A big improvement but still plenty to work on.
That was coach Reinga Bloxham’s assessment after the Southern Steel’s two pre-season matches against the Central Pulse yesterday in Queenstown.
It was beaten 70-52 in last night’s match in front what she described as a "fantastic" crowd.
That followed a 39-33 loss in a 10-minute quarter game behind closed doors in the morning.
It was an under-strength Steel side that took the floor.
Renee Savai’inaea and Kiana Pelasio remain injured, while Sarahpheinna Woulf remained home with the flu.
Meanwhile, English shooter George Fisher is in quarantine.
Bloxham said the Steel competed well through the first half last night, although lapses let the Pulse take a 35-25 halftime lead.
The Steel started the second half well, but again mistakes allowed the Pulse to hit back.
While at times those mistakes came from Pulse pressure, other times they came through the Steel’s own mistakes.
"Against a quality side like that you can’t do that," Bloxham said.
"They’re too experienced and they’ll just pounce on you, which is exactly what they did.
"It just took us a little while to respond to that.
"We’ve just got to be able to recognise when its happening to us and change it in that moment."
Despite that she felt it was an improvement on last week’s losses to the Mainland Tactix.
Bloxham felt the attacking end had looked good, showing patience and getting to the circle edge.
However, defensively it had been lacking throughout the whole court.
The side plays again next weekend at the ANZ Premiership’s pre-season tournament in Otaki.
Pelasio was expected to be back for that, while Savai’inaea remained uncertain.
