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BECCA Tobin is hoping to bring her big game experience to the fore and help Bendigo Spirit make a return to the WNBL finals.
The 195cm centre is the first of the Spirit’s two imports for season 2018-19 to arrive in Bendigo.
While she has only been in Australia a few days, the American has wasted little time making an impression on the club and its fans and is now looking forward to hitting the practice court for the first time with her team-mates on Monday morning.
Tobin, who played her college basketball with Arizona State, arrives in Bendigo fresh from a pair of seasons with Wasserburg, which won consecutive German Basketball Cup.
She is confident the Spirit, which will boast an almost entirely new line-up in this season, is the perfect fit for her.
“Just talking to the coach (Simon Pritchard) before I got here and the passion he has for basketball and the community here, everything just seemed right,” she said.
“I know the league is very competitive, which was also appealing.
“I know Cayla George (nee Francis) – I played with her during a training camp (at Phoenix Mercury) and she always spoke well about the WNBL.”
The 2018-19 WNBL season will be Tobin’s seventh overseas. She has also done stints in Italy, Romania, Hungary and France.
She describes herself as a ‘high energy’ player with a liking for defence and insists she is not one for shying away from a challenge.
“Just whatever they need, I am here to provide,” she said.
“I had an individual (session) yesterday; I know we have some good shooters on this team and it’s very talented.
“I’m really looking forward to working with everyone.”
Whatever they need, I am here to provide.
- Becca Tobin
Coach Pritchard said Tobin has already demonstrated her commitment by being in Bendigo days ahead of the scheduled start to training.
It’s the earliest one of the imports has arrived in Pritchard’s four-seasons at the helm in Bendigo.
“Having Becca here makes it all real – she is so committed to the program that she’s here days early and getting acclimatised so she can hit the ground running,” she said.
“We’ll have a little team meeting Sunday night, where we’ll put a few things in place in terms of team rules, give out the gear for training and Monday morning at 9am, bang, we are in into it.”
With a largely new and young squad assembled for this season, Pritchard said Tobin would bring much-needed playing and finals experience.
“She’s got great low-post moves and we really want a dominant, scoring post,” he said.
“The other thing is she is a gazelle – she is very quick from basket to basket and we feel we can take real advantage of that.”