Two-time championship winning guard Marshall Nelson couldn’t be more excited with the situation he's found himself in at the Willetton Tigers and while he has plenty of dreams to still chase, ultimately it's winning in NBL1 West that matters.
Nelson had every reason to think he would be back at the Rockingham Flames for a third season in 2024 and chasing a second title with the club to go with the one he was part of on top of winning a first championship back in 2017 at the Perth Redbacks.
However, some changes in Rockingham ended up seeing Nelson not come to terms on a renegotiated deal. There are positives to everything and he now couldn’t be happier with how life at Willetton is looking.
After all, Nelson has played a key role in the back court in Willetton winning three straight games now to be sitting at 4-1 on the season. That included wins over both the Redbacks and Flames who he has previously won championships with.
Playing on ANZAC Day
Another bonus for Nelson of joining Willetton is getting to play on ANZAC Day in what has now become an annual fixture for the Tigers against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.
This year's affair takes place on Thursday to commemorate ANZAC Day at Ray Owen Sports Centre. While Nelson is a bit banged up after last week's pair of wins against Rockingham and the Warwick Senators, he's looking forward to being part of the occasion.
"It's going to be fun, but I'm a bit sore this week after double-header so hopefully I'll be able to get out there," Nelson said.
"I'm excited for it, though, because it's a big occasion and it's something special to be part of. I think it will be a good time and we're the only game that will be on so we'll have a lot of eyes on watching us so it's going to be fun.
"And we just came off winning two games so I'm sure that a lot of people are looking at us more than I might have been before to see if we're the real deal."
Getting the win over Rockingham
It's understandable that last Friday night was a strange experience for Nelson to go back down to Rockingham and to pull on a visitor's uniform.
He was such a key part in their NBL1 West and National Championship triumphs in 2022, and then again in their team that finished top of the standings last year and only just fell short of going back-to-back for both titles.
Nelson thought he was going to be part of Rockingham trying to get back to the top of the tree in 2024 too only a few months ago, so to be playing them as an opposition player last Friday was strange.
Despite no bad blood there with any of his old teammates or coaches given the bond they formed, he'd also be only human to admit to have enjoyed getting the win.
"It was good. It was weird being on the other side of them, but I've played there for two years now so I kind of knew what to expect from them knowing their system," Nelson said.
"But Rockingham are tough and we're pretty lucky to come away with the win there. We fought hard and I think we had a bunch of guys who came in and contributed like Josh (Ibukunoluwa), Mike (Dupree) obviously had 44 and everyone contributed and did thing.
"Deng (Gak) played really well and that was without (Michael) Vigor too because we went down early in the game and he's such a big piece for us offensively and defensively.
"Having that old, cool head on the court to run offence through and everything is massive so beating them without him is saying a lot. We have a lot of good young guys coming through that can pressure the ball and make shots, and Tom Musumeci played really well too."
Settling in at Willetton
Nelson might not have arrived at Willetton until late in the pre-season while he was waiting to see how his situation at Rockingham was going to pan out, he couldn’t be happier with where it's landed.
There's no shortage of familiar faces there at the Tigers including his old Redbacks championship teammate Michael Vigor while he has been good friends with 332-game veteran Damien Scott for a long time.
All in all, Nelson couldn’t be happier with how things have worked out so far.
"With Vigs, Blacky (Andrew Black) and Damo there and with (Adam) Nener the coach, I don’t feel like there was a need to change much so just bringing in guys like me and Mike (Dupree) to take on some of the scoring load has been good," he said.
"Nener is pretty clear with what he wants and offensively we've been doing really well and it's just about touching up things defensively which will be the biggest thing. I think our personalities all gel very well and that's already translating into the way we are playing to start the season."
Landed in a great situation at Tigers
Not that Nelson needed any motivation to have a big year in 2024 after being a little disappointed in his shooting numbers last season with Rockingham, and then with a point to prove as part of a team that just fell short of the NBL1 West Grand Final and then losing the championship game at the National Finals.
There was that natural motivation there already, but now it just shifts for him to now be motivated to try and help the Tigers be as successful as possible as they chase that first men's championship since 2010 which was inspired by Cam Tovey and Daniel Johnson.
"I'm really excited about this team. It's a new look and every time you go into a new situation you get that hunger back to do well," Nelson said.
"When you have a fresh start you can think about things differently and working out that little bit more because you might have something to prove.
"That's how I feel about how things ended at Rockingham so I'm pretty motivated to have a great year and this is a perfect team to slot into.
"They might have been missing that point guard who could create for everything and hopefully I can do that to help the team win some games as the season goes on."
Your role on the team
What Nelson has proven over his 148-game career in the NBL1 West and in his NBL stints at the Illawarra Hawks and Cairns Taipans, and stints in Sweden and Iceland is what a versatile and dynamic guard he can be.
While only 6'1, Nelson is athletic and explosive enough to get out in the open floor and finish, he can drive and take it to the basket, and he can shoot the basketball having been bordering on being a 40 per cent three-point shooter his whole career.
However, Nelson also has great ball handling and playmaking abilities so he can comfortably play that scoring or facilitating role, and he will be happy to do whatever Nener asks of him with this Willetton team.
"I think it depends on the situation and obviously I want to keep playing overseas if I can so you want to do well enough on the stat sheet, but you always want to win and that's the most important thing," Nelson said.
"I feel like if we're winning and I'm playing a certain style where I'm scoring more, then great. But if we're losing and I need to step back to be more of a facilitator on the team, then I'll do that too.
"I just want to win at the end of the day, that's the main thing and I am happy to play whatever way the team wants me to that they think will help us win the most amount of games. I'll just try to fit in as well as I can."
How it came about to leave the Flames
Nelson still isn’t quite sure exactly what happened at Rockingham except to know that once former president Warren Boucaut departed and Shannon Conrad was appointed general manager, he got the feeling he might no longer have been part of the plans.
"Basically what happened was that I signed a deal when Warren was still at Rockingham, but then when Shannon came in as the new GM," Nelson said.
"That's when they called me in to renegotiate the contract and then even though I said was happy to, it just seemed to stall and I wasn’t sure what was happening.
"That went on for two or three months and I had to get a decision one way or another so I knew what was happening with my playing future, and if I was playing for Rockingham or not.
"I didn’t get much communication back from them and that gave me big red flags that they didn’t want me anymore. I obviously loved playing for Rockingham and I loved the community, the team and Ryan (Petrik), and I liked the situation.
"But everything just changed with the new GM and I didn’t want to leave and it sucked that I had to, but if a club doesn’t want you, then it's time to move on and that's what I did."
Running Hoop with 'Em
On top of what Nelson is doing on the court still as a player, the recently turned 30-year-old has done well setting up his coaching business, Hoop With 'Em, and gets great enjoyable helping young players learn the skills to chase their dreams with.
"I love it so much," Nelson said.
"It's hard to juggle between playing basketball and the coaching because I do enjoy the coaching so much that when I do a good session with a bunch of kids from 12 or 13 up to the 17 mark who are chasing that basketball dream like I was, I feel like I do when I'm about to play a game.
"I can be nervous, I get the jitters and it's exciting so I love it just as much as I do playing almost but obviously I only have so many years of playing left.
"So I want to give that as much of a crack as I can while I can because if I focus too much on Hoop with Em it can hurt my playing, or if I focus too much on my playing, it can hurt my business and coaching.
"It's just about getting the balance right where I can still perform and do well with my own playing, but also juggle the coaching and help those kids chase their dreams. There's a lot more to it than just rocking up and coaching."
