By Jamie Thomas
She’s played almost every minute of the Gloucester City Queens’ debut WBBL campaign thus far and Marlee Ball really has shown her mettle every time she has stepped on the court for Jay Marriott’s side.
The WBBL debutants sit 10th in the standings at present, after a season hit with more disruptions than most in the league, due to many Covid-19-related postponements and injuries to key players throughout the year, but there have been lots of positives as Ball reviewed the term to date.
“I don’t think the table is a fair reflection of where we’re at. We had four games postponed in December and hadn’t played for so long when we did come back in the new year, so we’re working on finding our rhythm. This weekend is a really important game for us and we’re excited for the challenge.
“We just need the experience of games together to really progress. We’re still trying to find that chemistry because there have been so many changes and disruptions out of our control, but we’re definitely improving all the time and we’ll get to the level we need to be at to win more games.”
“I’ve always said the playoffs are our aim and that hasn’t changed for me.”
Particularly for the Queens with the postponements they’ve suffered, there is a lot of basketball still to be played and plenty of opportunity to improve their current league position – victory in their two games in hand over the clubs ahead of them, for example, would take Gloucester into the playoff positions.
Ever since we first spoke to Ball in pre-season, the post-season has always been the aim she has felt this franchise should have for the year, and that hasn’t changed according to the Queens guard.
“I’ve never had a season like this one, personally, being part of a completely new franchise … that does bring its challenges because right now we can only recruit British players, for example, but it is an exciting challenge to be a part of and we’re gelling really well, moving in the right direction and improving all the time.
“I think with the way the world still is at the moment it is difficult to know what to expect, because things are constantly changing, but things are going better Covid-wise than I expected and we’ve got a lot of room to get better and improve.
“I’ve always said that the playoffs are our aim and that hasn’t changed for me. It has been a bit of a rough start to the season with protocols meaning we’ve had games postponed and players missing a lot through injuries and so on, and two big breaks for Covid hasn’t been helpful, but with games coming consistently now we’re only going to get better and we can definitely reach the playoffs.”
“I just want to give as much as I can.”
Ball leads her team in minutes and has the most points and rebounds per game amongst the active players on the Queens roster, thriving in the ample time she has had to develop her game in her second WBBL season.
Confessing she is her own harshest critic, the floor general discussed the biggest areas of growth in her game this year and where she still feels there is more to come as the season progresses.
“I have enjoyed having the responsibility of leadership during the season. I have had to learn as the season has gone on though, because I’m more of a lead-by-example type of player, so this has helped me in being more vocal, more encouraging in that way and so on.
“I just want to give as much as I can. Some games I’ve done well, but I haven’t reached my full potential consistently and I feel like I can contribute a lot more if I make a few adjustments. As a team, I want us to make a statement in our first year, and we can do that by making the playoffs.
“I’m very tough on myself so always think I can be better on everything, but one thing I definitely can improve on is my consistency. I’m not super happy with my percentages so I need to work on being more consistent scoring-wise and on the boards as well. There’s always room for improvement and I’m eager to improve as the season goes on.”
“I’ve definitely enjoyed being a part of this adventure.”
Only a few months into the era of Gloucester City basketball, Jay Marriott’s side have regularly impressed on the WBBL stage, but the coming weeks and months could see the Queens have their most successful period of results to date. Ball reflected on the highlights so far, and the promising signs moving forward.
“We’ve suffered a lot with postponements and so on, but there have been some highlights definitely. Even last week against Nottingham, I know we didn’t quite win the game, but we had to show a lot of energy and togetherness to do as well as we did, so there are a lot of promising signs.
“Watching the game back, they were a physical team who beat us on the boards. I think fatigue got to us a little bit as well and that gave them some easier looks, but aside from a few mental lapses we were right there, so if we can put it together for 40 minutes we’ll have more success, and we’ve got a lot of games coming up so that’s going to help us find more consistency as well.
“It is really important for more places like Gloucester to have a professional basketball team and I’ve definitely enjoyed being a part of this adventure. The support has been brilliant, the atmosphere at home has been great and all-round it has been a really good experience so far.”