The pull of working with an Australian basketball legend has swayed countless players over the journey, and the opportunity to work with David Barlow at Sandringham has proven to be a key factor in Ben Ayre’s commitment to the club.
Ayre, who represented the Cairns Marlins in NBL1 North last season, has hit the ground running with Sandringham in the new NBL1 South season. Despite his late arrival on the scene.
He's replaced NBL1 South MVP and Defensive Player of the Year Shea Ili for the season due to ongoing concussion issues. Ayre made his biggest statement last weekend in Round 5 in a win against Dandenong, where he finished with 31 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists in the 29-point victory.
“A few teams reached out but Dave was probably a selling point,” Ayre said of his decision to sign with Sandringham.
“I get to know these guys on a personal level and, especially from Dave and Shea Ili’s point of view, I get to pick their brains.
“Dave reached out – Shea reached out as well because he wasn’t playing – and expressed why they wanted me and how they saw me fitting in there. I was seeing if I was going to stay up in the north or if I was going to come down, but that kind of tied in with the Taipans stuff.
Once that season finished and those discussions happened and we weren’t really sure it was an opportunity for me to come home. It was just a super cool opportunity.”
(Image: David Barlow coaching Sandringham)
Ayre’s admiration for both Barlow and Ili is obvious to hear in his voice. That’s not surprising though. Barlow is one of the most successful Australian exports of the past 20 years and is quickly forging a reputation as one of the nation’s most exciting young coaches.
Ili, on the other hand, has a trophy cabinet that’s weighed down heavily by awards from the NBL, NZNBL and – as of last season – NBL1 South.
The trio have been placed into an interesting position ahead of the NBL season, as Ayre has recently signed with the South East Melbourne Phoenix, and will be in a direct rivalry with the pair – along with young star and Sabres captain Campbell Blogg.
“There’s that thing now that I’m with Phoenix and they’re at United but I’m not picking their brain for inside stuff with that,” Ayre said.
“I think between all of us guys they’re just high-level basketball brains and I’m the same. I’m not sitting there asking them about this play or that play or what they’re running. It’s generic basketball questions and picking their brains that way.
“With Campbell as well it’s really cool to see his development and it will be awesome to see him get an opportunity at United this year. He’s really growing his game in NBL1."
Through his time at both the Cairns Marlins and the Cairns Taipans, Ben Ayre has shown his ability to be a game-changing scoring influence when called upon. With the Sabres, although he is still scoring the ball at an effective clip – he’s scored over 30 points in half of his appearances this season – there’s an added impetus on him distributing the ball like a true, traditional guard.
Since his addition to the side the Sabres are 5-2, with their only pair of losses coming against Kilsyth in his opening game for the club, and Knox in Round 5.
“There’s a lot of point guard play and in the style of play they have. Dave puts a lot of responsibility on me, which is something I was looking for,” Ayre said.
“You come down to NBL1 and you’re able to just work on different things, different reads, and you get played differently. There’s a to more attention in the NBL1 so it forces me to become a better player.”
Catch Ayre and the Sandringham Sabres on Saturday at home during the NBL1's Pink Round from 7:00pm AEST via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App here.
Feature image via: Ian Knight Photography
