Territory basketball star Abby Cubillo awaiting scans following early exit in homecoming match
A Darwin homegrown NBL 1 basketballer was forced to leave the court early in her first game back in Territory. Here’s the latest on her potential injury.
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Time on the sidelines is expected for Darwin-born NBL 1 basketballer Abby Cubillo following a devastating early departure from Saturday's homecoming match against the Darwin Salties at the Croc Pot.
Cubillo, who was lining up for the Brisbane Capitals as guard, was seen on the floor holding her left knee after attempting a shot block in the early stages of the match.
In the fifth minute of the game, Cubillo jumped to attempt the defensive move and was put slightly off balance after making contact with her opponent, which led to an awkward landing.
The former Tracy Village Jets basketballer could be seen holding her left knee immediately after the incident as she laid on the floor for almost 30 seconds with teammates surrounding her before she hobbled off.
“She is a tough competitor,” commentator Ben Streeter said during the game.
“It is not good to see. She is our hometown hero.
“Hopefully she is ok.”
NT News understands Cubillo is currently awaiting results from a scan.
The three-time NT Junior Sportsperson Award winner has begun the season in fine style with an average of 21 points, four assists and six rebounds from the first six games.
Cubillo also represented Australia at the FIBA 2016 Under-17 World Championships in Spain where she won a gold medal.
In Cubillo’s return game to the Territory, she came up against former Tracy Village Jets teammates in Kylie Duggan and Jamie-Lee Peris, while also playing alongside sister Tyla, who was a former Jet as well.
Territory star Abby Cubillo returns to take on Darwin Salties
She might be playing her first game on a Darwin court as a visiting player but Top End product and Brisbane Capitals point guard Abby Cubillo feels she’ll still have the crowd on her side.
The 23-year-old, who won the NT Junior Sportsperson Award three years in a row, returns to Darwin for the first time since Christmas in a mouth-watering Round 6 NBL1 North clash.
Cubillo, who is likely to go head-to-head with star Salties guard Erin Bollmann, is excited by the prospect of being a visiting player for once.
“This is my first time coming back to play in Darwin an opposition team,” Cubillo said.
“It’s exciting, it’s a different feeling to come and DBA not be my home court.
“It still does have that ‘home feel’ which is nice.”
A former Tracy Village Jet, Cubillo comes into the game not only with likely home crowd support but immense offensive numbers in recent rounds.
With the third-placed Capitals winning their past four in a row, Cubillo has averaged 27 points a game, including 34 in a 37-point demolition of Mackay Meteorettes in Round 4.
“It will be an incredible game,” she said.
“A massive test for both teams … a great game to watch.”
And in an extra special element, the fixture could have four Jets products – Kylie Duggan, Jamie-Lee Peris, Abby and sister Tyla – taking the floor.
“It’s definitely special because I grew up looking up to those two (Duggan and Peris),” she said.
“Sammy (Rioli) was a massive one (too).”
Which is why there has been plenty of anticipation within a Jets group chat with Abby and Tyla coming home: “All the Jets are really excited for us.”
Cubillo said Peris, Duggan and Rioli had been, and continued to be, huge influences on her career, after starting to play A Grade hoops with the Jets around 14 years of age.
“It was a bunch of females who were really great leaders,” she said.
“I took a bit from everyone.
“Even now to this day they’re still super involved in my basketball.”
The Caps have allowed Cubillo to extend her NT stay until Thursday while her teammates will be in and out within 24 hours.
“I don’t get the opportunity to go home a lot,” she said.
Meanwhile, Cubillo said it was “definitely scary” switching from the University of Canberra Captials to Adelaide Lightning for the 2022-23 NBL season, but was blessed with opportunity.
“It felt like my first real season in the WNBL where I got court time to be able to show what I could do,” she said.
However, it highlighted a need to improve her three-balls, leadership and game IQ.
She has also at times struggled with the constant movement of being a professional basketballer.
“It does get a bit hard moving to a different city every six months and having to pack up your life,” she said.
“That does get a bit frustrating at times but … I’m not going to be doing this for ever.”
‘Controlled anger’: Saltie’s battle to control her on-court emotions
Star Darwin Salties guard Erin Bollmann has revealed the secrets behind her team’s 5-0 start to the season and her own personal journey harnessing “controlled anger” on the floor.
The second-placed Salties will face their toughest test yet on Saturday night at the Croc Pot against a Brisbane Capitals outfit, a rung below them on the NBL North, which has won its past four games in a row, and last three by an average margin of 30 points.
However, with the addition of some important pieces – such as Catherine MacGregor, Tsubasa Nisbet and Sophie Johnston – Bollmann says the Salties version 2.0 is a vastly improved outfit with a raft of double digit contributors.
Personally, Bollmann has returned triumphantly after a wrist injury which curtailed her 2022 season, publicly admitting in October last year it was one of her lowest periods.
“It’s been amazing playing basketball with this team, it’s been so much fun, especially on the road,” Bollmann said, with the Salties winning both far north Queensland fixtures last weekend.
“It’s been really beautiful the way we’ve been playing, it’s been amazing to be part of.
“We pass it around, we look for the best shot, we’re happy for everybody’s success.
“Last year we had a great group of girls, I’m still friends with a lot of them, it just felt like we were missing a couple of pieces.
“(We) just needed somebody to get a bit of fire under their butts and get them going.”
She singled out Nisbet as a “workhorse” who often produced the grunt work which doesn’t always show up in the stats sheet.
“That’s something we didn’t have last year,” she said.
“She’s just out there working her tail off, she’s been such a good add this year.”
Bollmann, who had a monster weekend against Cairns and Townsville in Round 5, said her conference-dominating stats for assists (second) and steals (fifth) reflected the team’s game style.
“We’ve bought into the system that (coach) Rod Tremlett wants, find the best shot,” she said.
“We’re looking for each other, I think my stats just speak for the team style that we’re playing, lot of teams have commented how hard it is score against us.”
Meanwhile, Bollmann said she had learned to better regulate her emotions after making the switch to point guard from the post, admitting she had always been a competitive beast but “without any emotional control”.
“Slowly I’m learning that basketball is a job, it’s not something that you go and … get emotional at,” she said.
She said meditation had helped her keep her emotions in check and learn to play in the moment, allowing her to “think properly” on court.
“If you’re emotional on the floor and you’re upset you missed the last shot, you’re not going to be able to do the next one properly,” she said.
“You’re leading the floor, you don’t have time to be upset, I don’t have time on the floor to think about what I’m doing wrong and right, I just have to play.
“That’s where I came to this kind of controlled anger (laughs), I would call it, you’re not going to faze me no matter what happens.”
Makuach Maluach signs for the Sydney Kings
Darwin Salties superstar forward Makuach Maluach admits it was a “very tough” decision to swap NBL clubs but the call of home was unrelenting.
Maluach, 24, who has been a human highlights reel for the Salties since their inception in 2022, has signed a two-year deal with reigning premier Sydney Kings.
He made his big league debut with Melbourne United in 2022-23, averaging 2.7 points a match over 18 games.
He was snapped up by United on a one-year deal after just a handful of fixtures with the Territory franchise in 2022, including a Round 1 dunk which went viral.
However, Maluach told News Corp he was leaving United with their best wishes – plus leadership skills and an understanding of “what it takes to be a pro” – but was drawn by the Kings’ sleek style of play.
“It was very tough,” Maluach, who hails from Sydney, said of the decision.
“They gave me my first opportunity in the NBL so I was sad to leave.
“I met some great people. Dean (Vickerman) is a great coach, I had some great mentors there.
“(But) I had to look at where my playing career was going … I’ve got to make the right decision for me.”
He said United and Vickerman “want what’s best for me” and a move to Sydney was ultimately the right call, with conversations beginning about two weeks ago.
“It’s very exciting,” he said of the move.
“Sydney’s home for me so I’m looking forward to going there and playing in front of my family and friends.
“Some of them made it to Melbourne a few times (in 22-23).
“(The move) means a lot for them.
“I like the way Sydney plays, its transition, they’re very fast and play an exciting brand of basketball.
“I want to be a part of that. That contributed to my decision a lot.”
Meanwhile, Maluach said the Salties faded badly against Cairns Marlins in Round 2 of NBL1 North, losing by three points after enjoying an 18-point lead with nine minutes to play in the final term.
“We took our foot off the gas a little bit,” he said.
“We thought we were going to cruise.
“But basketball is a humbling game, we kind of cheated the game a little bit by not focusing on the fundamentals.
“That one really hurt.
“We’ve got to focus on the next game, we can’t dwell on it.”
Maluach said his commitment to Sydney would not impact on a potential NBL1 North finals berth.
Tad Dufelmeier opens up on his departure from Darwin Salties
Relaunching his stalled NBL career was the main reason former star Darwin Saltie point guard Tad Dufelmeier left the Croc Pot.
The spring-heeled 27-year-old Canberra product, who returned to Marrara for the first time, albeit in a Cairns Marlins singlet in Round 2 of NBL1 North, said he was “sad” his career had taken him back to Queensland.
Dufelmeier was one of the Salties’ big three in 2022 – alongside human highlights reel Makuach Maluach and inaugural captain Jerron Jamerson – leading the franchise for total rebounds, assists and steals.
However, he would sign a deal with the Marlins during the off-season.
Previously, Dufelmeier had joined the Adelaide 36ers for the 21-22 season via the Cairns Taipans, who took him on as a development player in 2019.
And Dufelmeier is in no doubt he has the tricks and tools to “make a big splash” in the big league and “not just scrape back in”.
The son of Canberra Cannons great and 1988 championship winner Tad Sr admitted it was a “tough decision” to walk away from the Salties.
“I would have loved to have gone back,” Dufelmeier said.
“The ultimate deciding factor for me is definitely my aspirations to get back to the NBL.
“Not that the Salties weren’t giving me an option for that to take place, I was trying to exhaust every avenue.
“I’m really sad I couldn’t go back to the Salties.
“Hopefully the Salties get a (NBL) team there, I’d be more than happy to step in and represent again.”
Dufelmeier said a move back to Cairns was ultimately the right one for his career.
“It was a situation where I had to bet on myself,” he said, believing a return to the Salties could have actually been the easy option.
The tyranny of distance and red eye flights was only a marginal influence on his decision.
“I’m pretty low maintenance in terms of that aspect,” he said.
“I’m sure things will change and get better.
“It was more proximity than anything, trying to be close in front of NBL eyes, coaches.
“I’ve been told over and over again, you can only tell so much from a highlight film, it’s one thing to watch it from afar … it’s another to see it night in, night out.”
Dufelmeier maintains he left Darwin on good terms, praising the “great environment” senior coach Matt Flinn had fostered with a “special group” of players.
“It was one of my most pleasant experiences playing basketball. It was a joy to play there,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dufelmeier said it had been “nerve-racking” to return to the Croc Pot.
However, he would be a key part of the Marlins’ comeback win, after trailing by 18 points with just nine minutes left on the clock.
He said the message from the coaching staff at half time “was not pretty” but a “perfect storm” of strong offensive plays and technical adjustments ultimately swept the Salties.
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