By ADEM SARICAOGLU
DES Radoslovic hopes he’ll be the man to turn things around for the Altona Gators in 2014.
Radoslovic has signed on as the new Altona men’s coach after the Gators went 7-15 in 2013 under caretaker coach Randy Shanklin.
That record kept Altona out of the Division One finals, but Radoslovic is keen to lead the Gators back to their rightful place in the post-season from next year onward.
“It’s a club that’s got a strong history,” Radoslovic said.
“The last three years haven’t been the most successful years, so we’ll be looking to turn that around and I’ll hopefully bring in a couple of key pieces just to complement the squad and become a contender again.”
Radoslovic has signed a three-year deal that will include coaching duties of the Gators’ under-16 team.
“I do want to turn things around over the three-year period and turn Altona back into a formidable club,” Radoslovic said.
“For the first year I still think the goal should be to make the finals and be a competitive team every week.
“And the way the Division One finals system is, once you make the finals it’s anything can happen with the knockout system they have, so my goal is definitely to make finals in this first year and then build things from there.”
Radoslovic is hoping to bring some spark into the Gators’ game and is planning to implement an up-tempo brand of Division One Big V basketball.
While playmakers Shaun Phelan and Craig Martin will not be wearing purple and gold next season, Radoslovic remains confident he already has enough weapons at his disposal to make a run for finals basketball in 2014.
“We’re looking to be a very high-scoring, up-tempo team that plays with a lot of energy, so we’re trying to bring in a couple of players that’ll complement that style,” Radoslovic said.
“I look at the talented players that Altona has and it suits that game style.
“I think that style will suit the team and it’ll actually be a little bit different for the Division One league as well, which is a bit of a disciplined, half-court, experienced league.”
