but hopefully I will soon sometime after this week. I would be happy to play anywhere honestly, as long as I can continue playing. Even if I had to wait until I came back here, I would just knowing I was welcome back."

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography