WILLETTON Tigers coach Steve Black has signalled his side’s premiership intentions ahead of the State Basketball League.
The Tigers are currently winding up their pre-season preparations for the 2019 season and the club has silverware firmly at the forefront of their minds.
Black said a number of personnel changes in the off-season had positioned the team to build on their seventh-placed finish and first-round playoff exit last year.
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READ NOW“You play to win and we have a good team, so we aim to win it,” he said.
“It’s not necessarily easy, but it’s achievable. We now need to put in the work to make sure we can actually do that.”
Mo Barrow, Jackson Hussey (both Perth Redbacks) and Michael Garbellini (Lakeside Lightning) are among the new faces and Black said the trio would go a long way to addressing the depth and defensive issues they had targeted to improve.
“Barrow is particularly good; he’s been strong in the competition for a few years,” he said. “I like the way he goes about it and we’re fortunate to have him.
“Getting Jackson Hussey into the team is big; he has proven himself over last few years to be a good player.
“Michael Garbellini was a Willetton junior so it’s particularly pleasing to have him back; we’re looking forward to him having some strong contributions.”
Amongst all the new faces, Black tipped Damien Scott, coming off 20 points, 4.68 rebounds and 5.08 assists per game last season, to once again lead from the front.
“Damien Scott really proved himself to be an upper-echelon player last season; he’s a star of the competition,” he said.
Willetton begin their SBL campaign against the Cockburn Cougars at Wally Hagan Stadium on March 16.