Adelaide begun round two with a performance against the Be Active Perth Wheelcats they’d probably rather forget. It may have been the travel that affected their round opener but they were never really in with a chance in this one, totally outplayed at both ends of the floor, suffering their biggest loss of the season.

The Thunder quickly put that performance behind them and bounced back on the following two days only going down to the Wheelkings by four points in a game they were probably unlucky not to have won and then to last year’s champions the Rollerhawks by 27 points.

Luke Watkins continues to score freely but the more importantly for the Thunder is that they have some quality players coming through. Beau Buckley impressed with the minutes he played and as a 4.5, he’ll probably just need to look at improving the affect he has on the scoreboard when he is on court.

By far though, the most impressive young prospect Adelaide have coming through is 1.0 rookie Samuel White. Sam has spent some time in the US College system and has completely transformed his game in the past 12 months. In the space of a season, he’s gone from playing bit minutes for the Thunder in 2012 to a walk up starter in 2013 and given some more time, it won’t be long before he finds himself on a Rollers squad.

The Thunder’s first win is just around the corner. They are a much better team than their 0-5 record suggests and if they are to improve, it’ll have to be in efficiency. You aren’t going to be able to roll to the basket at will in the NWBL and so being able to make the most of the opportunities you are presented is crucial. The Thunder never shot more than 33% in any game over the weekend and ahead of a two game series in Wollongong this coming weekend, I would expect a lot of shots to be going up at training during the week.

Written by Joel Mackenzie