The Mainland Eagles have had a competitive start to their Las Vegas basketball tour. Four games in, they have a split record of two wins and two losses, with a further four games to come before they compete in the famed Tarkanian Classic.
Playing against what assistant coach Greg Brockbank described as big, athletic, physical teams, the Eagles have made use of their quick and skilful guards to excel in transition. That they are able to do this so effectively speaks volumes about the quality of the development programme Mark Dickel has run in Otago, and now Canterbury, over the past three years. Only against Trinity High School have they struggled so far.
They started with a close loss to a bigger, older team in Los Angeles in which they were without Junior Tall Black Joe Cook-Green. They then rebounded, notching up their first win against the highly rated Foothill High School Falcons. Foothill has won nine consecutive Southeast League titles and was ranked as the seventh best team in Las Vegas by the Las Vegas Sun. To beat a team like that certainly is impressive given Las Vegas boasts one of the best high school basketball scenes in the world.
The second win came in game number four against the prestigious Impact Academy. Brockbank was especially enthusiastic in describing this game, stating that they played six periods and won five of them. He described the Impact team as big and physical, but the Eagles were able to beat them with hustle and commitment.
Perhaps that should not be a surprise; both are hallmarks of Dickel-coached players.
They also put on shooting display, going 15-for-20 from deep. Considering players attending Impact are paying $5000 a month to train, you can be sure that the opposition were players who are serious about their basketball. They take on a second Impact team in their next match.
Brockbank praised the way the boys have played and thought that they have coped well given the need to adjust to different balls, courts and time-zones.
They have a handful more games before progressing onto the Tarkanian Classic, which will start on the 18th of December (NZT).
