10 Players to Watch in NBL1 West

Written by Chris Pike

Basketball in Western Australia enters a new era starting this weekend with the opening round of the inaugural NBL1 West competition getting underway, and there's no shortage of exciting talent to keep your eyes out for.

Now when picking out five players to especially keep your eye on in 2021, it would have been easy to select the soon to be games record holder Casey Mihovilovich from the Mandurah Magic or long-time warriors like Amber Land at the Joondalup Wolves or Jess Jakens at the Perth Redbacks.

Or on the men's side, we could have gone for someone like an NBL champion like Greg Hire who remains committed to giving back to the Rockingham Flames or indeed Cody Ellis who remains loyal to playing under his legendary father Mike with the Warwick Senators.

Or you have WNBL stalwarts like a Nat Burton coming back to the Perry Lakes Hawks or a Darcee Garbin likely to still play at least some basketball with the Rockingham Flames.

You also have a slew of NBL talent that is expected to sign once the NBL season ends.

But here are who we have picked out ahead of the opening round beginning in NBL1 West this Friday night:

NBL1 WEST WOMEN TO WATCH

JESSIE EDWARDS – COCKBURN COUGARS

Is coming off another tremendous season in the West Coast Classic in 2020 at the Kalamunda Eastern Suns which saw her bang down the door for her first full contract in the WNBL at the Perth Lynx.

She showed some encouraging signs with the Lynx at the WNBL Hub late last year and while her numbers don't necessarily reflect it at 3.8 points and 2.2 rebounds a game, she held her own and showed without question she has a future at that level.

But based on what she was able to deliver in last year's West Coast Classic that took place without a regular SBL season thanks to COVID-19, she put up 18.1 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists with a Kalamunda team that amassed a 7-4 record.

She has decided to make the move to join the Cockburn Cougars for the inaugural NBL1 West campaign and it has her set to play just down the road from Fremantle Oval where her father Craig put together a standout WAFL career with South Fremantle as a Sandover Medal winner.

But she will give Cougars coach Tyrone Thwaites a big to build his team around and with the additions of Molly Mathews, Taylah Simmons and a core group returning, they look set to be a contending group.

JEWEL WILLIAMS – KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS

She might have lost her partner in crime at the Kalamunda Eastern Suns, but she should be full of confidence coming back in 2021 on the back of her WNBL season at the Perth Lynx.

She is a tremendous all-round threat as a guard with her ball handling skills and ability to run a team's offence while being a dynamic scoring threat. She can drive and attack the basket while also having the ability to catch fire with her jump shot and she should only improve further in 2021.

Having taken some of her chances in the WNBL Hub where she had some impressive scoring moments, she should come back with confidence knowing she had a brilliant West Coast Classic last year for the Eastern Suns scoring 18.6 points a game to go with 4.1 rebound and 3.7 assists.

She had a good chemistry with Jessie Edwards but will look to create something similar with new signing Sam Roscoe and she should also thrive under the coach of Craig Mansfield.

He last coached in the league two years ago taking Lakeside to the championship and he now returns to Kalamunda in 2021, and Williams is exactly the type of player with her skill set who should thrive even further under his coaching.

MIKAYLA PIRINI – LAKESIDE LIGHTNING

The dynamic combo guard would have been disappointed to not have found a spot in the WNBL last year but at just 24 years of age, she has time on her side and will be looking forward to the chance to run the show with the Lakeside Lightning.

It has been quite the rollercoaster ride in recent years for her floating between WNBL stints with the Adelaide Lightning and Perth Lynx, and playing Big V with the Diamond Valley Eagles before a season in the SBL at the Perth Redbacks and then joining the Joondalup Wolves.

That saw her become part of the West Coast Classic champions at the Lady Wolfpack last year but it was a stacked team she was part of and she was battling for time in the back court with Georgia Denehey, Chelsea Belcher and even Isabelle Miotti.

That saw her numbers drop back somewhat to 7.5 points, 4.2 assists and 2.4 rebounds a game, and while she enjoyed being part of the championship, she was craving somewhere she could play a larger role and have the ball in her hands more, and that's now likely to happen with the Lakeside Lightning in 2021.

Dave Daniels has taken over the role as head coach with the Lightning meaning he'll coach the men and women, and he is going to put a lot of his faith in Pirini to be his point guard and also one of his main scoring threats.

She will look to create a dynamic combination with Emma Clarke who is coming off a terrific season with the Lynx in the WNBL while Alecia Knowles is another handy pick up as she returns to her original club after joining her father Tom in departing Kalamunda following last year's West Coast Classic.

But a big season from Pirini both in terms of running the Lightning's offence and scoring, and she'll be hoping to see it lead to another WNBL contract.

MIA SATIE – PERRY LAKES HAWKS

Last time we saw her she was playing some outstanding basketball for the Perry Lakes Hawks in the SBL before departing for college, and it's going to be fascinating to see what she has developed into upon her return in 2021.

She was having a tremendous 2017 SBL season with a Perry Lakes team that ended up winning the championship under coach Deanna Black. She might have had to leave for college before seeing things through, but she had a big impact before she left in setting the season up for the Hawks.

She went on to Pepperdine University and across 77 games the previous three years, she put up 2.3 points and 3.3 rebounds a game in some encouraging performances.

She now returns to Perry Lakes for the first ever NBL1 West season and the daughter of inaugural Perth Wildcats player Ian, will be looking to pick up right where she left off back in 2017 and show how much she has further developed in the meantime.

She returns to a Hawks team still coached by 'Doccy' who is now a new mother having welcomed her first child during the off-season with husband Steve Black, and it's an exciting looking Perry Lakes team that Satie will be part of.

Nat Burton will be back, Beige Harris is another new arrival and then there is the return of Megan McKay, so if Satie can add scoring punch to the back court, they are going to be mighty tough to stop.

MAKAILAH DYER – PERTH REDBACKS

She was initially set to play at the Warwick Senators in 2020, but decided to sit out the West Coast Classic and now is in the best shape of her life and ready to fire on all cylinders at the Perth Redbacks in the NBL1 West competition in 2021.

She has now made a home for herself in Perth as well having initially arrived to play at the Redbacks for the 2018 SBL season.

She had a solid season as a two guard on that team with Mikayla Pirini running the point, but she turned herself around physically in 2019 and went to the South West Slammers where she ran the point, and was superb on a team that did struggle at times to be runner-up in league MVP voting.

She was then initially to join the Senators in 2020 to form what might have been an unstoppable back court with MVP Stacey Barr, but when COVID-19 struck she decided to sit out the season and focus on setting up her business, Her Hoops AU.

That business continues to thrive as she works with the young and emerging players throughout WA throwing herself fully into the basketball community, but now she is ready and determined to show what she can still deliver on the floor.

She'll be handed the reins to run the point for the Redbacks and with a strong front court made up of Maddie Allen and Jess Jakens, and plenty more strong role players, she has every chance to be at the helm of a team that can be a genuine threat of going all the way in 2021.

NBL1 WEST MEN TO WATCH

JULIAN PESAVA – GOLDFIELDS GIANTS

It has been quite the rollercoaster ride since he helped the Cockburn Cougars win the 2016 championship, but he's now ready to make a new start for himself at the Goldfields Giants.

The Giants appeared to be building an impressive line-up coming into the 2020 SBL season but when that was cancelled, they lost their imports and then a lot of what they did in the West Coast Classic centred around Twin Towers Mayo Malek and Majier Garang.

Neither will be there again in 2021 so coach Wayne Creek decided to recruit a couple of Perth boys to relocate to Kalgoorlie and now Tom Atkinson and Julian Pesava are going to have a big say in how competitive the Giants are in NBL1 West. 

He was a key member of a Cougars team that won the championship under coach Matt Parsons back in 2016 before he then tried his hand in college at Wayland Baptist University under Ty Harrelson. That didn’t quite work out and after a stint back with Cockburn, he tried his hand in Germany with some mixed success before COVID-19 brought him back home.

He decided to rest up his body in 2020 rather than take part in the West Coast Classic but now he appears ready to take NBL1 West by storm and he'll be given everything every opportunity to show what he can do with the Giants both as a playmaker and a big-time scorer.

MAJIER GARANG – JOONDALUP WOLVES

He had been somewhat an untapped talent at the Perth Redbacks, but he grew out of his skin last year with the Goldfields Giants and it's now going to be fascinating how settles at a loaded Joondalup Wolves.

He got his start in the SBL with the Perth Redbacks and showed some encouraging signs under the coaching of Nik Lackovic, but he was recruited heavily and made the move to Kalgoorlie to join the Goldfields Giants in 2020.

The SBL season didn’t eventuate but he ended up having a standout West Coast Classic where he put up 13.0 points and 13.2 rebounds a game.

His rebounding ability was a revelation where he showed he could put to good use his size and length while his shooting was outstanding at times, and his ability to stretch the floor for someone with a wingspan of well over seven-feet makes him a difference-maker.

Now initially he was going to remain at the Giants in 2021 but a change in circumstances largely thanks to COVID meant he wanted to return to Perth, and the Wolfpack were quick to snap him up.

But it does leave for a change in circumstances on court for him. He would have been a large centre piece of everything the Giants did, but at the Wolves they simply have too many other weapons so keeping everyone happy will be quite the juggling act.

Lochlan Cummings, Jacob Formosa, Rob Huntington, Trian Iliadis, Ben Ironmonger, Reece Maxwell, Seb Salinas, Sioeli Vaiangina and Jonathan Wade are all among the Wolves players who will want to be heavily featured.

So it's going to be fascinating to see how Garang adjusts to now not being one of the main focuses on a team and seeing if he can still stand out.

KYLE ARMOUR – LAKESIDE LIGHTNING

One of the most exciting things about this NBL1 West season will be seeing the return to the court of experienced Lakeside Lightning point guard Kyle Armour.

It was a heartbreaking scene when he ruptured his ACL in Game 2 of a cracking SBL semi-final series between his Lightning and the Geraldton Buccaneers back in 2019. The Buccs would go on to win the deciding Game 3 the next day and then win the championship the next week.

Armour underwent a knee reconstruction and then decided to sit out the West Coast Classic despite having put in a power of work to get himself healthy, and in terrific shape.

The good news is that he is now fit and raring to go for the start of the NBL1 West season, and he is full of hunger given how heartbreaking that 2019 ended and then having had to sit out a whole year of basketball in 2020.

It's a new-look Lightning team for him take back up the point guard helm of but it's going to be quite the exciting team to see him running the point, and then having Jack Isenbarger and Jay Bowie alongside him.

Corey Shervill will likely join them once his season in the NBL at the Perth Wildcats ends and he's going to be a whole different beast too based on the confidence he would have gained.

But he is a virtual new recruit to for the Lightning and with his ability to both run an offence and score and create himself, he will be as hungry as anyone this season to try and replicate that championship success he experienced at East Perth back in 2014.

JERAMI GRACE – MANDURAH MAGIC

Mention the name Grace in Australian basketball circles and memories of 'The Amazing One' will spring to mind in recognition of the remarkable legacy that Ricky was able to create at the Perth Wildcats.

Well his son Jerami is one exciting, young and emerging talent in his own right.

He completed his college career at Arkansas Tech and then we got a first glimpse of him playing in the SBL back in 2019 with the Mandurah Magic, and that's where he'll now return in 2021 under the tutelage of 422-game NBL veteran Aaron Trahair as coach.

He showed exciting signs despite that being a disappointing Mandurah team in 2019 where he made seven appearances and delivered 14.6 points, 3.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds a game.

He had committed to return last year for the SBL season but when that didn’t eventuate he instead remained back at home in Texas, but he's now ready to come back to the Magic in 2021 and to try to lead them back up the table in the NBL1 competition.

Unlike his dad, he's a right-hander and might be more of a two man than a genuine ball handler, but he is a pure scorer, is a good shooter and creator, and it's going to be exciting to see him develop during 2021.

With the Magic having the potential of two dominant veteran bigs too with Brian Carlwell and Ben Smith, and they could be in for a vastly improved season.

GAVIN FIELD/BEN PURSER/JOEL WAGNER/RYAN GODFREY/AARON RALPH/SEB SALINAS

This might look like it's cheating, but it's only fitting that so many players who the heart and souls of their clubs will be there for the move from the SBL to the NBL1 West competition in 2021.

Each and every one of them have given their lives to their SBL clubs for such a long time and it just wouldn’t have not felt right had they not been there for this inaugural NBL1 West season.

Nobody has dedicated their life to the Cockburn Cougars more than Gavin Field. He remains one of the very best players in the league as well and having already won a championship in 2012, but devastatingly missing 2016 through injury, he will want to be part of some NBL1 West success to add to his 250-game career.

Ben Purser has just been everything and given everything to the Perry Lakes Hawks over his remarkable 326-game career. He's already a championship captain and Grand Final MVP, and has nothing more to prove but as he showed last year during the West Coast Classic, he remains as motivated as ever to lead the Hawks from the front.

Joel Wagner is another with nothing left to prove but his love for the Perth Redbacks means he just wants to remain the man running the ship for quite the talented group of players. He is already the league's all-time assists leader during his 360-game career but he will be critical to bring a diverse group of talented Redbacks players together in 2021.

Ryan Godfrey is the heart and soul of the Rockingham Flames as well, and has been part of so many teams that have been knocking on the door of a Grand Final but is yet to get there during his 247-game career. They will have plenty of talent to work with under coaching of Ryan Petrik in 2021, but he will be at the forefront of everything they do once again.

Aaron Ralph embodies everything about the Geraldton Buccaneers. He is supremely talented, confident and is just a winner, and he has never and would never consider plying his trade anywhere but Geraldton. His 399th SBL game was the triumphant 2019 championship win and he still played some dazzling basketball last year in the West Coast Classic, and it's only fitting he'll still be playing in 2021. And let's hope his old mate Mat Wundenberg will be too.

Then there is Joondalup Wolves captain Seb Salinas. He has been a brilliant shooter, defender and leader over the course of a 449-game career that will see him open the NBL1 West competition by reaching 450 this Friday night.