Deba George has been a cult figure within Cairns basketball for almost a decade but Taipans coach Aaron Fearne says his persistence is what finally landed him a spot in the National Basketball League.
Few basketballers go by one name but within the city limits of Cairns mention the name 'Deba' and people instantly know who you're talking about."I can't even describe how athletic he is," says General Manager of Mackay Basketball and former teammate, Joel Khalu.
"I think he just needs one of those games and everyone in the whole country will go 'Wow!'. He's a phenom."
Cairns Taipans coach, Aaron Fearne tempers his words but is equally optimistic.
"He's extremely athletic and extremely quick, so that's going to be a handful for teams," he says.
"If he gets comfortable teams will find it difficult to defend him."
'Deba' is Deba George of course and this year he may be the best NBL player no one's heard of; a 26-year old 'rookie' of sorts slotted in to play as a back-up guard after years of dominating at ABA level with the Cairns Marlins and last season, the Mackay Meteors.
But George's prolonged apprenticeship has made the Darnley Islander humble about his success.
"It's a pretty big step," he says. "I'm really excited that I am part of this team."
"I've been a part of the Cairns Taipans for a few years now so I'm going to make the most of it and have fun."
George, 26, was first named as a development player in the 2000-01 season for the Taipans and has been a training player with the club almost ever since.
So what took him so long to get on an NBL roster?
"He didn't pick up a basketball till he was about 16," says Khalu. "So he's a little bit of a late bloomer."
"Deba's never had a problem scoring the basketball. It's always been his ability to defend that's - I won't say held him back - but was a challenge for him.
"He's also matured as a person and that's really contributed to his style of play.
"He reads the game better now and really learned how to play the game."
Coach Fearne, who says he nearly picked George to play for him last year, says the changes in his game have been subtle but noticeable.
"He's a bit stronger and slowed down offensively," he says. "Defensively he's more solid in the concepts and systems and things like that so that's where he's improved."
"He's older and getting a bit wiser and it'll be exciting."
Khalu says the 183 centimetre guard also reflects the rich talent of the Torres Strait Island coming through the league.
"Athletes are coming from that region," he says citing Patty Mills, Nathan Jawai, Danny Morseu and Chris and Michael Cedar as other past and present talents with Torres Strait heritage.
"You look at the AFL and they're going into Indigenous communities.
"The scary thing is for every Patty Mills or Deba George there are another ten or fifteen kids that never leave the islands for whatever reason.
"I definitely think Basketball Australia need to look at [more Indigenous] programmes."
As for George though his goal is simple. Keep playing.
"I just want to bring a lot of excitement and energy on both ends of the floor and just help the team to win with whatever I can do," he says.
No comments:
Post a Comment