Deflated Blaze Need To Lift Their Game: Joyce

Illawarra Mercury

Friday November 14, 2008

By TIM KEEBLE

BY his own admission, Gold Coast Blaze coach Brendan Joyce believes his struggling team will have to drag itself off the mat when they take on the Hawks tonight in Wollongong.

Joyce thought the Blaze might have turned the corner with the previous week's win over Townsville and last Saturday's uncompromising performance against the league-leading South Dragons.

But Wednesday night's 22-point road loss to the Sydney Spirit left the Blaze (1-12) feeling as though their play-off hopes were all but extinguished.

"It was a bit of a flattener," Joyce said shortly after the Blaze arrived in town yesterday.

"Our expectations were that if we won that game, we'd make a run at the play-offs over the second half of the season.

"It was the first time I'd had a fully-fit team and we were in the game at half-time (51-all). Sydney stepped it up in the third quarter and we gave up too many offensive boards, and they deserved their win.

"It'll be really tough to make the play-offs now and the boys are feeling a little flat. We've been dealt a knockout punch and we just have to pick ourselves up off the deck and get ourselves ready to play again. That's the beauty of sport, that you always get the opportunity to redeem yourself, and we get that opportunity against the Hawks."

Joyce said he was keeping the faith in new import Justin Bowen, who followed up his sparkling 26-point debut against the Dragons with a 1/6 shooting, nine-turnover effort against the Spirit.

"He had a dream start against the Dragons and he just has to make an adjustment to the officiating," he said.

"He can certainly play. I still think we've got a good one and he'll be an impact player in this league."

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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