Giants’ new assistant coach hits the ground running

The newest member of the Goldfields Giants’ men’s coaching panel, Alastair Ishigami-Sims, said his close friendship with head coach Lennon Smartt and what he viewed as a talented and emerging squad were key factors for joining the local club for the 2025 NBL1 campaign.

Ishigami-Sims, who will share the role of co-head assistant coach with Sharni Winter, on Friday said he was excited for what was ahead with a group bolstered by import Shaun Stewart and highly touted Melbourne recruits Michael Jok and Joshua Duach.

“Shaun will be our point-guard and will run the show a lot — along with Michael and Joshua, who are really looking to make names for themselves,” Ishigami-Sims said.

“I think we have a team who will really complement each other and can at least repeat the success of last season.

“Personally, I already had a great relationship with Lennon, based on the five or six years I’ve known him.

“He really sold to me the development side of things and the benefits to my own coaching by helping to develop those younger guys, as well as some of the more experienced players, with a squad that we feel will really be contending.

“With a new stadium and all the good things that are happening here, I felt that it was a perfect time to join.”

Ishigami-Sims rated the Goldfields Basketball Association’s new multimillion-dollar facility among the best he’d seen.

“The stadium is one of a kind in the State, to be honest,” he said.

“In regional WA, it’s the best and in terms of the whole State, I’d put in in the top-three.

“It’s great for the region and the community to have something so special here .”

Originally from the South West, Ishigami-Sims comes highly regarded as a talented NBL1 point guard, captain and mentor.

His Goldfields arrival was preceded by a stint as an intern assistant coach in the NBL for the Sydney Kings under Olympic medallist head coach Brian Goorjian.