Sarah Oliver
The Melton Thoroughbreds senior men’s team is gearing up for the Big V season.
Melton basketball director of coaching and senior men’s coach Kelvin Bowers said having the pre-season has been absolutely essential.
Bowers joined the club in May last year, after the Big V season had started, making it his first pre-season at the club.
“I think we’re already seeing some positive results just from us being together for that short period of time…It has really unified the team so I think we’ve got a good headstart to the season,” he said.
Despite losing Sam Byron, some familiar faces will be returning to the court including Michael Thompson, Gabe Davis, Maluk Adut and Koby Skenderis.
“We’re getting fit. I think that our fitness will be able to play the style of… An uptempo game which is predicated on the offence,” Bowers said.
“We’ve got a phenomenal offence of power. I’ve got guys that can put the ball in the hole and we’ve got brilliant athleticism.
“So if we can defend, I think we can go a really long way this year.”
When it comes to new players, Bowers said he is keeping that information “close to my heart at the moment”.
“We’ve had some walk-ins that I think are really going to change the way that we play,” he said.
“I’ve got some athleticism in some guys that are returning from the youth league…They weren’t going to play but they saw what we’re putting together and they wanted to be a part of it.”
The team finished second to last on the ladder last season after welcoming Bowers as the fifth coach in a short period of time.
“When I came on board…we had discipline issues and the culture of the team wasn’t very good,” Bowers said.
“So that was the first thing that I wanted to fix and I feel very confident that we’ve made a 360 degree turn around in terms of what we’re trying to be; being proud of who we are and looking to climb this ladder of success.”
“I don’t like being in division two…I strive for excellence and strive for the top and that’s where we’re trying to take this program to someday get us back into championship [division].
“I’ve got a phenomenal team behind me with Christian Norrish as my assistant coach. He provides great input and feedback in the direction we’re taking this team.”
For the rest of the club, Bowers said the youth league boys and girls coaches Ian Neeves and Chloe Jackson are helping to contribute to improving the club.
“I really want to give them a thumbs up for their contribution to the direction we’re taking this program. It’s not just the men’s program we’re trying to accelerate…We’re all trying to elevate ourselves in this competition and to earn our place at the top.”
