Roller Hawks Hit New Heights

Illawarra Mercury

Tuesday May 23, 2006

By MIKE DRISCOLL

WOLLONGONG Roller Hawks showed off their extra scoring firepower with a impressive 22-point road thrashing of Sydney Wheelkings in the National Wheelchair Basketball League season-opener on Sunday.

The Rollers had three double figure scorers and led by 20 points at half-time in a comfortable 71-49 win.

No longer will they have to rely on Tristan Knowles to carry the offensive load, though the Aussie ace still started the season with a triple-double.

Knowles, fresh from a season in the strong Italian league, posted 16 points, 23 rebounds and 10 assists.

Rollers assistant coach Andrew Tarrant believes Knowles' assists contribution will be a telling statistic this season.

"Everyone knows Tristan is a scorer and in past seasons teams have doubled him as a way to stop us at the offensive end," Tarrant said.

"But we've got more scoring options this year and Tristan was able to dish off for 10 assists, which is a promising stat from a team point of view.

"We're not a one-man scoring team anymore and other teams are going to find that out."

South African import Nick Taylor already looks a more assured player in his second season with the club and top-scored with 19 points on Sunday.

Tarrant chipped in 15 points and 13 boards to be the third cog in an impressive offensive arsenal.

Tarrant expects a tougher battle in Sunday's opening home game against Perth Wheelcats at Shellharbour Stadium.

"If you'd taken a pre-season poll of the team to beat this season then Perth would probably have won the vote.

"They made the grand final last season, have much the same roster and look a very strong outfit. It will be a terrific test for us," he said.

Tip-off time on Sunday is 11am.

© 2006 Illawarra Mercury

Back to News Index | Back to Home