Side prepares to bring its ‘A’ game to court

Being tested is exactly what we need as a team at the moment.

We play the Sydney Kings away this Sunday, a side that is looking to cement a spot in the play-offs.

Playing against teams that are in play-off contention provides a real challenge.

It brings out opponents’ best basketball when they’re vying for a finals position.

Going against the Melbourne Tigers, who are battling for a chance in the play-offs, was always going to be a fantastic challenge last Friday night.

After losing to them last time in Perth, we really needed to start the game out aggressive and set the tone early.

All it takes is one scoring run for our crowd to make it a hostile environment for the opposition.

Even though we didn’t play our best basketball, the value of playing tough defence was again magnified in our 87-75 victory.

To hold the Tigers, who are a potent offensive unit, to 28 points in the second half is a testament to our team buying into that defensive policy.

Running out for my 100th game did give me some chills.

In all honesty, I was a little bit more pumped than usual.

Maybe that’s why I got up quite easily in warm-ups.

It was very pleasing to be able to provide a bit of a spark in the fourth quarter with three rebounds and five points to give the team an edge in closing out the game.

I wear my heart on my jersey and there is nothing better than representing the Red Army.