New Zealand NBL veteran Alonzo Burton has signed up for another season with the Sharks for the 2023 Sal's NZNBL.
Last season’s Sharks’ captain was again one of the deadliest outside threats in the League last season, finishing just a shade under 40% from long range and having spent the past weekend working under new Head Coach Guy Molloy, he is excited about how the upcoming season is shaping up.
“It’s been awesome to catch up with Guy and get a feel what he’s about as a coach and as a person and he’s a really nice dude and knows his stuff. I’m loving learning off him already. It’s always nice to have new ideas as a player so I’m relishing the opportunity to learn and it’s great to just get out on court with the boys,” he said.
Like all his returning teammates from last season, Burton is using last year’s challenges on the court as motivation for the year ahead.
“There were heaps of learning points for all of us last year. I know I’ve grown as a player and a person and as an athlete you can’t expect to have a smooth ride your whole career. There are always going to be bumps just like in life and it’s always about how you bounce back from them and your resilience. I actually love the feeling of everyone coming in with that chip on your shoulder because that makes us dangerous and makes everyone work hard. I’m looking forward to what the season brings,” he said.
Molloy, who took the locally-based players through their paces last weekend during his first visit to the city he will call home over Winter, is looking forward to working alongside Burton.
“Everyone knows Zo is an amazing shooter and our conversations have already been about not resting and relying on that part of his game. We’ve talked about areas to take his game to an even higher level which he’s embraced straight away.”
“The other part is that he’s very proud of this club and his involvement as a leader and he genuinely feels that things didn’t unfold the right way for the team last year and as a senior presence in the team he seems me to be very committed to making sure it goes a different direction this year,” Molloy said.
The Southland Sharks open their 2023 Sal’s NBL campaign on Good Friday (April 7) at 7:00pm against the Manawatu Jets at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill. Season tickets to all nine home games are on sale now from Stadium reception with individual game tickets available from next month.
