Geraldton Buccaneers out on the road as they look to avoid Redbacks’ bite

The Geraldton Buccaneers will be back on the road this weekend against the Perth Redbacks at Belmont Oasis Leisure Centre on Saturday night.

It will be the second meeting of these teams in the past month, with the two clashing in round 11 a fortnight ago which saw the Buccs record a 94-69 victory.

Redbacks have had a tough run of late, losing their past three games to sides inside the top four to slip down to 10th, while the Buccs have won three on the bounce and are two games clear in first place.

However, the Redbacks pushed the third-placed Rockingham Flames all the way last week, sending the game into overtime before falling by four points.

Buccs coach Dayle Joseph is not taking the Redbacks lightly.

“They have some quality players and they pushed the Flames last week who we rate really highly, so when they get it together they can be really dangerous,” he said.

“We’ve snuck in an extra training session to fine-tune some of the things we’re working on.”

The Buccs will be boosted by the return of Mathiang Muo this weekend after helping South Sudan to the next round of qualifiers for the FIBA World Cup, although his workload will be managed.

“He played three games across the week over there and obviously a fair bit of travel was involved, so we will manage his return into the team,” Joseph said.

A key to the Buccs’ victory over the Eagles last weekend was their shooting efficiency, particularly from play-makers Shaun Stewart and Malik Meunier who both went at over 70 per cent.

“It makes a difference having that efficiency and it’s something we work hard on, generating easy shots to convert our opportunities,” Joseph said.

“Everything seemed to go in for them on the weekend which doesn’t always happen, but you’ve got to cash in when it’s going your way.”

Joseph also praised Stewart, who is averaging over 21 points per game this season.

“Shaun is just a quality player and we’ve surrounded him with quality players. Opposition teams work hard to shut him down but he always finds a way through to contribute,” he said.

The game will start at 7pm and is the first of two away trips for the Buccs as the Wolves await next week.