NOTHING in sport breeds confidence more than winning - and now the Bendigo Spirit has a win on the board, star guard Kelly Wilson believes the bar has been raised.
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After breaking through with a 12 point win over the Perth Lynx last Sunday to lift their record to 1-2, the Spirit face another big test on Saturday at Traralgon against a red-hot Southside Flyers, which has started the season an impressive 3-0.
For star point guard Kelly Wilson, who is back at the club she won a pair of WNBL championships with earlier in the decade, the win over Perth was vindication of the team's chemistry, playing style and resilience.
"You never want to be 0-3, so to get that win on Sunday was somewhat of a relief, but we know we have a challenge ahead of us this weekend versus Southside," she said.
"They are a great team, they're very deep, but we are looking forward to the challenge.
"This league is so strong that you know you have a tough game every single week and if you don't play your best, you are not going to come away with a win.
"Knowing we were a little bit undermanned (last week) without Becca Tobin and Gabe Richards as well, we knew we had to play to our absolute capacity to come away with a win.
"As I said, to get that win Sunday was a bit of a relief, but now that we have got it, hopefully we know can play a certain style of basketball and continue to do that."
Wilson said the Spirit has learned plenty about their rival during a pre-season encounter against Southside, which boasts one of the league's deepest rosters, headed by stars Jenna O'Hea and Leilani Mitchell and import Mercedes Russell.
"We kind of know what they are about, (even though) they were missing a few players," she said.
"They go very deep and have great individual players. They are able to run the floor very well and a are a really high-scoring team.
"But we will be focusing on us. We know what our strengths are now and we will try and utilise them."
Wilson, who is the joint leader of the WNBL's assists category this season alongside Southside's Mitchell with eight per game and is averaging 11.3 points, is looking forward to playing a rare game in Gippsland in front of family and friends.
The four-time championship player grew up in Leongatha, which is about 70 kilometres from Traralgon.
Back in the Spirit fold, Wilson was confident in the direction both the team and organisation were heading.
"I think how well a team can gel together is a really good indication of how successful they are going to be.
"There are a lot of teams that have great individual players and can't necessarily gel and play basketball together.
"That is what we are trying to create here at the Spirit, that team environment, where we are really hard to defend as a collective group and hard to play against."
Wilson was confident of a return against the Flyers by Richards, who missed both of last week's games with a knee complaint.
Bright start to the season for Heal
Bendigo Spirit young gun Shyla Heal has nominated defence as an area she would like to work more on as she continues a bright strat to the 2019-20 WNBL season.
The 18-year-old told of her relief at the Spirit breaking through for their first win of the season last Sunday against her former team Perth Lynx, before quickly shifting focus to Saturday's clash against the Melbourne Boomers.
Asked what areas of her game she needed to focus on, Heal nominated defence as a priority.
"Probably defensively .... getting up the court and getting after the guards a bit more," she said.
"And offensively, just being more aggressive, getting my team-mates involved, and always being on the front foot.
"(As a team) we are just getting better game by game, finding out how each other play. You can tell we are really starting to gel."
The Australian Gems representative was looking forward to the Spirit backing-up their break-through win against the Boomers in Traralgon.
"They are definitely one of the better teams in the comp - all over the court they have strength," she said.
"We'll get our scout and hopefully stick to it and get the W."
Heal is averaging eight points, three rebounds and one assists through three games with the Spirit.
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