Buccs stay low key

All’s well, no excuses if we lose, that’s the word from the Geraldton Buccaneers camp.

Coach Dayle Joseph said all members of his squad were “fit and firing” for the weekend assignment(s) with Lakeside Lightning — with a spot in the 2019 SBL grand final going to the winner.

“(Marcus) Alipate appears over the virus which kept him out for four weeks and (Brayden) Inger has recovered from his bout of glandular fever,” Joseph said.

And Colter Lasher — who last week Joseph said was “getting close to his best” — is doing just that.

Lasher, aside from dominating offensively (21 points, 8/15 inside), was dominant on the defensive end, cashing in with a team-high 10 defensive rebounds last Saturday night.

With his defensive hustle, he put tremendous pressure on Lightning offensive weapon Jobi Wall, holding him to seven points, Wall only managing a few shots where he didn’t have Lasher or a swarm of Buccs defenders in his face.

Joseph said the biggest challenge tomorrow night would be “the unknown”.

“It’s a bit hard to know what they’ve been working on and will improve on,” he added.

“They will probably shoot better, but then again I like to think our offence can improve too.

“It was neck and neck on Saturday night before we changed the game in 40 seconds. Basketball can be like that.

“Our routine has been the same this week. Hopefully, it will be a little different on Sunday morning, as it would be nice to have a relaxed breakfast and head home earlier.”