Sunday's Service – Round 3

Hey guys welcome back to another week of Sunday’s Service. First of all I’d like to wish you guys a very Merry Christmas. I hope that you get to enjoy the big day with your loved ones, eat plenty of delicious foods and Santa delivers what you wished for. 

Although it's only been two weeks since we last caught up, there has been a lot that has happened. We’ll get to all of that shortly but first I’d like to take you back to the off-season when there were some significant changes that took place with many new pieces to be added to the 36ers organisation. 

Of course, initially it's a shock to the system to see so many new faces around the club but in our line of work anything can happen at any given moment. ‘Adapt or die’, it’s a phrase commonly tossed around many different environments where constant change is present and in our sport, it rings very prominent. Being able to deal with situations like this is always difficult at first as we get accustomed to particular nuances of how things are done and what is expected. 

A new addition to the 36er family this off season was the always cheesing CJ Bruton. CJ and I have a relationship that goes back to 2018 when I first came back from college and worked out for him in Brisbane for the Bullets. Wide eyed and hungry to prove myself, CJ put me through my paces during workouts for the three days I spent up there with him. For anyone that knows him, the common denominator is that "MAN HE CAN TALK!" 

Here I am trialling for a spot on the Bullets being all serious and no nonsense whilst their assistant coach is trash talking me and trying to place bets in shooting drills. We’ve kept in touch over the years whenever we’d play against each other so it’s kind of cool for it to come full circle and to now be playing for him nearly four years later.

His easy going personality flows into his coaching style and personality about the game. CJ allows us to play loose offensively by implementing a system and then urging us to have freedom and creativity to make reads. If you were ever to be a fly on the wall at practice you would notice the two most common phrases he uses are "I need you to unlock your brain fellas" and “play basketball!". 

When we hear this it generally means we’re overthinking the drill or play and need to get back to basics. Defensively, CJ and Jamie Pearlman (our assistant coach) have put together a system utilising our versatility; lengthy guards who can play passing lanes and get up the floor, and bigs that protect the rim. Of course with a new head coach and system there will always be new philosophies we’ve had to incorporate, but once understood it becomes very easy to see the macrocosm of what both coaches are trying to instil as the 36ers brand of basketball. 

In the off-season all players want to do is play games, so pre-season rolls around and it feels so long and dragged out but once the season starts it’s hard to stop and take a breath at times. In the blink of an eye you look up and we’ve already played five games. Within just under three weeks we’ve travelled to Tasmania twice, Perth and then to Far North Queensland to battle against Cairns. 

Reflection is a huge part of any successful team to be able to correct mistakes and double down on what’s working. As my college coach would always say "film never lies". Although we’ve played a barrage of games we haven’t quite been able to appreciate the importance of having a few solid practice days between games. Learning from the previous game and then carrying those teachings to the next opponent is vital to having sustained success in the NBL as games do come around quickly. 

Thankfully this little break between our last game against Cairns to our next game against the Wildcats will give us 10 days to prepare and be ready. It’s no secret we got a beat down in Cairns but rest assured we’re working to correct that and it will be a different game the next time we play. 

We needed to get back to basics and to 'Play Basketball!'.