THE final piece of the Mandurah Magic line up fell into place last week with the last of its three American imports arriving in the country.
Trevor Setty, Adijat Adams and Annette Davis will all play in Australia for the first time after playing in the United States as well as internationally.
Setty, a six foot nine utility from Cincinnati, Ohio said it was “hard not to be” excited about being in Australia.
“It fits my style of humanity,” he said.
“I can kick back in the sun and also get to coach some kids.
“The laid back style is right up my alley.”
Setty was the only recruit to play in the Pre-Season Blitz which saw the men win two games and lose two.
“I was a little jet-lagged but thought I did well considering,” he said.
“We moved well together.
“We’ve got a good young core and a solid coach; we all like each other.”
Australia will be the fourth country Setty has played in including his own after playing in England and, most recently, Italy where he played for a Belgian side.
Setty is a character. He has 18 tattoos and wants more, likes basketball and music equally and says he’s somewhat of a hipster.
“The tattoo on my wrist is a three-ball. It shows after I hit a three, I got it a while a go, it’s just something silly,” he said.
“Threes are sort of my forte.
“As a skinny kid I had to find an avenue that could make me great,” he said.
“I was a five-foot, 10-inch point guard in freshman year though by senior year I was 6.7 and I grew a little more when I left.
“My nickname in high school was ‘Iceman’, which was sort of a joke, but I would hit shots late in the game; funnily when I went to college my nickname was ‘Sizzling Setty’.
“So two opposites; it sort of reflects my bi-polar personality,” he said.
For the Magic women it will be the first time in a while they have had two imports in the side.
Davis, a post from Houston, Texas, will add skill to the line-up.
“I’m excited to be here,” she said.
For Davis the move wasn’t something she had always planned.
“I’d never really thought about coming and playing in Australia before,” she said.
“I’d never heard anything bad about here [Australia] before though and so far everyone is great.”
Davis said they had a bit of work to do before they start playing their best with the team needing to get games under their belt together.
Adams, a forward/centre from Los Angeles, spent the last season playing in Bahrain and has previously played in Greece.
Adams said competition in Bahrain had some work to do before being really solid but saw the Australian competition as strong.
“The girls [Mandurah Magic] all seem really driven and passionate,” she said.
Adams was at the pre-season competition and was unable to play due to her clearance but said the team performed admirably.
“We didn’t have a full team; a lot of players missed it,” she said.
Adams said it would take some time for the team to gel as they hadn’t played together before.
The Mandurah Magic men play their first game at 7.30pm on Saturday against the Buccaneers at the Mike Barnett Sports Complex in Rockingham after all the Magic’s home games were moved to the venue due to the Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre renovations.
The women start at 6.30pm on March 24 against the Hawks at the Bendat Basketball Centre.
