RECENTLY-CROWNED Big V player of the month Jamal Pollydore believes he can take his game to even greater heights.
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The American import is averaging 27 points a game - second in the competition - after joining Warrnambool Seahawks as their boom recruit for the 2023 season.
"I feel like I am playing well but there is another level I can achieve," he said.
"I just have to stay in the gym, stay locked in and bring my efficiency up and get my teammates involved more, that's what I am looking to do."
Pollydore, 27, is working in tandem with coach Alex Gynes who has made a remarkable return from an achilles injury.
"I think his performances are unbelievable and I don't think he gets enough credit for what he does," he said.
"He is averaging about 20 points and 10 rebounds and he's on minute restrictions because of his achilles.
"I don't think a lot of players could get 20 points and 10 rebounds in 20 minutes."
Pollydore has played in Portugal and Venezuela too and is enjoying his first stint in Australia.
"I like the group of guys we have here at the Seahawks and I think we can go really far and see if we can win a championship," he said.
"The whole organisation as one are helpful, so are the team and the fans who come to the game, all of the kids who cheer us on and coach Alex (Gynes) and coach Jono (Carroll) set up the game plan for each and every game.
"You have to play each team differently in order to win and I think the guys do a good job in buying into what the coaches are telling us."
The dynamic scorer, who is conducting basketball clinics in between games, said he was grateful to play sport for a living.
"I didn't know about Warrnambool. I'd only heard about Melbourne, Melbourne, Melbourne," he said.
"I am still learning about the other cities. It (Warrnambool) is cool. It's like a small beach town. They have everything you need here and everything is within a 15 to 20-minute drive so you can't complain about that."
He said he had to pinch himself about the sporting opportunities he'd received.
"I mean it's cool. It's been a dream. Some guys grow up as kids wanting to go to the NBA and there was a point in my life where I wanted to be realistic and make my goals to play overseas basketball," Pollydore said.
"I knew I could achieve that if I followed the right steps, went to the right schools and got the good grades to start off that I could get where I needed to be and it's just falling into place right now for me."
Second-placed Warrnambool will travel to face ladder-leader Shepparton Gators on Saturday night.
"We lost to one of the worst teams in the league, Collingwood, and the weekend after we beat the number one team which was RMIT," Pollydore said.
"Now we have to knock off Shepparton. Shepparton is a very good defensive team but I see they struggle on offence and we're going to have to capitalise."
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