IF the Albury-Wodonga Bandits can hold their nerve in the next three games, they’ll be in the box seat to secure themselves a home final.
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The first of three must win games comes this Saturday night against the lowly Frankston, before another winnable game against Sandringham is followed by a huge season-ending clash with Southern conference leaders and reigning champions Mt Gambier.
Win all three and the Bandits are guaranteed a first place finish, drop one and they risk forfeiting their spot to the currently third placed Dandenong, who have an arguably easier run home.
While there’s a lot at stake in the next three weeks, coach Brad Chalmers said the next fortnight marked an opportunity to hone their gameplan ahead of finals.
“These are critical games coming up, and we need to capitalise on the good work we’ve done in the last couple of weeks on the road,” Chalmers said.
“There’s still plenty of work for us to do, I think we can be better in terms of balancing our aggression in offence with an equally aggressive defensive game, but our last few games have shown that we’re on the right track.
“We can improve our decision making a bit, making sure that if we can’t get to the basket quickly that we move the ball on to someone else quickly.
“Donte Nicholas, Clay McMath and Daniel Sepokas have all developed some real consistency in their game which is pleasing.
“We saw a good example of that with Donte last weekend against Kilsyth, he didn’t have a great game in terms of shooting, but brought a lot of pressure in terms of rebounds and steals which was a real bonus.”
The Bandits head into round 16 ahead of nearest rivals Dandenong and Geelong on head-to-head points differential, but those small details weren’t a concern for Chalmers.
“We just need to get the wins on the board, and the rest will take care of itself,” he said.
“Dropping any of these games puts us in the hands of the teams chasing us in terms of getting a home final, which is what we want to avoid.”
The Lady Bandits will host Frankston, with coach Michael Brookens hopeful the improved effort seen last weekend will remain.
Rachel Maenpaa and Ali Bouman will need to keep out of foul trouble this week after combining well with import Kristina Baltic last weekend.
Both were fouled out in last Sunday’s match against Sandringham.