Sharks coach: 'We just have to toughen up to be honest'
“We kind of had them locked down at the half with 35 points and had the firm goal of repeating that in the second half and it all went to shit after that.”
Southland Sharks coach Guy Molloy isn’t all that happy.
He described his team’s defensive effort in the loss to the Wellington Saints on May 7 as substandard.
There was a real focus on sorting that in the lead-up to its next outing against the Nelson Giants in Invercargill on Friday night.
For the first half of the game, it was job done.
“We kind of had them locked down at the half with 35 points and had the firm goal of repeating that in the second half and it all went to shit after that.”
The Sharks led 38-35 at halftime before being beaten 97-83.
“That was extremely disappointing to give up 62 points on our home court in a second half. We just have to find a way to be a lot better.
“In many respects, it’s a young team learning to apply basics well and continuing to execute particularly when things don’t go our way.
“It’s a test that’s been put right in front of the team because it’s happened with the Canterbury game, it’s happened with the Wellington game, and it happened again [on Friday night], so we’ve got to find a way to improve.”
“We just have to toughen up, to be honest.”
The Sharks’ second half hopes were not helped by the fact big man Romaro Gill fouled out of the game after 13min of court time.
Jeremy Kendle yet again led the way for the Sharks with his 26-point haul, while Brayden Inger contributed 17 points and seven rebounds, and Grant Anticevich 16 points and nine rebounds.
The back-to-back losses at home in Invercargill now puts added pressure on a tough road trip this weekend.
Southland will play Manawatu in Palmerston North on Saturday night before taking on the Welington in Wellington the next day.
“I think it’s a huge road trip because we need to win to not lose any distance,” Molloy said.
“A win [against Nelson] would have given us some breathing space for the road trip but losing that means we’ve got to come out and play pretty well.”