BENDIGO Bank Braves have retained a key component of their 2016 SEABL national championship team, re-signing centre Matt Andronicos.
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The 24-year-old averaged 9.2 points per game and five rebounds per game during the Braves' 24-3 title winning season.
But it was the things you don't find on the stat sheet that most impressed coach Ben Harvey and were the reason behind luring Andronicos back to Bendigo.
“There are not too many big men in the league that understand team concepts like Matt does” Harvey said.
“He is an extremely hard worker on and off the court, sets fantastic screens for the guards and is always looking to improve.
"He just puts the team first.”
While Harvey will continue to push Andronicos to score and rebound more in 2017, his body work off the ball and his ability to change the shot attempts of the opposition that will be keys for the Braves in their bid for back-to-back championships.
“Droid (Andronicos) is extremely important to our team chemistry and will again be a huge asset to the Braves program” Harvey said.
Andronicos is training with the NBL's Cairns Taipans, the club he represented as a development player in 2015-16 before joining the Braves.
He said he was relishing the opportunity to train against the likes of stars Nate Jawai and Nnanna Egwu.
“I’m confident training daily against the likes of Nate and Nnanna will have a positive effect and improve my game tremendously” Andronicos said.
“I’m very keen to get back there, Bendigo is a great place and the Braves are a great organisation.
"It really was an easy decision.”