'I'm super pleased': Coach Black on first glimpse of 2023 Braves NBL1 men in action

On Saturday night the Braves went head-to-head against the Ballarat Miners for a practice match at Red Energy Arena.

Despite going down fighting by 16 points, Black was elated with his team's progress ahead of the April 1 season-opener against Frankston.

"We played around 13 guys (on court) and also gave our younger players a bit of a run," he said.

"We were missing a lot of our front-line and playing against a team that was at full strength with both of their imports on court - overall I'm super pleased."

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During the course of the game the Braves found themselves up at half-time, but then fell behind in the third to hand back control to the Miners before getting back to within six points in the last quarter.

"Our aim was to go into the game with an emphasis on ticking off all of the basics," Black said.

"I particularly liked how we looked around the perimeter with Isaac Turner, Bijan Johnson and Luke Rosendale - It was one of the main things that I was watching.

"I like how it looked.

"I walked away from the game feeling good about what we were able to achieve given what we were missing."

Black was especially impressed with the work Rosendale had put in both on and off the court during the off-season.

"Athletically he was strong, fit and looked great. I love the way he's gone about improving himself as a player," Black said.

Luke Rosendale proved to be a crucial cog for the Braves men during last year's season netting 14.2 points per game.

The Braves' pre-season continues this coming weekend with another two home-court clashes.

This time they will be hosting the Kilsyth Cobras and Geelong Supercats.

"This weekend will have a very different emphasis compared to the one just past as we'll be trying to incorporate some new stuff," Black said.

"We won't play 13 (players during the match) and will aim to play around 10.

"The focus will be a lot more on execution and what results we're getting.

"It's going to be completely different."

On the horizon are the announcements of several more players who will join the Braves men's roster.

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