Filpo happy Eagles have destiny in own hands

Image credit: Mark Filpo (@codexdesignstudio)

East Perth Eagles men's coach Carl Filpo is relieved at least that his team's finals destiny is in their own hands but it won't be easy to lock away a spot with last round match ups with the Joondalup Wolves and Geraldton Buccaneers.

The Eagles have won their past two matches against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and the Perry Lakes Hawks to currently sit in eighth position in the NBL1 West standings coming into the final round.

There are only two teams that have two matches left in their season and that just happens to be the Eagles and Buccaneers who meet at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre on Saturday at 11am with both having already played on Friday night.

The Eagles take on the Wolves at Arena Joondalup on Friday with a win there to go a long way to securing East Perth a finals spot, especially if the Mandurah Magic beat the Eastern Suns at the same time.

However, a loss there for East Perth and it will completely depend on what happens elsewhere on Friday night to determine what is needed by the Eagles on Saturday on their home floor against the Buccs.

In the big picture, coach Filpo is at least happy that his team's destiny is in their own hands heading into this last round.

"The better situation would have been that we're already in, but the next cab off the rank that it's in our own hands and it's in our control," Filpo said.

"The worst case would be needing certain teams to lose and that's the only way we can make it, so it's a good thing in that sense, and if our guys do need that sort of pressure to focus them, then they've got it.

"If we win both of them we're in and that's what we're trying to do because once you make the finals it's a different ball game. We know we're capable of beating anyone and we've proven it against a couple of the top sides at least anyway.

"It's a good thing that we control our destiny and it would be great if Mandurah do us a favour and beat Suns, and Rocko beat Lakeside so the pressure is off us a little. But we are expecting to have at least win one and we're going into the weekend hoping to win two."

Two weeks ago and East Perth were up against it having lost three straight matches including back-to-back defeats to the Goldfields Giants and Lakeside Lightning by a combined 64 points that left their finals prospects hanging by a thread.

However, they have responded well to beat the Eastern Suns and Hawks the past fortnight to have leapfrogged both in the standings as a result but Filpo still wouldn’t have minded if they didn’t leave it until so late to take control last Saturday night against Perry Lakes.

"In the end, yes, we did get what we wanted. We talked about it on the bench how we just needed five minutes of really good basketball and they did it," Filpo said.

"They just saved it a bit later than we would have liked but I was happy in the end. We have a set of KPI's we look to hit every game and the only one we missed was turnovers, but we had 10 at the half and only ended up with 13 so were only one off our maximum allowed.

"I'm always happy when we hit those because 90 per cent of the team it will result in a win and I was happy with their mental toughness to not slide or let them get away from us when they had a little run.

"That takes a bit of grit and toughness to come out of those situations, and that's always a good sign to see."

There has been a lot for Filpo to have been impressed by over the past two weeks with the way his team has stepped up including 26 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals against Perry Lakes from the NBL experienced Jonah Antonio.

Max Rice has also had 46 points and nine assists over the past two games but it's the leadership from captain Lee Roberts above everything else that Filpo feels has set the tone.

"The leadership guys have really stepped up and Lee in particular in that space," Filpo said.

"Lee's just great because he's always positive with the team and with the coaches, and it's always about what we have to do next and getting the guys to buy in and believe that they can.

"With some teams, against adversity you can go the other way and think a situation might be too hard, but whereas it seems to have focused our guys. Now that it's required, it seems to have focused them and they've pushed forward.

"There's no nerves with these guys, it's more of a focus that we have to win and what they have to do to make that happen. That's showed in both the Hawks and Suns games so I'm pretty happy with that."

Coming into the last round and all Filpo will have the Eagles focused on is trying to get the job done on Friday night against a Wolves team that is guaranteed of finishing fifth no matter the result before even thinking about the Buccs who will be fighting for a top two spot on Saturday.

"We're just focusing on Friday. We haven’t really talked about the Buccs at all," Filpo said.

"We did study them pretty hard already this year when we went up there, and there's no question we will have to be on our game to beat them. But the full focus is on the Wolves because you have to look at what's in front of you.

"We know if we win that game we're in the best position we can be and then we'll worry about the Buccs after that.

"They are also coming off a Friday night game as well and by the time we get to Saturday we'll have a clear picture of what needs to happen both for us and the Buccs in that game. We expect them to come for us that's for sure even if the 11am tip-off is a bit rough for both of us."