Season 2018 is set to be a milestone in the career of Orange’s Matt Gray as he will link with American outfit Drake University, but before he leaves Australian soil he has unfinished business.
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He wants to set up the Bathurst Goldminers for another appearance in the Waratah Youth League men’s division two finals.
Last season Gray was named the competition’s rookie of the year in a campaign which saw the Goldminers finish as runners-up. The centre averaged 35.56 points per game.
He will again be one of the Goldminers’ key players this season before he departs and Gray is keen to do all he can to help the Bathurst outfit find success.
“It’s about setting the team up for the rest of the year and trying to make finals. It’s a long season, there’s 22 games, and I think I’ll get to play about half,” he said.
“I’m just taking it one game at a time, I know that I’m leaving, but each game is less time until I go away, so it’s a bit scary but pretty exciting.”
Last Saturday night Gray returned to the court for the Goldminers in their season opener and while he scored 26 points, they suffered a 94-77 defeat at home against Illawarra Hawks.
It was not the ideal start for the side, but with a number of new faces in the squad this season, Gray knows it will take time for them to adjust.
He wants to see his team-mates rise to the challenge and take some of the scoreboard pressure of himself and Will Cranston-Lown – who potted 32 points against the Hawks. That talented duo were the only Goldminers to reach double figures.
“We’ve got five guys out there, so we’ve got to get everyone to contribute. Not all the time necessarily does it have to be with scoring, but we do need to work everyone into the game,” he said.
“We are a very young team like last year, not much has changed with that either, we’re still one of the youngest teams out there. But for those new guys, it’s about getting a bit of experience playing at this level.”
This Saturday night at Minto the new Goldminers will get their chance to gain more experience when facing the Macarthur Heat.
“Last year we beat them at home, but when we travelled down to Minto we actually lost that one, so this weekend should be interesting,” Gray said.
“I don’t think they had a game last weekend, so with that we can’t look at who their leading point scorers are or have a little bit of a scout on them.
“We have to focus on what are doing, control the controlables. We need to have good patience and let the game come to us.”
Tip-off is at 5.30pm.