BENDIGO Telstra Braves coach Wayne Larkins has high hopes that by Sunday evening his side will have made the astonishing transformation from cannon fodder to contender.
A dismal start to the South East Australian Basketball League season has been matched only a remarkable mid-to-late season revival, which could be capped this weekend by back-to-back victories in Canberra.
The Braves will meet the youthful AIS squad on Saturday night before backing up against Canberra the following afternoon.
"We’ve come up trumps the past two weeks which probably puts us in a position to realistically play off for third or fourth (in the eastern conference)," Larkins said.
"Normally you’d go away to Canberra on a weekend like this and you’d be satisfied if you got one win of the two, but the way we’re going there’s no reason why we can’t win both games.
"I think if we can win both games then all of a sudden we’re playing for a first or second spot on the (eastern conference) ladder."
Larkins played down an on-court spat with Taylor Bell that occurred on Saturday night, saying the matter had been resolved.
Bell agreed, saying he and Larkins would treat the matter as a learning experience.
"It was just frustrating on the weekend, Taylor was actually playing quite well and then he just had a bad spell for a couple of minutes and there was some conflict between Taylor and I and some heated discussion," Larkins said.
"But at the end of the day that’s nothing new.
"Taylor and I have been through that before and we’ve come out the better for it.
"I was just frustrated by his comments, but apart from those two minutes that he had, I think his game to that point had been outstanding."
Although Larkins’ clash with Bell has been forgotten, the Braves’ concentration lapse that was partially to blame for the incident certainly hasn’t been.
"You can’t have lapses, we were 29 or 30 points up with less than three minutes to play in the third period . . . and we went from 18 up in the space of two minutes, earlier in the season that’s what cost us games," Larkins said.
"The point I was making is that we can’t afford to be having lapses like that, it doesn’t matter how tired you are.
"You have to recognise the situation and make some adjustments as to how to play the game, and I think two or three of the boys on the floor didn’t understand that."