Nelson Giants NBL season goes from pipe dream to hoops heaven- June 18, 2020
POSTED BY: Eurobasket News
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Michael Fitchett
The crowds will be filling the stands again and the players are descending on centre court - all that remains for the Nelson Giants in their national league return is to get on court next week. The shortened six-week national basketball league is set to get under way at Auckland's Trusts Arena on June 23, with the seven sides assembling at their Sky City base this week to prepare, and in some cases, acquaint themselves with their on-court colleagues. For Giants head coach Michael Fitchett , the recent league draft has provided him with a balanced squad of local talent and NBL experience. He was able to pre-select nine of his 12-strong roster based on local ties to the franchise, securing valuable big-game services of Mika Vukona (197-F-82), Mike Karena (210-C-93, college: Wright St.) and Joshua Bloxham (186-G-90). "I'm stoked that those guys can have a season, because they've done such good work in the pre-season." The Giants three draft spots were filled by former Taranaki Airs guard Dane Brooks (188-G-96, college: Harcum CC), Thane O'Leary (203-F-98) and Theo Johnson (193-F/G-95). "He'll have some highlight plays for us I think - he was a really good high jumper when he was young, so it was good to pick him up," Michael Fitchett said of Brooks. The Giants have counted themselves fortunate to have secured big centre O'Leary as a round 10 pick, who Michael Fitchett said would work well behind Vukona and Karena, while 2019 Saints player Theo Johnson rounded out the squad as the round 11 pick. "[Johnson] didn't play a lot last year, but he has that championship pedigree that is nice to add to the team as well." Bloxham has already flown himself flown to Nelson to train alongside local squad members Tom Ingham, Tommy Gargiulo, Zeb Lovell, Nick Trathen, Riley Bensemann and Tysxun Aiolupotea. "Having seven guys training together over the last fortnight has been great for us and will give us a leg up over some of the other teams," says Michael Fitchett . "It's starting to get real - there were so many balls up in the air [earlier on] and talk we might do this or that with the league - now we've got our flights, a place to stay and our team kit - it's all come together and is pretty exciting for us. "Hopefully we can hit the ground running on Friday." Michael Fitchett will drive to Auckland on Thursday one day before his players fly north. The team will connect with Vukona on arrival, as the 38-year-old Brisbane-based power forward completes his quarantine at an Auckland hotel. They will then have three days to train and gel before the season tips off on Tuesday evening against the Airs. From there, it's a full-on programme with three games a week to look forward to in the subsequent run to the finals. However, with all teams involved in the finals' series, Michael Fitchett said the key to success was not hitting peak performance too early. "Mika's still there doing what he calls his prison workout - running around the carpark for an hour a day so he can get his fitness in - he'll take a bit of time to build up, but we're really aiming to be good in those last two weeks as opposed to the first two." While the 2020 season was now a total away-game scenario, Michael Fitchett said he was aware of friends, former players, sponsors and family making the trip to Auckland to support the team in the coming weeks. "We will have some support and obviously the games are going to be on TV, so I'm sure we'll be hearing about people watching from home. "Six weeks away from the family is going to be tough, but overall it will give us a chance to focus on basketball and not things like their day job ... I'm hoping they get a lot out of it in terms of improvement." |
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