FINAL SCORE
(83) Panaceum Geraldton Buccaneers v (105) Perth Redbacks
NBL1 REVIEW
Round 11 Spotlight | Redbacks down Buccs as COVID hits
It turned out a more eventful afternoon at Belmont Oasis than anyone imagined with the COVID-19 restrictions coming into place as the game tipped off before the Perth Redbacks proved too strong despite a big Mathiang Muo showing and his Geraldton Buccaneers coach being ejected.
The Sunday afternoon games as part of the second half of a road double-header for the travelling regional teams can sometimes end up being tame affairs, but that was anything but the case as part of Round 11 in the NBL1 West Men’s Division as the Redbacks hosted the Buccs.
As the teams were on their way to Belmont Oasis on Sunday morning, they were both coming off playing on Saturday night with the Redbacks losing to the Perry Lakes Hawks and the Buccs going down to the Cockburn Cougars, but things were still normal.
But by the midday tip-off, the COVID-19 restrictions were in place meaning everyone in the stadium had to wear a mask unless you were a player on the court and there was also a limit to those allowed inside to watch.
It didn’t detract from the spectacle, though, and a couple of hours later, Mathiang Muo had put up 44 points for the Buccs, his coach Dayle Joseph had found himself ejected and on the back of Louis Timms lighting it up in the first quarter, the Redbacks had too much firepower to win 105-83.
It was a hot opening from the Redbacks who were determined to bounce back from having their four-game winning streak ended the night before with the loss to the Hawks at Bendat Basketball Centre.
Timms was unstoppable putting up 14 points in the opening quarter alone knocking down threes, throwing down dunks and that helped the Redbacks opening up a 33-13 edge by quarter-time.
The Buccaneers kept fighting the rest of the way with Muo trying to close the deficit and then Aaron Ralph hit a couple of threes early in the second half to make it a 16-point game. But the Redbacks responded and the Buccs couldn’t ever really threaten despite Muo fighting to the end.
The Redbacks ended up winning comfortably by 22 points to improve to a 7-5 record on the season having won five of their last six. While the Buccs are finding the going tough in 2021 at 3-8 following the two road losses this weekend.
While Mathiang Muo was outstanding for the Buccaneers playing all but 1:45 of the game and ending up with 44 points, 10 rebounds and three assists on the back of shooting 11/20 from the floor, 6/10 from three and 16/19 at the foul line, it was the number of contributors for the Redbacks that proved the difference.
After his hot start, Louis Timms didn’t even top-score for the Redbacks but still had 20 points including hitting 3/5 from beyond the arc.
In his third game of the season, Marshall Nelson did top-score for Perth with 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists on 11/19 shooting while Zac Gattorna added 15 points on 3/6 shooting from the three-point line.
Tevin Jackson also had 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Redbacks with Lachlan Bertram scoring nine points, Derek Igbenoba eight and Kyden Edman six while captain Joel Wagner dished out another five assists.
As well as what Muo delivered for the Buccaneers, Aaron Ralph put up 12 points including hitting three triples before fouling out. The frustrations from the Buccs spilled over with coach Dayle Joseph receiving a second tech foul in the fourth quarter too.
Elijah Barbour had eight points and five assists while experienced guard Brandon Holloway has made the move from the Giants to the Buccs, and is working his way back nicely from a knee injury to play 24 minutes for four points and two assists.
Redbacks coach CJ Jackson was glad that the game was able to still go ahead despite the restrictions that came into effect upon tip-off.
“It was quite surprising to be honest because we went from last night and everything was OK and played against Hawks with a whole bunch of people in the stands and all our restrictions were relaxed, but within 48 hours it just turned upside down and I’m just glad that we could still play this game,” Jackson said.
“I think that was the best thing that we probably could have done is to play especially because the Buccaneers have travelled down here to Perth. It’s a long trip and we wouldn’t get to play them again if this game didn’t go ahead so it would have been a real shame if they just had to drive home without playing.
“I know at the beginning of the season they missed out on playing two games as well so to lose another game that would be impactful on their players as well because they can get a little bit offside when they don’t get to play. So for us to be able to play this game was a good thing no matter how it turned out.”
The Redbacks came into this weekend on a four-game winning streak so Jackson was disappointed with their performance on Saturday night to lose to Perry Lakes, but was happy with the response on Sunday against the Buccs.
“I believe last night and I’m not going to pull any punches, I thought we threw ourselves out of that game with some poor defensive assignments and not covering what we had as a game plan against Hawks,” he said.
“But we bounced back today and in saying that, we probably have to put things in perspective that during the month of June we went 5-1 so for us to do that and have beaten the Senators and the Wolves along the way, I think that’s a good feat for us even if we didn’t like what happened last night.”
It’s quite the talented Redbacks squad has at his disposal too and just looking at the starting five and Louis Timms, Marshall Nelson, Zac Gattorna and Tevin Jackson could easily be NBL level talents and Joel Wagner has been and is the league’s all-time assists leader and the club’s games record holder.
As much as Jackson wants to win games of basketball, it’s also about giving his players the chance to progress to the next level too.
“We have some talent and I think what we want to do is that we want to create that opportunity for those guys to be able to be looked at on the national stage,” Jackson said.
“We want clubs around the country to look at those guys and see the skills that they have, and that they could add value to their team.
“I would put out there that I think those guys are starting to come into their own this season and there should be some opportunities for them to go and trial for some NBL clubs to show what they can do.”
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