Big V 2015: Struggling Suns in desperate need of breakthrough win

Sometimes when a team is struggling, on and off the court, a win can completely turn their fortunes around.

There is no side that needs to breakthrough for a win right now more than the Sherbrooke Suns women.

Since joining Big V’s State Championship division a number of years ago, the Suns have been perennial strugglers, constantly fighting to avoid the wooden spoon and finding wins hard to come by.

However in season 2015, after big changes to the roster and coaching staff, the Suns have fallen even deeper into the depths of despair.

After seven rounds of action, they are not only winless but have struggled to generate offense and have rolled over in far too many contests for a side competing at the State Championship level.

The loss of Esther Timmermans to a season-ending injury in round four has certainly not helped the Suns’ cause, especially given Timmermans was averaging 21.3 points and 10.3 boards through her first three contests in a team that was only averaging 46.7 points as a team to that point.

Of course, since then things have gotten considerably worse for Sherbrooke, with that average falling to just 37.5, with back-to-back 26-point efforts in 40-point beltings, in which they shot at a combined 20-for-120 (16%) from the field, over the past fortnight leaving the Suns in a very dark place.

In those matches, against Bulleen and Eltham, the Suns scored a combined 22 of their total 52 points in the final terms when the results had been put to bed, registering totals of just 7, 4, 5, 4, 4 and 6 in each of the other six quarters.

None of those numbers make for very good reading, and it simply shouldn’t happen in a State Championship level league.

In fact, based on their performances in recent weeks, it is difficult to see where the Suns are going to get a win from this season.

Credit: Big V Media

Their closest rivals on the ladder are Warrandyte (1-7) and Eltham (2-6), and both have beaten Sherbrooke comfortably in their first meeting this season, with the Venom running out 54-39 victors in round five before the Wildcats romped to a 66-26 win last week.

Put simply, Sherbrooke is a side completely devoid of confidence right now after a horror opening two months.

Looking ahead, the Suns are set to face three more opponents with losing records in the next three weeks in Melbourne (3-5), Eltham, again, and Diamond Valley (2-5).

On current form, none of those games are winnable and the Suns will be 0-10 with a tough run home where they will play seven out of ten games against teams currently in the top six.

Their record must be put aside for the coming stretch of matches and they instead must simply compete.

They have three games to gain some of their confidence back and to build some momentum to take them into the second half of the season.

There is no doubt that they don’t have the firepower to compete with the better sides, or perhaps even the mid-table teams, but if they go out on court and compete and make it tough for their opponents, rather than rolling over, their fortunes may change.

Basketball is a funny game, and when a team competes, gets active and works hard at both ends, they are never out of it, no matter how poor their form may be.

There is a very real possibility that the Suns will remain winless for the duration of the season, but in the mean time all they can do is compete hard like all teams at this level should.

It may just lead to a much-needed win for the beleaguered side, and that would mean more to the Sherbrooke Suns right now than anything else.

To find your local club’s fixtures and results, and to keep up to date with all the league news and information over the season, head to www.bigv.com.au or click here.