LAST year there were doubts about whether the Port Macquarie Dolphins belonged in the Waratah State League division one basketball competition.
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Twelve months on, Dolphins coach Mark Champion has no doubt they belong in the league despite only winning two games in 2019.
Port Macquarie concluded a difficult season in a comprehensive 100-63 defeat at the hands of Hills Hornets on Saturday, but they never recovered from a slow start.
"They overwhelmed us a bit at the start and got out by 20 after the first quarter," Champion said.
"But we performed by about 10 points better than the last time we played them."
Champion said the Dolphins had made significant improvement this year, but there was still a lot of work to do.
"It's about competing on every play because we have periods of play where we play well," he said.
"The thing about these good teams is it's not the quality of their players, it's the quality of their team; they share the ball really well."
Sometimes the Dolphins were guilty of trying too hard in various matches.
"I think sometimes our guys are trying to do it all by themselves," Champion said.
"We're not as experienced as some of these other teams so we don't have that level of trust that the good teams do."
Last year the Dolphins were only in one match all season; this year with a bit more luck they could have improved from the two wins they registered to five or six.
"In the big picture there was a lot of progress," Champion said.
"Without dredging up the past we were only in the one game against Coffs Harbour last year, but this year we won two games and there were another three or four games we lost in the last play.
"When you go down in the last play of the match you're right in the mix."
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