QBL Men Season Preview - Brisbane Capitals
2015 Season 2015 W/L: 14-3 (2014 W/L: 10-6) Made Grand Final (Lost to Mackay) Coaching Staff Head Coach: Geoff Tarrant (3rd Year) Roster Transactions In: N/A Out: N/A Projected Starters: Aaron Anderson, Ryan Jeffries, Kurt Thompson, Zac Carter, Dusty Rychart Key Bench: Seb Windsor, Anthony Kopickas, Drew Phillips, Tom Malloy
Position by Position Analysis
Guard: Aaron Anderson had a great season, high efficiency in limited minutes and showed his ability to dominate with his driving and overall speed. He should be complimented by Ryan Jeffries as the starting backcourt, while he struggled last season he is capable of dominating when his on. Brisbane has an abundance of good guards off the bench. Kopickas and Phillips are vital contributors while Seb Windsor, Jacob Davis and Christian Lam can score when required. Forward: Kurt Thompson is so underrated in that team, does a lot of the little things on the court and does it effectively. Zac Carter and Alex Barker round up the forward depth.
Centre: Dusty Rychart is one of the top players in the leagues and seeing him play you can understand why. Smart and effective while using limited possessions. Tom Malloy is a big body that can hold the fort while Rychart gets a breather. Is Brisbane window of opportunity closing in for them? As long as Dusty Rychart is playing at a high level, they will always be QBL championship contenders. But with Rychart getting on with the years the question is how much has he left in the tank. Rychart efficient play makes him a difficult assignment for opposing teams and open up the floor for his trigger happy teammates. The biggest issue is that their coach, while he has done a good job getting the Caps to two finals in the last three years, lacks the ability to recruit new players (look at all the former Brisbane juniors, like Ben Wilson, Jarred Bairstow, who are preferring to play elsewhere). Brisbane main core has been around for years and while familiarity is a great attribute, that also makes them predictable. I feel they have the chance to make another run to the grand final but with Cairns, Rockhampton and Logan improving that window is steadily closing. Do they have to start getting a replacement for Dusty Rychart? It’s not just replacing Rychart, its restructuring their entire roster. Rychart isn’t just an efficient post player he is a 2 on the player points system. Zac Carter isn’t anywhere near the player Rychart is and Tom Malloy while a big body, look more like a solid backup than a Rychart replacement. Getting a quality unrestricted big isn’t an easy task. Brisbane has a problem fitting two imports into the points system so at some stage they will need to have address it.
What gets Brisbane into the playoffs?
Continued good play from Rychart, Anderson and Thompson. Brisbane continue its high scoring efficiency. Strong play from the key bench players (Kopickas, Phillips) What gets Brisbane out of the playoffs? Teams start figuring out how to score in that pack defense, that has been successful for them. Any long term injuries to Dusty Rychart. Anderson has a slump in his second season and get little production out of Kopickas or Phillips.
