QBL Week 1: Player Interviews
Welcome to Basketball coverage of the QBL. We will have weekly interviews of QBL players. This week we have from the men's Sunshine Coast Phoenix-Clippers Darren Best and Mackay Meteors Chris Cedar and from the women's Gladstone Port City Power's Maddy Willey. Sunshine Coast Phoenix-Clippers forward Darren Best
How was your offseason?
My offseason was great it was the first time in many years I had not headed overseas to play in the offseason. What areas of your game did you work on?
I worked on all areas at this point its just about fine tuning my skills and fitting into the team dynamics. I have played many years in australia and overseas so I know what it takes to get me ready. With a year under your belt at Clippers how would you approach year 2 at SC Phoenix-Clippers?
My first year with the Clippers although we didnt have the results we wnated on the court we managed to achive alot off the court. I am very Happy to say we have a great Association that is the best on the coast. As far as the on QBL I like the league its a fast paced game with good talent. First game of the season is again newest QBL team USC Rip, what sort of intensity your expect in this game? This will be a great contest. Both teams will have something to prove. We will look to our fans for suport. Is there added pressure for SC Phoenix-Clippers to prove that you are the premium club in the Sunshine Coast region?
With the first game vs Rip there is no pressure. The Clippers have all the history and with the new SCBA forming we are the true Sunshine Coast Basketball Assocation. What will be the key to winning this game?
The Key this game same as any to defend. Run our stuff and we will be fine. What are the team’s and your personal expectations for the season?
We are aiming for a playoff spot that will then slingshot us hopefully into the finals and onto a Title. As far as my personal expectations I consisder myself the utility guy I will do what ever is need, Score, defend carry the ball and rebound. That is the role of a small forward one that I have played my whole playing life. Gladstone Port City Power guard Maddy Willey How was your off-season? The off-season has been awesome, the local young girls all played in under 23 tournaments up here in CQ which allowed us to retain a core unit to build around by the time the season rolled back around. What areas of your game did you work out? I most worked on being physically prepared for the season as we are a bit shorter on players than we were last year I wanted to be well conditioned to come into the season and be able to last close to a whole game. How would you rate your team’s off-season moves? Obviously this year we are going through a transitional period in Gladstone and haven’t managed to keep a lot of our team from last year. However, we still have our core and we’re building around that. This season u became more of a senior player, how does that change the way u approach the game? Last year, despite being a baby amongst a group of super experienced players, I still considered myself a leader especially being a point guard. I don’t think it changes how I play too much as we have a good group of leaders within our team to work together. First game of the season, it’s a repeat of the 2015 final vs. Cyclones. Is there a sense in the team for some payback for the GF loss? There’s no payback necessary – Rocky were a better team than us last year. We’re going into this game with no pressure and nothing to lose. No one expects anything from us and I think that is going to help us coming into the game. What do you think Gladstone needs to do to win this game? With players like Alice Kunek and Renee Camino stepping in for their imports, Rocky are going to have a solid five that will be hard to stop and still have some depth in their bench. We’ll just have to stay with them play for play for 40 minutes if we’re going to have a chance at a win. What are the teams and your personal expectations heading into the season? The north pool is even stronger than it usually is and then you throw a few strong southern teams into the mix and now we have a very high level competition. You don’t really know how things are going to go down until they do but we have a talented group of girls and we’re still trying to put pieces of the puzzle together so our expectations are still high. Mackay Meteors guard Chris Cedar How was your off-season? Off season was different, waiting on "the decision" on Joel and seeing who would take over the coaching position. It was difficult trying to convince players to come to a program without a coach but we got there and got two great players. What areas of your game did you work on? Honestly, like a lot of older guys in the league we probably didn't do too much basketball and let our experience get us through the season. I was lucky enough to get a 3 week stint with the Crocs so that got me in shape quicker and just wanted to continue on from that. How would you rate your teams off-season moves? As mentioned above losing Joel is massive for us also Matty, Tys and Hobbs. I am excited to play with someone with the athletic ability of Nick Wiggins, he has shown so much already and what he is capable of I cannot wait. Brucey is a prefect fit for us, a scoring guard who will also create for others. ( would rather him on my team than play against) Mackay is going through changes in their roster and coaching. Is there a massive adjustment or is their some continuity? Our team is set in stone for the season, we have had some good trail games and got to expose Nick to the QBL. Keeping the same core group of guys was key to our plans TJ Diop was a major focus, as I consider him top 5 big's in the league. Guys like Harvey, Rassy and Gambo all with multiple championship experience is key to our success. First up is a crucial game vs. Cairns. how important is it to take care of business and start positively? Cairns, where do I start? Any team with the luxury of bring in Trig and Al are lucky. I would prefer them on the back of a double header but we have had 4 great preseason games against Tville and Rocky. We are confident coming up against them and starting the season off with a win round 1. What does Mackay need to do to win this game? We need to defend, we proved in Rocky last Friday we need to defend teams to win. They score 117 points and we lose, we back up the night after and keep them to 76 the results of our side. Every team can score in QBL but not every team wants to defend so if you lock up your defender you will have success. Do you feel with the improvement of Cairns and Rockhampton that the is a target on your back heading to your title defense? Cairns have definitely improved with Trig and Al playing. Looking thin up front to start the season then Money Mike brings out this signing. They will be tough and glad we have them early season. Playing Rocky twice last weekend I got to see what they are like first hand, they are a quick shooting team and when hitting no way you are stopping Philp, Gleeson and Gregory. You also add Ray/Garlapp and Auryn just hope they stay out of foul trouble because the bench isn't big. What are your team's and your personal expectations heading to the season? I am looking forward to the season and being back out on the floor with the boys again. We expect every game to be hard fought and nothing is going to be easy.
