THE Albury-Wodonga Bandits yesterday unveiled two big pieces of what the Border club hopes is a return to SEABL respectability this year.
Frontcourt duo Alex Opacic and Ben Hollis bring size, athleticism and versatility to a team in desperate need of all three traits.
The 208-centimetre Opacic is expected to more than fill the void left by the departure of Mitch Boyce while Hollis, at 196 centimetres, brings an explosive athletic capability at both ends of the floor.
Having spent the 2010-11 NBL season as a development player for the Sydney Kings, Hollis said he was keen to develop his game further and felt the Bandits represented an ideal opportunity.
“It’s a new challenge for me, I’ve never really played outside Sydney before,” Hollis said.
“So moving down here, new team, new environment, I’m really excited for the challenge.
“Having played for the Sydney Kings and enjoying the experience, I’m looking to spread out a bit by coming here.
“A lot of coaches seem to think my athleticism is what I bring so I just try to roll with that, I’ve been a rebounding-oriented player so I’m just trying to improve my game and be a bit more of a threat.
“The club had a disappointing season, they’re looking to improve on that, we’ll come in as the underdogs and I think a lot of teams will take that for granted but with a new coach and new players this year we can really turn this around.”
Opacic said he would first and foremost bring a defensive mindset to the Bandits, while stretching opposition teams at the offensive end.
“I’m looking forward to the season, we’ve got a good young core and some imports coming in as well,” Opacic said.
“I played SEABL with the Institute and that would’ve been five or six years ago, so I kind of remember what this league was like.
“The first thing I want to bring is my defensive presence, using my size, offensively I can stretch the floor, shoot the three a little bit as well as some moves inside.
“We’ve been working hard and I think we can surprise a few teams, our goal is to get this program back to where it was, a successful program and I think it starts with myself and Ben and the leadership we can provide to the young players here.”
Bandits coach Brad Chalmers was excited at the prospect of unleashing an entirely new, defensive-centric game plan with Hollis and Opacic alongside stalwart Nick Payne as well as new imports Mohamed “Momo” Ntumba and Jazz Ferguson.
“Locally, we don’t have a lot of tall timber and we’ve been working really hard to recruit some guys to help us fill that void,” Chalmers said.
“It’s never an easy process trying to get guys to come to a team that was unfortunately last but these two guys have taken the challenge on board.”
Email a friend