New Slammers coach steps up

The dust has settled and after a week to forget the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers women are now preparing to do what they do best - play basketball.

Despite having a bye, the women overshadowed the men last weekend when head coach Darren Austin resigned for personal reasons.

This weekend marks the State Basketball League coaching debut of Juliann Bissaker.

Bissaker said she was nervous, but also excited ahead of the game against the Joondalup Wolves on Saturday night.

"I have either played with these girls or coached them in juniors," she said.

Bissaker said despite a 6-8 record, she was confident her side could push to win all eight remaining games and enter the top four.

"We should be able to win all of them," she said.

"We want to go into the finals confident."

Bissaker said she would not be changing too much in terms of game plan, but she would reshuffle the position of her starting five.

Bissaker said she was confident her team would go out and play well on Saturday night, despite the tough week.

"The girls are all very professional," she said.

"They are sad to see Darren not there, but they are there to play basketball."

Joondalup Wolves coach Vlad Alava said the South West Slammers were always a tough team to beat.

"They have some quality players and we have to make sure we are on our game," he said.

Alava said his side, who are sitting in fourth position, were doing well because they were a talented group who were willing to sacrifice parts of their game for the good of the team.

He said he would not be looking to shut down one particular Slammer, instead he would be looking to cover all the bases.

"We will be looking to take care of all their players," he said.

"I think both teams like to run, there are plenty of athletes on the floor.

"But we do not want it to be a high scoring game."