By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE challenge is there for the Casey Cavaliers. It’s right in front of them.
When Stewart Baird’s Big V Division 1 basketball men step out on to the floor at Warrnambool this Saturday night for their qualifying final it’ll be in front of a group of loud, parochial and potentially even hostile fans who want nothing more than to see them fail.
And that sort of challenge is exactly what these Cavs play for.
From their perspective, the pressure is all on the home side. They roared back against the Cavs last time they played in Cranbourne in June and almost beat them, despite missing their best player – lights-out scorer and former Adelaide 36er, Nathan Sobey.
Now that he’s back in the lineup, and import Xavier Johnson-Blount is firing on all cylinders, the Seahawks will be expected to win.
“They’re all about scoring, whereas we’re all about stopping teams that do that,” Baird said.
“Championship teams are built on great defences.”
It would be going a bit far to classify this weekend’s game as a free hit for the Cavs, but they have earned the double chance and a loss would see them back on their home floor at Cranbourne the following week – almost certainly as part of a double-header with the Cavs’ Division 2 women’s team.
Baird said when his side last played the Seahawks back in June, it signalled the start of a tough stretch of games where the Cavs struggled to put full, four-quarter performances together.
But in the past few weeks they’ve arrested that slide and their consistency is once again a real strength.
“It’s about understanding that games have ebbs and flows,” Baird said.
“How you stop those moments from bottoming out – that’s the key, and it’s a mental thing.”
Baird said the experience in his Cavs group would be a great strength this weekend, adding that it could even be the difference-maker.
“They’ve got Sobey and Gynes (Alex Gynes, also a former NBL player) but outside of that they’re quite young.”
Baird said that after a recent Cavs team practice on the eve of the playoffs, his group could walk on to Warrnambool’s home floor this weekend with some ‘swag’ – confidence, but not arrogance.
He said to look out for the performance of Brent Hobba – who’s averaging a shade under 16 points and 8.5 rebounds on the season after struggling in the early going with an ankle complaint.
Dean Johnson is also one set to cause the Seahawks plenty of headaches.
“This is the best year of basketball I’ve seen him play, and I’ve been watching him play since he was 18,” Baird said.
“He’s been huge for us – what he does doesn’t always show up on the box score, but he just does all the grunt work. His strength is something you can’t just replace – he’s been huge all year.”
But it could be the Cavs’ bench production this weekend that holds the key to victory. “It could be someone coming off the bench to only play four or five minute, but those four or five minutes could be the most important they’ll ever play,” Baird said.
The opening tip of the Cavaliers’ qualifying final with the Seahawks this Saturday night at The Arc Sports Stadium in Warrnambool is at 7pm.
