DON’T think, just play.
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That’s the message from Albury-Wodonga Lady Bandits coach James Ballinger to his fledgling charges ahead of tonight’s trip to Sandringham.
Of increasing concern for Ballinger is his inexperienced cadre playing with hesitation, something opposition teams have been ruthless in exposing in recent weeks.
His advice then, is for his team to play on instinct, rather than worry about elements outside its control.
“We’ve been really guilty lately of thinking our way through stuff,” Ballinger said.
“So really trying to just play what’s in front of you and not thinking ‘what am I doing now?’.
“Just trying to get them to be more instinctive but we’ll see, I think we’re still a work in progress.
“But hopefully we can start playing a little more instead of thinking our way through everything.
“You can see it in their faces, ‘where am I going next?’. They’re not even thinking about scoring or where they could be passing.
“So we need to get out of that mindset.”
Having lost its opening five games to start its SEABL campaign, the Border club takes on a strong Lady Sabres squad that sits third in the East conference with a 3-2 record.
With New Zealand Tall Fern Micaela Cocks and former WNBL player Samantha Woosnam, along with Kate Malpass and Hope Terdich, Sandringham has an array of talent sure to stretch the Lady Bandits’ defence.
“They’re talented across the floor,” Ballinger said.
“They’ve got an old schoolmate of mine, Micaela Cocks, along with Sam Woosnam and Kate Malpass, who was player of the week last week.
“So they’ve got some dangerous players all over the court, it’s going to be another tough game.
“In this league you don’t get a week off.”
The Lady Bandits will be without starters Montana Farrah-Seaton and Claire Miller, along with backup forward Sarah Moore, with Jordan Crisp and Tenille Collins expected to step up their production for the visitors.
For Ballinger, the key for the Lady Bandits will be extending the periods where the Border squad can play with some consistency and fluidity at the offensive end.
“I think they can do it, we’ve shown in patches we can do it,” Ballinger said.
“Whether it’s because we’re so far behind, we’re feeling more free to do that I don’t know.
“It’s more a matter now of showing that we can do it for longer periods.
“And that’s the thing I’m most excited about, to see if we can do that.
“We need to move the ball quickly, let the ball do the work, find the easiest ways to score.”