Matt Kellett was named the CBL North West’s defensive player of the year following his stellar season which saw the club win its first senior men’s championship.
Kellett played pivotal shutdown roles on a key opposition offensive player in every appearance for the Pirates throughout the season — and then chimed in as a valuable shooter late in games due to his endurance.
But Kellett was not one to focus on the individual accolades.
An attitude that makes sense for a player taking home one of the most team minded awards in the sport.
‘‘It is nice to win individual awards, though I’m still in shock that I claimed this one,’’ he said.
‘‘But it’s far from what we focus on during the season. It’s more about how we play as a team, making sure we play our best basketball.’’
Kellett said his award was brought about by the entire team’s play, not just his own.
‘‘We all went out into every game wanting to be effective on both ends. The fact everyone was aiming to play their best defence and best offence probably made us all look better individually, it was coming from the fact that we all wanted to do the team thing.’’
And it was the team-first attitude that drove the Pirates to an unlikely championship.
‘‘It still hasn’t fully sunk in,’’ he said.
‘‘We had no expectations of going that far when the season started. There was never any talk about a championship, it was purely about making sure we could play our best basketball every game.
‘‘That desire to play our way and win as many games as possible made us a really good side, and it made us win that title.
‘‘It’s something that we as players won’t soon forget.’’
The award was given as part of the CBL’s year-end awards.
At the other end of the court, fellow Pirate Luke Rosendale claimed the conference final MVP.
However, despite a breakout season and nomination for selection, Rosendale was snubbed by a fan vote for selection into the league’s all star five.
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