Gameday program - Round 9

with his three-point shooting, efficiency and
bringing his teammates into games.
Ware has made more three pointers than any
other player this season (45) and incredibly,
has drained at least three triples in each of
his last 11 games – a feat not achieved by
anyone in the NBL in the last 10 years.
His 39% shooting from deep is a career-high
and a marked improvement on the 33% he
shot last season.
He’s not just chucking up triples either; he
is picking his poison and shooting with
efficiency. If the shot is there, he’s taking it,
but if not, he will make a play for himself or a
teammate.
In typical Casper style, he credits his
teammates for his hot shooting.
“I’m really happy with how that’s going, but
that’s a testament to my teammates just
finding me and setting good screens to get
me open to make those shots,” he said.
“If we keep doing that and moving the ball
well, I think it will keep happening and it will
happen for the whole team, not just me.”
Having guys like Chris Goulding, Mitch
McCarron, DJ Kennedy and Dave Barlow
around him – players who can make shots
and create plays – has allowed Ware to play
off the ball more this season, something that
the star point guard has enjoyed.
“It helps me big time – I don’t have to carry the
ball up every time and I can give it to Mitch
(McCarron), (Pete) Hooley comes in and
brings the ball up, so it helps to get off the
ball,” he said.
“You’ve got DJ (Kennedy) who can also bring
the ball up, that’s what helps me now; just
getting off the ball, running off screens and
getting open to give the defence a different
look.”
Whilst United has an array of players who
can make big shots, when the crunch time
comes and the game is on the line, the ball
more often than not finds its way into Ware’s
hands.
Whilst he admits having to beat a team in
crunch time isn’t ideal, it takes him back to
being in the backyard as a kid trying to be like
Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant.
“You don’t thrive on it because you don’t want
to be in that situation,” he said with a laugh.
“But when it happens, you don’t think about
it – it’s just like being in the backyard and
you’ve been practicing that shot since you
were little; counting down to yourself ‘5, 4, 3,
2, 1’, acting like you’re Michael Jordan or Kobe
Bryant.
“When that time comes, and for it to actually
mean something, it’s big for me to be able to
come through for my team.”
His head coach, Dean Vickerman has worked
with some of the finest point guards this
league has seen and he has Ware right up
there with the best of the best.
“He’s probably a little bit different to some of
the other ones I’ve coached,” Vickerman said.
“To have a Darryl McDonald, who had an
impact on the game with his defensive length
and ability to pass the basketball and then
make big plays, Cedric Jackson in some ways
was kind of similar.