IN the face of yet another trying season for the Albury-Wodonga Lady Bandits, coach James Ballinger’s patience and mostly unwavering optimism has stood out like a beacon.
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Year one of Ballinger’s development vision most assuredly hasn’t gone to plan, with injuries to key players wrecking the Border club’s hopes of posting more than the one win it has enjoyed thus far.
But the first-year mentor has refused to throw in the towel, preaching patience when most would likely have torn their hair out in frustration.
And following Saturday’s 50-point demolition at the hands of the Canberra Capitals Academy, Ballinger stayed true to his word, saying the Lady Bandits were “doing pretty well” when all factors were taken into consideration.
The 96-46 road defeat was alarming for the fact the Border club scored just 16 points in the second half after a reasonably competitive showing in the first 20 minutes of play.
It followed a dismal showing against Dandenong the week before that saw the Lady Bandits struggle to score 20 points in three quarters.
“I don’t think we’re 50 points worse than Canberra,” Ballinger said.
“With what we’ve got, I think we’re doing pretty well.
“We constantly face the best of the best, established WNBL stars and players.
“And we get found out when we play against such players; we’re not at that level yet.”
Veteran guard Tenille Collins top-scored with 13 points but there was no real offensive star to speak of, with Montana Farrah-Seaton struggling through a 2-10 shooting night and import Rachel Maenpaa’s minutes limited as she eases her way back from her back injury.
“We don’t lack effort, heart, intent or will,” Ballinger said.
“Just there areas we have to be more consistent at for longer periods.
“I truly hand-on-heart don’t think it’s a fitness thing; it’s a matter of having to do it at this level.
“If you look at our roster, there’s Tenille (Collins) on over 150 games, Maddy Plunkett (injured) has 75 and the rest, there’s no-one over 30 games.
“We were half-a-second late against WNBL players and that gets punished.”
“It’s not going to be overnight; people have a perception that it’s really easy to turn around.
“Our improvement is going to be slowly building; the score doesn’t always match how you play.”
