By JARROD POTTER
BRINGING her good spirit back to Dandenong, Australian Opals prospect Sara Blicavs has signed on the dotted line to join the Rangers WNBL roster for 2015/16.
The athletic tall – scraping the ceiling at 188cm – brings another layer of speed and athleticism to an extremely young Rangers line-up.
Blicavs, 22, was a crucial part of Bendigo Spirit’s roster for the last two seasons – and starred in the 2013/14 WNBL championship campaign.
Dandenong coach Larissa Anderson was thrilled to acquire the up-and-coming basketball prodigy and compared Blicavs’ skills to the most famous Ranger of all – Penny Taylor.
“I think there’s a really good group that suits her and it’s a fabulous opportunity for Sara to play in the position,” Anderson said.
“She’s just excited for the extra opportunity.
“We see her more as a three (small forward/swingman) and can be thrown in the four (power forward) every now and then.
“We see her more as a Penny Taylor type body and can be that rebounding three man.”
Despite reeling in the rebounds and rattling off big double-doubles throughout her 122-game career, Anderson believes the swingman has only scratched the surface of her true capability in the league.
“Her athleticism is incredible and Sara’s got that much untapped potential,” Anderson said.
“She’s only shown a little snippet of what she’s capable of and we’re very happy to see her play at Dandenong.
“She’s a great girl as well – once again as always the personality of players is important especially with the culture we’re trying to put together.
“Sara has already played at the club before too and she’s excited to come back.”
Building for the future and trying to retain the same group across a number of seasons, Anderson compared her Rangers setting themselves up like Hawthorn Football Club – get the best juniors and develop the list around them.
“They’re very young and that’s the direction we’re going – little bit like Hawthorn Football Club did – get a lot of upcoming youth coming up,” Anderson said. “We’ve worked it out and the roster’s average age is 22 – but with that hopefully there’s a very solid future.”
Wanting a bit more experience at in her inaugural WNBL roster, Anderson said the shopping list still contained another point guard – to assist and complement Aimie Clydesdale – and acquire more older heads to boost the young side.
Blicavs has just left Australia on a tour with the Australian Opals to face Serbia, Italy, Venezuela and highly-fancied Spain.
“Just left with the Opals and she’s picking up a lot of great experience overseas,” Anderson said. “We wish her all the best with that tour.”
