Miners Struggle Defensively

By Kasey Cornwell

The GMHBA Ballarat Miners suffered a 16 point defeat at the hands of a sleek Geelong Supercats side 77 – 93 at the MARS MINERDOME on Wednesday night.

Head Coach Eric Hayes noted the main concern with the team’s loss was the team dynamics, the ability to play together cohesively.

Defensively Ballarat struggled, and Hayes felt this has been the case for the last few games. The team has been working on this off court and is hopeful that they will soon be able to implement this on game day. Geelong was able to penetrate Ballarat’s defense and made an impressive 48 points in the paint, compared to 30 for the Miners. This was off the back of an impressive game from Geelong Supercats veteran Nathan Herbert and import Eric Gaff. Hayes stressed that the side should be focusing on blocking out defensively, so that when the shot goes up they can ensure that there is one less potential rebounder under the basket. Hayes thought the team was out-jumped and out-ran under the basket and implementing some blocks would have assisted the defensive rebound count.

The starters contributed rather evenly on the score-board, with Roy Booker taking home 19 points and Greg Thondique a strong 18 points. Anthony Fisher, 14 points, and Liam Gibcus with 12 points. Hayes while impressed the team has been sharing the load noted that the offenses are still not where they want them to be. The Miners will be working on moving the ball around more within the offenses. Hayes takes blame for the offenses breaking down easily, and he and the team have been working on making these seamless and will continue to work hard on this over the coming games.

Game MVP Dyson King-Hawea, 6 points 5 rebounds is a smart, tough player and Hayes is certain that he is a really good addition to the team. He has the ability to read the play and fits in with his team-mates well.

The loss, certainly doesn’t help the Miners bid for play-offs but Hayes is confident the team is capable of getting there again as long as they play selflessly and work hard for each other. This will be important with tough games against Canberra, Albury Wodonga and BACoE in the coming weeks.

The GMHBA Ballarat Miners hit the road for their next clash against Canberra, and will return home to the Minerdome on Saturday 25 July to take on the Albury Wodonga Bandits.