MIKE Ellis had low expectations heading into the Stirling Senators season-opener against the Perry Lakes Hawks but what he saw from his young group has him excited for what 2017 holds.

Ellis had reason to expect his team to be a little below their best to start the season with son Cody sitting beside him recuperating from a gruelling NBL campaign with the Illawarra Hawks and having been caught off-guard with the departure of import Kyle Lindbergh.

Then to come up against an impressively talented and experienced Hawks team on their home floor, even without Matthew Adekponya, who are coached by championship winner Matt Parsons, Ellis had a few trepidations.

He had only seen Perth Wildcats development players Corban Wroe and Rhys Vague in the week leading into the game as well so preparations were far from ideal.

However, what Ellis saw surprised even himself leaving him excited for the rest of the season starting this Saturday night at Warwick Stadium against the Rockingham Flames.

Week 1 Friday night men's SBL results 
Senators look to make noise despite tough preparation 

The most impressive part in the start for the Senators was that even though Vague and Wroe were terrific, the likes of Ash Litterick, Jay Thwaites, Jayden Coburn and even 16-year-old Oliver Cross all stood up when it mattered.

Ellis hopes they can now build on that having shown what can happen when you play with tremendous heart.

"We had such a young group out there and to come out and win in their building, was just a hell of a win. Coming into the game, there's no way in hell I would have believed you if you said we would win like that. There's just no way I was expecting it," Ellis said.

"To respond to their challenge late in the game was impressive too. We've been working on the culture in the club for all of last year and my long-term plan has been to change that culture of hoping to win, to wanting them to have an expectation of winning.

"I think it's really important to show all the boys what can happen when they all commit and give 100 per cent. What it shows is that the work we put in over the pre-season even without a lot of our main guys, that it can pay off for the younger guys. They did that hard work over summer and it was great to see them get that reward for it."

It was a massive task for Litterick to stand up and be counted matching up with Brian Carlwell. Ellis couldn’t have been happier with what he showed.

"We looked at it and Ash did a superb job. Carlwell's not easy to guard for goodness sake, he is a beast down there with his pure size but I thought Ash did a really great job on him," he said.

"He made it hard for him and the other thing that was great too, which Ash can still get better at, was at the offensive end. He made some good shots, shot the ball well, got to the glass well and he is now showing that he's ready to be a big-time player at this level which is fantastic."

Wroe also showed that he is ready to be a difference-maker in the SBL this season.

He looks a player who has gone to another level following another full season with the Wildcats and with the court time he received at times in the NBL.

He had 20 points and while he felt his defence could have been better, Ellis was delighted with what he provided.

"He got to play in the NBL, he's had another full season of training against the best guys in the league and our focus for Corban this year was on becoming an offensive threat," Ellis said.

"We wanted him to change the way he plays and getting some light and shade with what he does. In that first game he did that.

"He was disappointed with his defence and he said he felt really slow out there because he hasn’t played much game time in recent times, but I reassured him it was OK. We've still got to get better and when he is playing like that we are a different team."

One of the most exciting parts of the season-opener for the Senators was seeing Cross take it up to men double his age, size and experience. He showed no fear and his impact was more significant than his numbers of six points, two rebounds and one assist.

"The kid is 16 years of age and we brought him in because of part of what we do is development and showing the kids that there is a pathway to play in the SBL. He is one of these kids who came in with the better players and just lifted, and kept lifting to the point where I wanted to play him," he said.

"We threw him out there in the Blitz and he made a statement and put his hand up to tell me I need to pick him. So we did and geez I'm sure as hell glad we did. He is something special and someone for the future.

"He is so quick and fearless. He wouldn’t weigh two-stone soaking wet and there's nothing of him, but he gets in after and he is very quick and can shoot and score when he has to. He makes other people better on the floor too and he can find the open guy which is great."

Ellis and the Senators remain on the lookout for an import replacement for Lindbergh who department for a job opportunity back home. But Ellis won't rush it or make a rash decision on whoever they end up signing.

"We thought we had one tied up but that wasn’t the case. He actually went somewhere else so that's even more disappointing, but we're still working on it. It's important to us that we get a good character as well. We don’t want just anybody," Ellis said.

"I've had the opportunity to get a couple of people but I didn’t think they were the sort of people that would fit into us as a club. They are very good players but I don’t want just a good player, I want a good character.

"That's important to our club and players because there's nothing worse than playing with someone not of a great character. I would rather have a lesser player who is a good guy, and who everyone enjoys being around. That's what Kyle was. He wasn’t the best player in the league, but he was the best import for us."

Cody Ellis also looks set to make his return for Saturday night's home-opener against the Rockingham Flames a Warwick Stadium.

Mike knew he needed a spell after the NBL grand final with the Hawks that they ended up losing to the Wildcats in three games.

While Cody's season didn’t always go to plan with him fighting with Nick Kay and Oscar Forman for minutes, Mike was especially happy to see him come up big through the semi-final series win over Adelaide 36ers and then in the grand final against the Wildcats.

"I thought Cody had a reasonable season in the NBL. The biggest problem that they had, and that Bevo had, was that they had three guys in that position with Nick and Ossie there too," he said.

"It was pretty much if you are going well you stay on, if not someone else comes on so it was hard at times for the boys to get in a bit of a rhythm. By the end of the season they started to get their rotations down a little bit.

"I thought Cody's games against Adelaide were outstanding and his court time reflected that. What was pleasing was that he carried that over into the grand final series and he had a very good performance there giving the Hawks another options.

"That's not at the offensive end either, he was doing a great job defensively as well. That was good to see and hopefully he can carry some of that into the season with us so we're hoping he can have another good season in the SBL to take into another NBL season next year."

Speaking of that grand final series, it sure made for some interesting viewing in the Ellis household but obviously family always comes first. However, he felt that if Cody's Hawks couldn’t win, then the next best option certainly was the Wildcats.

"It was interesting from my point of view watching that grand final. obviously clearly I wanted my son to have the feeling that I had to win a championship because I know there's no better feeling that getting hold of that trophy and getting a ring," he said.

"It is wonderful and I was happy that Cody had that opportunity to do it in front of six other teams. They came up against a fairly white hot Cotton in that grand final and the Wildcats peaked at the right end of the season.

"It was a great coup of theirs to pick up Cotton 10 weeks out, but from my perspective if Cody wasn’t going to win it then I sure as hell didn’t want anyone else other than the Wildcats to win it that's for sure. It worked out quite well from that perspective."

Ellis enjoyed getting to witness the Wildcats win another NBL championship even if it was at the expense of his son's Illawarra team. Getting to see an individual performance like Bryce Cotton's is always special but he doesn’t feel the Hawks deserved to be swept.

"The only thing I was disappointed with was that with the way the Hawks played and their effort to get into the grand final, they didn’t deserve to be swept," Ellis said.

"They deserved to at least get one game out of them and they had their chances in all three games, but let them slip and that was it.

"But in Game 3, if you take Cotton out and the Hawks probably win by 20. He was just outstanding and it was actually a pleasure to watch a performance like that as painful as it was for the Hawks. He was at a different level."

Photo by Vikki Hile