New coach Knowles turns Suns onto up-tempo game style

THEY might not be quite as purely talented on paper as last year but sometimes that can be a good thing if all the pieces fit and new Kalamunda Eastern Suns coach Tom Knowles is looking forward to unleashing his up-tempo style of play.

Last year's Kalamunda team featured WNBL players Stacey Barr and Carley Mijovic who did put up some outstanding individual numbers at times.

The Suns also had an import Sabrina Jeridore and plenty more pieces including Melissa Moyle, Jorjah Smith, Sarah-Jane McMahon, Rebecca Motroni, Natalia Soli'ai and Marlee Bushe-Jones, but that's a little deceiving considering most of those battled injuries in one form or another.

The end result was that the Eastern Suns ended up missing the playoffs with a 9-13 record and then soon after assistant coach Knowles was elevated to the role as head coach for 2017 and beyond.

Immediately he turned his focus to putting together a playing group to suit the style of game he wanted to play and Devanny King and Jennie Rintala were right at the top of that list.

Even though both might have delayed starts to the season, they are signed and Knowles is excited with what they bring and that overall his playing group suits the way he wants to play.

"We've tried to put together a group that can hopefully play at a pretty high tempo which is the game style I'll be implementing. I tried to get pieces that are going to fit into that and I think we've done that," Knowles said.

"I think myself and the playing group are actually looking forward to the season starting and we're ready to get into it.

"We started the pre-season pretty much as soon as the season finished last year and we've done a lot of small group, and individual work with them. So we've been working pretty hard for a long time and now they're keen to get out there and have a crack."

When he looks back on last year, Knowles just feels like it was a season where things never clicked for the Suns and sometimes when things begin to snowball, it's tough to right the ship.

"There was probably a few different pieces of the puzzle that went into last year that didn’t completely fit together, and also injury-wise we really had some battles getting our team on the floor," he said.

"Mel missed a good chunk of the season, a few other girls had injuries too and that really did have a big impact because it weakened our bench considerably.

"It certainly was disappointing from that perspective and a few unfortunate things happened throughout the season for us and it never seemed to come together, but hopefully we can stay away from those sorts of issues this year."

When Knowles discovered that King wasn’t returning to the Lakeside Lightning in 2017, he jumped on the chance to snap her up because he felt she fit into the system he was trying to implement perfectly.

Having an import already familiar with Perth and the SBL is an added bonus as well.

"She has pretty much slot right back into the Perth life and she knows her way around. She had a good time at Lakeside as well and enjoyed playing in the SBL so there were no issues with her coming back. She is just keen to get back playing again," Knowles said.

"When the opportunity was there to talk to Dev and potentially sign her it was pretty much a no-brainer for me because I thought she would slit right into our game style and actually have a lot of flexibility within our game style, which she is absolutely loving. She is very keen to get into it whenever she can now."

Rintala is another familiar face at Kalamunda having helped lead the Suns to a maiden grand final appearance in 2013 as the club's MVP and doing a bit of everything sitting in the league's top-five in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and free-throws made.

She has recovered from a knee reconstruction suffered in Germany and once her season ends as an assistant coach of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps high school team in California, Knowles is excited at what she will provide.

"Jennie is another one who has been doing a lot of work in the off-season and she's certainly very fit," he said.

"It's just unfortunate that it has taken so long for her to get over here because she has a lot of commitments where she is at the moment with her high school program. But she is really keen to get here and start playing. She can't wait to get on the plane and get back to Perth."

Moyle will virtually be like a new recruit for the Eastern Suns in 2017 as well after being limited to just 10 games last year through injury. Knowles has no doubt she will be a key piece to his team.

"Mel's looking good. She has been training really well and shooting the ball well. Mel is very versatile so when she shoots she's actually pretty tough to guard because she can shoot from the perimeter, she is very long and can drive the ball to the hoop," he said.

"In the offence we are running she will fit into that very well and she will have a lot of flexibility to shoot the ball and drive the ball. We can even throw her in the post now and then."

Rachel Brooks is another player that Knowles is glad to welcome back at the Eastern Suns and he is looking forward to working with the younger group and developing them with an eye to the future.

"We've got Rachel Brooks who has come back again and she is a flat out athlete. Already we've seen from her go at a very high tempo and she's very fit, and she can sustain that level which is really good," he said.

"We've also got some juniors coming through who we're looking for over the next two or three years who will get their chances so that's exciting with the prospect to hang around and get them on the court.

"We are hopefully going to play with a game style that people are going to want to come and watch, that's the plan.

"We will be trying to get a bit more engagement through the lower ranks in WABL with both the players and coaches, and their families and show them all something that's exciting to come and watch. We want them to not be able to stay away."

Knowles takes over as coach at Kalamunda with a strong pedigree including assistant coaching roles in the WNBL with the West Coast Waves and Perth Lynx as well coaching for both the Suns and Lightning through the WABL and D-League.

He has also been involved in several state team programs but he knows you don’t quite know how you will go coaching at senior level until you throw yourself in the deep end.

He admits to being nervous ahead of that Round 1 clash with the East Perth Eagles at Morley this Friday night, but feels he is as ready as he would have ever been.

"It's a great opportunity for me. Obviously it's my first year coaching in the SBL but I was lucky enough to be involved with professional basketball quite a few times and I've assisted with high-performance programs as well, but as a head coach this is a big opportunity for me," Knowles said.

"I'm pretty nervous at the same time to be honest but I was keen to jump in to have a crack and I'm really looking forward to the season starting. Undoubtedly there'll be lots of nerves come that first game because it is very different being head coach.

"On one side of the coin you get to try some stuff and maybe fail on a few things, and work out what's going to work best for you but the buck also stops with you so if you screw it up you have to wear it and live by it."

Photo by Vikki Hile




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