TONY Garbelotto has called for Jets head coach John Lavery to be nominated as BBL coach of the year as a decisive derby looms.
Mersey Tigers head coach Garbelotto is preparing his side to visit the Northgate Arena for a crucial match on Sunday which will decide the head-to-head but he was full of praise for his opposite number.
“Lavery has done a great job with limited resources and should be in contention for coach of the year,” he said.
“His team plays hard and against us they seem to play even harder. As with our game against Guildford Heat on Friday, this is for the head-to-head.
“We all know about their top four players but I think the addition of Kai Williams will determine if they make the play-offs. It will come down to who wants it most.”
Before the derby the Jets head to Plymouth to face the Raiders five days after entertaining them at the Northgate where Raiders’ captain Anthony Rowe was impressed by the Jets’ performance.
“They were really tricky last week,” he said. “We took an early lead on them but they blitzed us in the third period.
“Their team spirit and fight was really good, they had a never-say-die attitude and we almost got hurt by them. But we played some good defence to come out on top.
“I thought Bill Cole was good again for them, he consistently hits the big shots. Matt Schneck rebounds well and converts the put-backs while Colin O’Reilly caused us problems coming off screen. They just lack depth, we kept on pounding at them and out-lasted them.”
