Shoalhaven Tigers 'building the foundation' in growth Waratah League season

Last week the side lost to the Waratah League leading and undefeated Sutherland Sharks, 88-71.

While from a glance this may look like a disappointing result, you need to take into account that the Tigers lost by more than 40 to the Sharks the last time they met.

The team did this while being down several players, including their leading scorer Angus Glendinning.

For coach Lindeberg, right from the start, it has been about "coaching and building a program, not a team."

This season behind the scenes, the team has been stripping the game back to basics and learning to approach basketball from a holistic sense.

"It's been about getting players to learn their roles," he said.

Lindeberg especially praised the growth of Corey Walker and George Buist in this sense, who, like the rest of the team, have begun to celebrate the little things.

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"We need to celebrate steals, and deflections just as much as a three-pointer," Lindeberg said.

"The big thing for Corey (Walker) has been him learning that he can be so much more than just a shooter."

"At the start of the season the only satisfaction he got was from shooting three-pointers.

"I see Corey understanding that he can do so much for us at the defensive end, he can penetrate, he can dish and he's getting satisfaction out of doing that."

"For George (Buist) he is finally learning his role, he's our biggest player, there isn't any reason for him to be behind the three-point line."

"He came to training talking about feeling sore everywhere, and I was like you're in the paint and mate you're over six foot and our biggest player, if you don't feel that way every Sunday morning you haven't had a game."

Lindeberg elaborated that a lot of the team's players came with the mindset of points being the only metric of on-court success, which is far from the truth.

"There is so much to basketball, and as the players have learned that a deflection, rebound, steal is just as impactful as scoring, it has really changed their mindset," he said.

The mantra that Lindeberg preaches to his player, is that there are eight areas of contribution a player can make to a game, and if one can meet at least six of those areas, with six players doing that, then it should result in a victory.

"We aren't at the point where six players are hitting six areas of contribution, but we are on the path to getting there," he said.

"It's all about asking yourself what can I do to help the team be successful and I think the players are beginning to do that."

The side will now have a week off over the long weekend before taking on the sixth place Springwood Scorchers at Blaxland High School on Saturday, June 17 at 5pm.