Eagles to be a different team from here

Featured image: Mark Filpo (@codexdesignstudio)

East Perth Eagles coach Carl Filpo remains confident his team are going to click this NBL1 West season and that the front court will fire with the more time they've spent together as he looks forward to more from Sharif Watson and the return of Jonah Antonio.

While losing six of the past seven games to now sit on a 6-8 record and just be clinging to a spot in the NBL1 West top eight is hardly ideal for the Eagles, there's good reason for coach Filpo to remain optimistic about how the season will pan out.

After all, it's a front court that is the envy of any around the country in the NBL1 featuring Lat Mayen, David Okwera, De'Sean Parsons, Lee Roberts, Ioannis Dimakopoulos and now the returned Sharif Watson.

Jonah Antonio is now back for the run home after playing with the Australian Gangurrus at the 3x3 World Cup in Poland, and young guards like Nick Filpo and Kai Kabugua continue to emerge.

That's why coach Filpo still feels good about the rest of the season even after a tough weekend losing at home to the Eastern Suns last Friday night and then on the road to the Rockingham Flames on Saturday.

"Friday night's the one that got away and I felt like we were doing really well and in the first half we kept them to 37 points," Filpo said.

"If you asked me that before the game, I'd take that every time but they're a good team and unfortunately things fell apart for us sort of late in the third and early in the fourth.

"Obviously Joe went on a tear and they had another couple of guys that played really well obviously. That was a tough one to swallow the Suns one.

"Then against the Flames, they got the jump on us early and it was hard to come back from it. They're a great team who's polished, they've got talent and they've got fight and heart but the fact that we're able to see them at this stage of the season I'm happy about because we know that's the benchmark.

"We get them again pretty soon too so we know what to expect and it's not the worst thing in the world, but obviously we'd rather be in a better position."

Sharif's return was a positive

Another big boost for the Eagles back on Friday night was Sharif Watson hitting the court for the first time this season having overcome injury suffered in the pre-season.

He had an immediate impact too with seven points, six rebounds and four assists in 24 minutes and Filpo is now looking forward to having him in the line-up the rest of 2026.

"He's a great teammate and a high IQ guy and we've really missed him," Filpo said.

"Friday night really showed how much we've missed him and then rolling into Saturday and seeing all the offensive rebounds they got was another sign of how much we missed Sharif.

"He was a big part of the design when we put the team together and he's slowly coming back to form, and I expect him to make a big difference moving forward as well."

Kai Kabugua finding his feet

Another player grabbing his opportunities over the past couple of weeks is 18-year-old guard Kai Kabugua.

He has now scored 10 points for the first time in his NBL1 career twice in the past three games including being out there for a career-high 25 minutes in the overtime win over the Perth Redbacks two weeks ago.

Filpo is more than happy to see the teenager embracing his chances.

"He's a fighter and he's worked his way up the ranks as an East Perth junior from all the way," he said.

"Nick was his coach when he was in under-14s and under-16s for the WABL and he's an East Perth grown and bred player. I'm rapt to see him cementing himself into the side so we're really happy about that for sure."

Confident things will still click

With the amount of talent, experience and depth the Eagles possess, Filpo has good reason to still expect that the longer the season goes, the more things are going to come together.

And after all they've now lost six of the past seven games and haven't ever really fully clicked or had the full squad together so far, but still sit in a playoff spot so Filpo is expecting only improvement from here.

"I have full faith and belief in the guys. We just had a video session and that was the message, and I do mean that," Filpo said.

"We've got a great group of guys, a highly talented group that is capable of getting it done so as long as they play together and as long as they stop passing the ball to the other team, I reckon we'll be good."

Getting front court to reach potential

At least on paper, there's no other front court contingent around the country in the NBL1 as deep and big and versatile as the one the Eagles possess.

The group are all capable of different things too with Parsons, Mayen and Okwera supremely talented where they can play on the perimeter as well as the inside while you have the brute force of Watson, the craftiness of Roberts and the soft touch of seven-footer Dimakopoulos.

Things might not have quite clicked amongst that group as well as Filpo hoped just yet, he is confident when it happens they can be unstoppable and the return of Antonio is only going to help that cause.

"I think just getting them playing more time together will help and you forget Lat was in and out of the team, Sharif hasn't played all year, Lee played through injury early on, and there's been a lot of ins and outs for these guys," Filpo said.

"So it's been tough for them to gel coming into the games and even having Jonah coming back into the team, we missed him earlier in the year and he's been in and out a little bit but now he's back in.

"That shuffles the line-up and the rotation, and De'Sean was even playing the two the last couple of weeks, and the teams have been able to pack the pain on us but they won't be able to do that with Jonah out there.

"De'Sean goes back to a more normal position, Lat slots in at the three which is his natural position and I think that opens up opportunities for guys like Ioannis who I thought had a good game on Saturday night.

"It just changes the dynamic and those one or two little changes can make a big difference so it will help guys to feel more comfortable, and have them in spots they're used to getting the ball. So I think we're going to see a different team from here out."