James Mitchell enjoying chance to play Big V, confident Seahawks can turn things around

The Seahawks are 0-3 but can bounce back up the Big V ladder if they win back-to-back Melbourne games on Saturday and Sunday.

"We're focused on ourselves and the little things we need to do to get better," Mitchell said.

"We know if we execute our game plan, (coaches) Alex (Gynes) and Jono (Carroll) have a really good game plan for us, that we should be able to compete with every team.

"We're sitting 0-3 which we're not stoked with but we're making progress each week. Hopefully this weekend is the one where everything falls into place for us."

Mitchell, fresh off coaching the Seahawks' CBL side over the summer, has been a strong contributor in his past two games, averaging 10 points, 8.5 rebounds and three steals a game.

But he said individual stats were icing on the cake compared to the feeling of being back on court.

"I'm just enjoying every second being out there," he said. "Just having people in the stands and playing in front of my family and friends.

"I missed a few years, I broke my leg a couple years back and two years of COVID-19 interruptions. And I'm enjoying stepping into that playing role, I can focus on what I need to do to help us."

With a field goal percentage of 53.33, second only to Gynes, Mitchell said leaning into the team's game plan was key to getting good looks at the basket.

"It's running the sets that Alex and Jono have put in place for us," he said. "If you run the stuff and put yourself in a good position you end up with really easy points.

"You don't have to do much work yourself. We've got really unselfish players and if you put yourself in open spots you get the ball."

Playing Collingwood on Saturday night, Mitchell said Manny Hendrix (avg. 24ppg) stood out as a key figure in the All Stars' offence.

"Our focus at training was how we'd defend him and make life difficult for him," Mitchell said. "But you can't let the other guys come up and score points on you though."

The Seahawks are also champing at the bit to get a second look at RMIT on Sunday, eight days after their last encounter.

"All the boys are pretty happy about it, we thought we should have won that game," Mitchell said of its five-point loss last Saturday.

"We had some turnovers and mistakes late, so it's nice not to sit there and dwell on it for too long. We can turn around in one week and have another crack at it."

Mitchell said a stronger defensive performance would be key to giving the side its best chance over the Redbacks.

"We executed our offence, we scored 84 points which is good enough to do it in most games," he said. "But we turned the ball over 24 times and gave them too many opportunities on the other end."

The Mermaids also hit the road for round four, travelling to Somerville to face Western Port on Sunday. The Mermaids are 1-2.

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