Versatility Could Be The Key To Crocs

Cam Tovey's versatility will see him fit in well at the Crocs.

Despite the fact that the Croc’s pre-season record only reads 1-2, I actually think everything is travelling along quite smoothly for our team right now.

I think Croc fans will be able to look forward to seeing a different style from this team compared to that of teams past, with the biggest difference being mobility as a group.

More often than not, any team, even the quick ones, will have one or two big lumbering guys. Not this year’s Croc team. We are built for speed.

New acquisition (and former Sydney King) Russell Hinder gets up and down the floor very quickly and we will look to utilize this quickness against the bigger, slower guys he matches up against on a nightly basis.

Our other starting big man, Rosell Ellis, has made a career out of our-running and out-hustling his opponent. Ellis will never be the biggest of the big guys on the court, but what he lacks in stature, he makes up for with his work rate and pure desire.

These two will be supported by Dan “the Fan Man” Egan who, like Ellis, will out-work his opposition and use his speed to reek havoc on the court.

The mobility of this trio will be unmatched by anyone in the league.

Moving down the line we have a few new faces on the perimeter. Brad Williamson is a sharp shooter with range. There is no doubt he will enjoy playing at the Swamp with the user friendly rims and I’m sure he is looking forward to increased court time.

Joining Williamson will be former Perth Wildcat and Sydney King Cam Tovey. Tovey has been brought just this week to replace the injured Brad Sheridan who succumbed to an Achilles problem.

Tovey will fill the roll of slasher for the team. He has been compared to former Croc Brad Newley on this front, but I think we need to let him develop into his own style of player. He not yet had enough opportunity in his short NBL career to have any labels slapped on him. I’m sure he is looking forward to making the most of the opportunity that has been presented at the Crocs.

As far as the guards go, there have been no changes from last season. Corey Williams, Kelvin Robertson, Michael Cedar and I will share the minutes and none of us have any trouble finding our way to the basket in a hurry!

Obviously Williams, Robertson and I will be looking to have a great season, but I have a feeling Cedar is ready for a breakout season. He has come off a great ABA season which saw some leadership qualities and confidence come through in Mick and I think we will see some of that carry over into the NBL.

Now some people may be quick to point out that we are a little smaller than most basketball teams getting around the courts of the NBL. However, there is no question that we can use our agility to overcome this in each and every position.

Offensively we should be able to beat every team down the floor, while on defense we will be fortunate enough to mix and match up on players throughout the course of a game.

No good competitor likes to lose, so it would be nice to say we hadn’t lost a game yet this pre-season. But, the preseason is about preparing for the actual season.

My assessment is that so far our preseason has gone alright. I expect that we will continue to show the improvement we have shown through our first three preseason games and by the time September roles around, we’ll be on track for a some solid performances.

You can read my article every Saturday in the Townsville Bulletin.