IT HASN'T exactly been hoops and fun for Bendigo Spirit assistant coach and Bendigo Braves women's head coach Mark Alabakov during the coronavirus pandemic, but there have been a few silver linings.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
His official reappointment as the Spirit's lead assistant coach for the 2020-21 WNBL season came hot on the heels of a twist in another exciting and more personal partnership - Alabakov's engagement to Bendigo woman Rebecca Gillies.
The couple, who met in late 2019, announced their engagement to their families on Saturday, July 25, a few short hours after Alabakov proposed at Bendigo's iconic poppet head.
An excited Spirit assistant said while basketball life had not been without its challenges during the pandemic, his personal life had gone from strength-to-strength.
"We met up here late last year and have been together seven and a bit months," he said.
"We've basically lived together during the COVID lockdown and have enough sample size to know this was for us.
"I took Rebecca up to the poppet head, dropped down to one knee and proposed and she said 'yes'.
"It was great. We let our families know on Saturday night, so it's a really exciting time for us."
Gillies is the daughter of Sandra, who works for Bendigo Stadium Limited, and Colin, a junior Braves coach.
Now into his second pre-season as the Spirit's lead assistant coach, Alabakov believed his reappointment and engagement had further entrenched his roots in Bendigo.
He is excited to get the opportunity to continue working alongside Spirit head coach Tracy York and to build on the foundations the pair laid in the 2019-20 season.
"It was probably one of Bendigo's worst kept secrets, I was always going to stay," he said.
"I'm very lucky that Tracy and I have such a great working relationship and rapport; Tracy is fantastic in the way she really makes you feel valued and respected.
"In other environments I've been in, especially as an emerging coach in the WNBL, you don't get consulted a lot, but Tracy really values my point of view and gives me a say.
"It's a great growth opportunity, but it's the type of responsibility I have been working hard at to earn the right to have."
With barely any of the Spirit's roster currently in Bendigo and coach York still in Adelaide and unable to cross the border, the 2020-21 pre-season has been like no other before it.
To that end, Alabakov has taken the lead role in coordinating the 'Spirit at home' Zoom training sessions.
"We're into our 15th week of that and it has kept our group together, while also keeping the physical, technical and mental progress of the athletes ticking over," he said.
"Players are by nature competitive and they miss the actual week-to-week competing as a unit.
"I think the real godsend has been the Zoom sessions, where we work with the athletes twice a week on a Tuesday and Thursday morning.
"I think the things we have been doing as a group has in a way softened the blow on not being on-court together.
"Personally, I have been able to devote downtime to my professional development. I have been watching coaching clinics, reading books and trying to upskill myself."
With 10 players currently signed and only three players so far returning from last season's team, Alabakov is preaching patience ahead of the new season.
"It's a bit of transition from last year's team, almost like we are starting from step one on a journey together," he said.
"That's a little bit humbling and has probably tempered expectations.
"But the group has a very trademark Bendigo feel in terms of historically how the Spirit teams have played and been successful over many years.
"It's built on a blue-collar work ethic, a level of competitiveness and a strong defensive identity, and at the offensive end, its strength being the sum of its parts and being able to share the load.
"The best teams we've had here have embodied those qualities. I think this coming season's team has the seeds of those, but we will have to water that garden every day and hopefully we can build and get better over time."
This was also to be Alabakov's first year as head coach of the Bendigo Braves women's NBL1 team.
Asked how he saw the NBL1 season panning out had the competition not been cancelled, Alabakov was confident he had a roster capable of building on the club's reputation as a perennial finalist.
"We were very optimistic about the group and I was very happy with the roster we had signed," he said.
"It was a group, which covered everything you'd want positionally and was versatile and skilful enough to push for a top-four position.
"Then when you qualify for finals it's in your hands.
"The camaraderie in the group in the three weeks of training we had together, and the familiarity among the pre-existing players, gave me high hopes that it could be a very successful season."
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.