Hawke's Bay too good for 'fragile' Southland Sharks
"I always knew we were going to be fragile [against Hawke's Bay], but I was still hoping for a far better performance.”
Southland Sharks coach Guy Molloy felt his team could be “fragile” heading into the showdown against Hawke’s Bay on Saturday night. Although he didn’t expect the disappointing defensive showing that followed.
The Sharks made it three NZ National Basketball League losses in a row at home at ILT Stadium Southland with a 106-87 loss to Hawke’s Bay.
Southland gave up a whopping 40 first quarter points which made the remainder of the night challenging.
It had been a difficult week for the Sharks with the decision to cut import Romaro Gill from the playing roster, while young gun Dru-Leo Lesogi-Ape is also sidelined with a hand injury.
The Sharks have found a replacement import for Gill in American Josh Cunningham.
Molloy had hoped to have Cunningham available for Saturday night’s game against Hawke’s Bay but it didn’t happen.
Alex Pledger has also just rejoined the squad after a lengthy basketball lay-off and Molloy said the initial plan was to ease him back with about five minutes of court time on Saturday night, but Pledger ended up playing 16 minutes.
“I said to the club we were always go to be fragile for this very game with the cross over of people. We were trying to bring Josh in valiantly in for the Hawks game but couldn’t with clearances and flights.
“So, I always knew we were going to be fragile, but I was still hoping for a far better performance.”
The Hawks were destructive from the outside, led by Jordan Ngati’s seven three pointers. Hyrum Harris it seems also surprised the Sharks early with his three three-pointers from three attempts.
“We got knocked pretty early and have lost our defensive way in the last couple of games. We need to find it again,” Molloy said.
The shining light in Saturday night’s loss was Brayden Inger’s 30-point haul for the Sharks.
After his 20 assists - a Southland Sharks record - against the Manawatu Jets Jeremy Kendle also chipped in with 16 assists on Saturday night.
The next assignment for Southland will be a King’s Birthday showdown against the Otago Nuggets in Invercargill.
There will be a hope that Cunningham can add the needed spark Southland needs for a push towards the playoffs.
Cunningham previously played for the Sharks in 2021.