Game 10 against Celtic Tigers started off in a frenzy with players missing and appearance fees not paid. Accordingly the Sovs started the game behind the 8-ball with a 4-point defecate.

The Sovs went into the game without Rainbow Age due to unfortunate work commitments and Chunka. Still absent with his niggling ankle injury.

This left the burden fall upon MVP candidate Mark, Azz, Crash, Simon and Alex.

It soon became apparent to the Sovs that the Celtic Tigers didn’t bring their ‘A-Game’ (or even have any game), as the skills displayed were at best laughable. Nevertheless the Sovs didn’t capitalise on their transition and rotation offence with some questionable dribbling from guard Alex.

Throughout the first half the bash brothers (Ro and Azz) dominated on defence preventing the opposition from getting anywhere near the basket. This was done either by their sheer defensive prowess or some not so subtle attacks on the ball resulting in the foul count increasing.

Last weeks star the Pocket Rocket (Simon) again came through with the goods shooting the ball from the perimeter consistently and driving to the basket taking contact on numerous occasions that sent him to the charity line.

With Simon lifting the team with his constant hard work, players like Alex, Mark and Ro begun to shine. Hooking up on offence to extend the lead through baseline inbounds where the defence was left dazzled.

The Sovs went into the half time break confident that they would walk away with the ‘W’ as the Tigers hadn’t scored a single point, nor looked like scoring. Much more of the same was the message from Coach Matt Lee who decided that a half court trap would force further turnovers.

As requested the Sovs came out firing, pressing the Tigers at every opportunity. Azz and Simon starred by taking the ball off the incompetent offence of the Tigers and passed the ball quickly to thrust the Sovs into their own offence.

The points kept piling on for the Sovs through clever drives and dishes from starting guards Simon and Alex to the muscle inside of Ro and Mark. The scoring wasn’t consistent or extravagant but was somewhat effective as the lead constantly increased for the team.

With the increased intensity on offence the Sovs defence suffered marginally with the Tigers scoring a total of 10 points in the second half.

The Sovs ran out the game strongly finishing with a 27-14 victory over the Tigers.

Prior to game 10 against the Celtic Tigers I have managed to get hold of the ever so popular starting centre Rohan. Who has been impressing fans all year with his attack on the ball.

AM - Are we pumped mate for a BIG win:
RH - Always pumped for a 'BIG' game like this mate

AM - Uniform Number:
RH - Number 5

AM - Full Name:
RH - Rohan John Hodson

AM - Date of Birth:
RH - 31 July 1985

AM - Nicknames:
RH - Roh-Boy, Staunch
AM - And my personal favourite 'Crash'

AM - Position:
RH - Centre

AM - Signature Move:
RH - I dunno about Signature Move, but I love crashing the boards and ripping the ball down and putting it straight up for the tough 2!

AM - Likes:
RH - Simple, Winning!

AM - Dislikes:
RH - Those arrogant types who think they are better than the rest of us and Loosing any sport.

AM - Career Highlight:
RH - Calling one of Age's 3 pointers in. Big night for me that was!

AM - Cheers mate. All the best for tonights game, and please don't get fouled off. We only have 5.
RH - I'll do my best little man.

Game 9 saw the Sovereign Knights welcome the Chameleon (Simon Lee) into the fold for his first game of the season with the purple and gold. The Sovs would square up against an athletic Lucksmiths team who were placed 7th before the game.

The Sovs went into the game without Chunka in the frontcourt due to his troublesome ankle injury. Yet the boys were confident that they could walk away with the win after their previous weeks victory.

The Sovs started off shakily with inaccurate passes being thrown and shots rimming out. Meanwhile the tall timber from the Lucksmiths were just warming up hitting the cord on numerous 10-12 foot attempts.

The Sovs managed to stay in touch with tough D being played by starting guards Simon and Azz in the backcourt. This allowed the Sovs to run the court, with pocket rocket Simon torching the opposition in transition.

The Rock (Mark Widdison – 14 points) was back to his usual best controlling the offensive tempo by setting timely screens and rolling to the basket for some difficult lay-up attempts.

Play of the night however must go to the housemates for their sublime offensive movement prior to the halftime break. Pass Master (Alex) drove to the basket for the first time and through a cutting pass to Rainbow Robinson on the perimeter (who with a cry of ‘off’) hit a dazzling 3-point basket.

The Sovs came into the halftime break with an unfortunate 18-point defecate, simply due to a higher percentage of field shots made by the opposition. Nevertheless the shinboner spirit of the Sovs motivated them to lift in the second half.

So the Sovs came out running and played a much tighter zone defence that pressured the Lucksmiths into uncharacteristic turnovers that propelled the Sovs straight into their more aggressive style of offence.

At every opportunity the Sovs rotated the ball until a gap was made in the oppositions D for a drive and a simply pass to a free Sovs player. With Alex racking up assist after assist, the scoreboard ticked over with increasing speed and consequently closing the established gap.

The new general on D (Ro) took charge, effectively organising his charges and forcing further turnovers from the Lucksmiths. The clock was creeping under 2 minutes and the Sovs had a sniff, and pressed harder to close the gap.

With less than 30 seconds left the fresh Sovs only trailed by 7 points, with a quick 2 added on by hot hand Age. The momentum was slowed tragically with aggressive defence forcing Lucksmiths number 2 guard from the court with a possible broken ankle.

The Sovs managed to regain possession with fewer seconds left, but could not reduce the gap further, ending in a Lucksmiths win 36-31.

Messr Aaron Widdison has so kindly joined me on a cold Tuesday night to answer some burning questions the team has.

AM - Welcome Azz, shall we get started with a beer
AW - Sure

AM - Uniform Number:
AW - Number 9

AM - Full Name:
AW - Aaron Leigh Widdison

AM - Date of Birth:
AW - 27 September 1983

AM - Nicknames:
AW - Azz, Azzer
AM - Any others:
AW - Nup
AM - What about Widdo or Weirdo:
AW - No they don't really ring a bell, sorry

AM - Position:
AW - Guard/Forward, anywhere I'm a team player

AM - Signature Move:
AW - I'll let you in with an exclusive
AM - What's that:
AW - New move called Sir Azzer. It involves 2x 360, typically what those skateboarding hacks call a 720.
AM - Really:
AW - Yep, followed by some Azzer patented hang time, with either a MJ esque fade away or dunk.
AM - I really need to see this:
AW - Yes, yes you do.

AM - Likes:
AW - Scotch, Scotch, Scotch... Scotch in my belly and long walks on the beach
AM - Azz the romantic

AM - Dislikes:
AW - One Word... Pinheads

AM - Career Highlight:
AW - I can remember it like it was 10 years ago
AM - Was it 10 years ago:
AW - Well yes, the U14 Sovereigns went through the entire season without loss, thrashing the pants of the opposition. Right up until the semi-final in which we lost to a spiritied Celtic Tigers!

AM - Thank you for your time, and all the best with the bruises attained from last weeks brutal game with the Pinheads
AW - No worries, I still think I require a skin graft on my knees.

Game 8 has concluded, which saw the Sovereign Knights go up against the Pinheads who were sitting 6th at the start of the game.

The Sovs entered the game with a depleted line up of 5 excluding starting guard Matty and defensive magnate Chunka who both were absent due to serious ankle injuries.

The lads were confident however that they could beat the Pinheads as long as an improvement was made in their offensive structure from previous weeks.

The game commenced with the Pinheads winning the tip off, propelling them straight into their offensive structure that was handled extremely well by the tight zone defence of the Sovs.

The Sovs moved into offence, passing and cutting to open space, this worked extremely well with Alex cutting baseline to an open 3 point shot on the wing. With a crisp pass from Azz the ball hit Alex’s palms, then almost instantaneously the back of the ring.

The defence held strong with man mountain Ro keeping out of foul trouble and making some huge defensive plays, pulling board after board down releasing Mark and Azz on the fast break.

Things started to heat up and tension was building late in the first half between both teams as the Sovs pulled ahead with superb cuts being made by Mark ending with some tasteful drives that saw him go to the foul line on multiple occasions.

The Sovs came into the half time break with a healthy lead with the intention on building upon it. The Pinheads had other ideas however, pressing the Sovs early and forcing turnovers that led to fast breaks.

The Sovs had no intention of seeing easy points fly on to the scoreboard, so some not so subtle fouls were made resulting in trips to the foul line and injury ward for the Pinheads. As the foul count soared for both teams so did the aggression with the fox terrier (Azz) antagonising the opposition with strong defensive plays and some words of wisdom for their efforts.

The Sovs held tough, going point for point with the Pinheads throughout the second half. This was until Age hit a purple patch where he concreted his boots outside the 3-point line, draining basket after basket inspiring the fans.

This was just enough to see the Sovs through the end of the game along with more excellent D displayed by Ro. Stopping the ferocious Pinheads in their attempts to regain the lead late in the game.

Although bruised and battered the Sovs triumphed in the end 34-29 and left the court with grins from ear to ear after their team effort.

Injury Report...

In tragic reports released by the Sovereign Knights medical team situated at the Ballarat Base Hospital reveal that starting guard and leading point scorer Matty Lee broke his ankle during Game 7 against the Rockers.

Team officials became heavily concerned with the health of the guard immediately after the game, as it was apparent that he could not put any weight on his foot, which is typically a sign of a poorer injury.

However news forwarded by the medical team to Sovs management the day after still shocked and dismayed officials. Early reports confirm that Matty’s foot will be set in plaster for a period of up to 6 weeks, with a light rehabilitation program to commence shortly after the foot comes out.

Orthopaedic Dr. Hitchcock confirmed that the break occurred in the navicular (point 3), located beneath the ball in the foot. When questioned about how such an injury would occur, Dr. Hitchcock explained that typically an injury of this magnitude occurs when there is a jarring of the leg into the ankle, and thus crushing the navicular.

In conversations held with Sovs management and the distressed Matty Lee confirm that he is struggling to cope with the concept of not playing basketball for the rest of the season and consequently not being able to contribute to the on court success of the team.

As a result of the discussions Sovs management have enlisted the technical services of the guard for the remainder of the season and have handed him the whiteboard to ensure that the offensive structure of the team grows over the season.

Game 7 has just concluded with the Sovs looking to consolidate last weeks win and hopefully improve on their current 4th place standing in the league.

Tonight saw the Sovs go up against league leaders the Rockers for the first time this season. This gave the Sovs an opportunity to see where “they’re at” with respect to the front-runners of the league.

The Sovs came into the game with a full and semi healthy squad, starting guards Alex and Matty brought slight injuries into the game, a tender lower back and a stiff neck respectively.

The game started off at a cool pace as the rain thundered down outside. The big fella Chunka started with excellent defensive pressure blocking shots, rebounding and running the court to intercept long passes thrown by the Rockers.

With excellent defensive pressure by the team, the Sovs were able to play their free flowing style of basketball – running the court at every chance with some smooth passes from the forwards to the guards.

Although the Sovs seemed in the game, the Rockers started to subtly increase the lead with superior defence that contained the Sovs offensive plays and allowed them to move into some positive offensive plays.

Then tragedy struck, defensive magnate Chunka went down late in the first half with what looked a possible season ending injury to his ankle. He gallantly took himself off and requested the ice bucket and some sympathy from the fans.

Half time could not come quick enough for the Sovs, as the Rockers were moving ahead on the scoreboard with a relentless pace. The Sovs quickly analysed the first half, and concluded that the offence was letting the team down severely.

The second half commenced and the Sovs were refocused, trying to hold the scoring of the Rockers and propel the team with some sound offensive plays to the lead.

Things started well with the Sovs holding the Rockers early in the first half, but couldn’t manage to hit to many baskets as the offence was stagnate, unthoughtful and unorganised.

Although points were hard to come by for both teams, injury struck again and Matty went down with a similar ankle injury to that of Chunka. A timeout was called quickly and it was up to the still standing members of the team to see the game out.

This saw the Widdison brothers plus one other (Alex), try and take control of the offensive set with crisp ball movement, strong post ups and sacrificial screens been made. Things seemed to be going well for the 3, with great help from Age and Ro around the perimeter but the lead constructed by the Rockers seemed insurmountable.

The game was run out impressively by the Rockers who cruised home to victory over the weather beaten Sovs 36-17.