By RUSSELL BENNETT
IT HASN’T exactly been smooth sailing for the Pakenham Warriors Big V basketball side so far this season – suffering a few ugly losses and losing a player or two along the way.
But the team’s latest signing is set to propel it towards Division 2 contention if his first outing at the Colosseum on Saturday night is anything to go by.
At 6’9″, or 206 centimetres tall, Andrew Savige is hard to miss. And his new Warriors team mates made sure they didn’t – making him the focal point of their offense in a commanding 78-63 win over the Western Port Steelers.
Remarkably, Savige hadn’t even trained with the Warriors prior to Saturday night’s game and coach Ryan Rogers emailed him a select version of the side’s go-to plays.
But boy is this big man a fast learner. Rogers utilised an inside-out offence that both got Savige going, and left room for Pakenham’s shooters to go to town. He finished with a huge 16-point, 15-rebound double-double in just 26 minutes on-court and displayed impressive range from the floor, but it was in the low-post that his value clearly shone through.
Savige’s immediate impact was obvious when he racked up a couple of huge second-half blocks – with one sending the Warriors crowd into raptures.
It’s scary to think what Pakenham might have just unleashed on the competition.
Another recent Warriors addition, forward Brett Rainbow, also showed more promising signs in his 22 minutes on court. But it was his ability to guard an opponent one-on-one rather than his offensive game on Saturday that made the real difference. He stopped a number of potential Steelers fastbreak opportunities in their tracks just by keeping the pace up in his transition defense.
Jim Viray and Hayden Davey also continued their recent good form – with Savige’s tenacious rebounding at both ends proving contagious. Sean Armstrong, meanwhile, was super-efficient with 14 points in less than 20 minutes on court.
Steelers go-to man Manny Hendrix, fresh off a 38-point outing against Keysborough on 3 May, was restricted to 14 points on just 4-15 from the field. It was a clear strategy from Rogers for his men to close out hard on the lights-out shooter. Western Port had to rely on getting their points from elsewhere, with Michael Yiallas stepping up with 23 points on 9-17 shooting. But the damage was already done from the home side’s perspective.
“The plays that we ran tonight are the same ones we’ve been running for the past two seasons but the difference is that with the inside presence it changes the quality of the looks we get from it,” Rogers said after the game.
“It’s fantastic to have someone with not just legitimate size but outstanding skills to match and when you hold opposition teams to 63 points you’re putting yourself in a fantastic position to win.”
Pakenham now sits sixth on the Big V Division 2 ladder with five wins from its 10 games so far, two wins out of a top-four spot. Rogers’ men next take on their Oakleigh namesakes this Saturday night.
