The Benchwarmers

Parramatta CBD Tuesday C (Mixed) · Arthur Phillip HS · v4.1 — nine rounds of 2026 s2 box scores + season context · 25 Aug 2026

Lineups

Unit	Three men	Two women	When
TOWERS	Antony · Bojan · Terepai	Rose · Angela	Default. Scores inside, owns the glass. One shooter only.
SPREAD	Antony · Terepai · Nick	Rose · Angela	Bojan rests. More shooting.
STRETCH	Bojan · Terepai · Nick	Rose · Angela	The shooting unit — the only lineup that generates threes. On when Antony is being bodied, or when they refuse to leave the key.
REST	Antony · Bojan · Nick	Rose · Angela	Terepai's break. Nick runs point.

Sub rules. Male for male, female for female. Both bigs stay on unless in foul trouble or gassed. Terepai and Nick split the third male spot — never both off. Bojan's mate rotates in once assessed.

The Three Plays

Three, not seven. One for each kind of team we face. Everything else is transition.

1 · CLEAR — Against a Packed Key

▶ LOOPING · COLOURED = US · RED X = THEM

Terepai attacks the gap between the two top defenders. No ball screen. He beats that first line on his own — screening it only pulls the help over sooner.
As he goes, Antony seals the key defender on the drive side, Angela and Rose seal the other two. Get a body on them before the drive arrives.
Bojan pops to the arc as the release valve.

Reads: Lane clear → Terepai finishes · A sealed man fights over → dump to Antony, who now has inside position · Anyone leaves Bojan → kick it

Why the old top pick-and-roll failed — twice over. First, we were screening the wrong man: Terepai already beats the on-ball defender, so that screen buys nothing and warns the help. Second, the roll man dove into three bodies. Screen the second line, and pop instead of roll.

The call: "HIGH" — the textbook 2-3 killer, live from Round 1. Bojan's passing is confirmed. When the gap is shut, Terepai calls it instead of driving: Bojan flashes to the free-throw line — the structural hole between the two top and the three back. Catch, one look: corner (Nick) → short corner (Angela) → or his own elbow jumper, already his best shot. Nobody in this division defends the FT-line catch.

▶ LOOPING · COLOURED = US · RED X = THEM

Where the Threes Come From

You don't run a play for a three. You collapse them, then kick. A sealed help defender who breaks off to stop the drive has just left someone open — the job is making sure the person he left can shoot.

Source	How
The kick-out	Terepai drives, the last help defender commits, ball goes to the arc. Drive baseline → opposite corner. Drive middle → either wing.
Offensive rebound	Antony grabs it with all five collapsed under the rim. Don't go back up into three bodies — kick to the corner.
Transition trailer	The big who trails arrives at the arc while they're still retreating. Highest-value shot we take.

⚠️ CLEAR only produces threes in the STRETCH unit. Three men on court means two bigs or two shooters, never both. In TOWERS the ball goes inside and the three is incidental. When we need threes, Antony comes off and Nick goes on.

Nick lives in the corner and never moves. Shortest three on the floor, furthest from the three in the key, and it asks nothing of that knee. No relocating, no cutting, no drifting. Stand there and be ready.

Every possession, the ball touches the arc at least once. Two or three makes a game is enough — we're not winning from outside, we're making them pay for packing the key. If they're never punished they never come out, and the paint stays shut all night.

2 · CROSS — Against One Big, or Man-to-Man

▶ LOOPING · COLOURED = US · RED X = THEM

Antony starts on the weakside block.
Angela cross-screens his defender across the front of the key.
Antony steps over the top and seals ballside, hands high.
Terepai or Bojan feeds him. Antony's only read: if doubled, kick to Bojan at the elbow.

One read, not four. Antony has one assist in seven games — that isn't selfishness, it's being asked to decide while being bodied. One outlet, identical spot, every time.

3 · DOWN — Against Anyone Sagging Off Nick

▶ LOOPING · COLOURED = US · RED X = THEM

Nick starts low near the weakside block. Not moving, not cutting.
Rose sprints down and screens Nick's defender from above.
Nick takes one step out to the wing and catches. That's the entire movement.
Terepai or Bojan delivers on time. Nick shoots or swings.

Highest-value screen on the team. Nick can't create his own shot and can't cut on that knee — so we manufacture the shot instead.

How to Set a Screen

The gate. A bad screen is worse than none — it's a foul or a wasted possession.

Sprint to the spot, then stop. A screen you jog into isn't one.
Wide base, low, arms crossed on your chest. No hooking call, and it protects you.
Screen the defender, not a spot. Aim at his shoulder. Can't touch him? He goes under.
Do not move on contact. Even leaning is an offensive foul.
Your back points where the handler is going. The angle is the play.
Hold one beat, then release. Leaving early kills it.

The handler's half: run your man into the screen, shoulder to shoulder.

Screen the Second Line, Not the First

The three sitting in the key are standing still — which makes them the easiest people on the court to screen. No timing, no reading, no chasing. Walk into a stationary man and stand there. This is the single most valuable thing Rose and Angela can do, and it's easier than the pin-down.

Line	Who	Screen them?
First	The two up top	No. Terepai beats them alone. A screen here only brings the help early.
Second	The three in the key	Always. These are what stop the drive. Seal them before the ball arrives.

It's a box-out, on offence, before the shot. Same stance, same contact, same don't-move. Rose and Angela already do this every defensive possession — identical physical action, just facing the other way and done early instead of late.

Legal

Come from where he can see you and you can plant right on him — no distance required.
Come from his blind side and you must leave one normal step. Help defenders watch the ball, so this catches people out.
Once planted, do not move. He runs into you, not the other way round.

Double seal: when one help defender is doing all the damage, put two of ours on him — Rose and Angela on the same body. He can't go around both, and neither has to do anything clever.

Transition — Before Any of This

▶ LOOPING · COLOURED = US · RED X = THEM

Triggers: any clean defensive rebound · any steal · their big above the free-throw line when the shot goes up.

Whichever big rebounds outlets immediately to Terepai. No dribble, no survey.
Only one big runs. The other trails. They alternate — pace without gassing them.
Rose and Angela fill the wings wide. Fifth player is the safety.
Terepai reads it: paint empty → attack · big back, wings not → hit a runner · all set → call it off, run CLEAR.
Push after made baskets too. Rose or Angela takes it out and advances — no male may steal from her in the backcourt.

The Roster

Two readers. One shooter. One finisher. Two screeners. That's the roster. Every play asks each person for exactly what they can already do.

Nick Heng is captain — decided last season. Terepai is the engine, no admin. Sofia runs off-court management.

⚠️ Two registered women is not a team. Both must turn up every week — about a 56% chance. Roughly four Tuesdays in nine you'd be down to one and playing four-on-five. Ishmeen takes it to 84%; a fourth woman to 95%. (Antonia isn't playing. Dominique isn't registered — returns late season and slots back in then.)

Terepai

Point · The Engine · 174cm

7.4 pts / 5.1 reb / 1.6 ast

"My assists are the scoreboard, not my points."

★ The Number That Matters

Makes 40% of every assist this team records. 2+ assists → we score 42.7. Under 2 → 29.2. His 16-point game had zero assists and lost; so did his 14-point game. He has never scored and created in the same night — and the creating nights are the winning nights.

✓ Strengths

Reads anything · best passer on the team
Reads an unset defence — so he decides when we run
Rebounds 5–7 a game at 174cm
Loves playing off a screen
Two-side finisher — either hand at the rim, prefers right

→ Focus

Distribute first. The points still come — transition, putbacks, and the drive when CLEAR's lane opens — that's where the finishing package lives without costing the creating nights.

⚙ Note

Plays two games most Tuesdays across two rosters — roughly 18 games a season where everyone else plays 9.

Bojan

High Post · Second Reader · ~193cm

11.7 pts / 12.3 reb (last 3)

"I pop. I never roll."

★ The Number That Matters

11.7 and 12.3 over his last three, top scorer in two of them — on the bottom team in the division, with one assist coming his way in three games. Sixteen rebounds in one game was 59% of his team's total.

✓ Strengths

Elbow jumper and three in rhythm
Drives and slashes
Reads the game
Best all-round defender

→ Defensive Role

Left of the key — the mobile tower. Steps out to the corner and recovers.

✓ The Hub

CONFIRMED — he can pass. The elbow hub is live from Round 1. Game pressure will sharpen it, but we run it from the jump.

Antony

Low Block · Rim Anchor · 196cm

20.9 pts / 14.0 reb / 0.1 ast

"Outlet it. Then trail."

★ The Number That Matters

61% of our scoring. But his points correlate −0.60 with everyone else's, and at 50%+ of team scoring we went 1–3 averaging 34. He scores 22.0 in wins and 20.0 in losses — output unrelated to result.

✓ Strengths

Scores inside
Rebounds everything
Cuts on instinct

✗ Warnings

Never take the ball past half court. Rebound, turn, outlet, trail.
Never cross the free-throw line on defence. Drifting is how backdoor cuts beat us.
One assist in seven games — in CROSS he has one read only.
Bully-ball stalls against strong bodies — that's when STRETCH goes on.
No fadeaways. His rim percentage is far higher than the fade — 196cm only counts at the rim. The finish is one move: catch → one bounce → high gather → two strong steps → up.

⚙ Development

Seal-and-catch off Bojan's drop. Rebound & outlet, 20 reps.

Nick

Captain · Shooter · 165cm

5.5 pts / 4.0 reb / 1.5 ast

"One step, catch, shoot."

★ The Number That Matters

Second creator — he and Terepai make 74% of all assists.

✓ Strengths

Three and mid-range
Finds the open man
High IQ both ends

✗ Can't

Won't cut — bung knee. DOWN exists to get him a shot for one step.

→ Focus

As captain the passing standard is his. Two passes before any half-court shot.

Rose

Screener · Offensive Glass

"Sprint. Plant. Take the hit. Hold."

★ Why This Role

Most athletic and fittest of our women — but raw talent, not raw skill. Doesn't cut, doesn't shoot, doesn't read. So we don't ask.

Screening is the only high-value skill in basketball that needs no ball skill. Get to a spot, plant, take contact. Athleticism and toughness only. Two good screens a possession is worth more than either woman has contributed all season, and it's coachable in one session.

→ Job

Screener — pin-downs for Nick, ball screens when Bojan is elsewhere
Crash the offensive glass

→ Defensive Role

Top of the zone beside Terepai. Deny the reversal, jump the skip.

⚙ Development

The six screening points, nothing else, for three rounds.

Angela

Screener · Box Out · 173cm

0.4 pts / 2.6 reb

"Screen, then own the glass."

★ Why This Role

Genuinely physical defender. That physicality is the asset — apply it to screening and boxing out.

→ Job

Cross-screens for Antony (the CROSS play)
Back-screens weakside
Short corner when not screening

→ Defensive Role

Right of the key. Physical closeouts, box out, own her baseline.

⚙ Focus

If she catches inside it's a 45° angle off the glass — never directly under the ring, where there's no backboard. Mikan drill, both hands, ten minutes. And decide before the catch — shoot or pass, never catch-then-bounce; that's where the double dribble lives.

Bojan's Mate

Wing · Rotation

"Spot up. Don't turn it over."

→ The Deal

Fifth man. Three rounds to find out what he is. Until then: spot up, don't turn it over.

When Dominique Returns (Late Season)

Third registered woman — that's the whole value. Any two of three ≈ 95%+ of Tuesdays fielded. The four-on-five problem ends.
Current form: the finishing isn't there right now — layups aren't dropping, and a defender sitting in front stops her. So no finishing jobs until that returns.
Slot her in on the Rose/Angela model: physical jobs — screen, box out, fill a wing in transition, take the safety spot. Same playbook, zero ball skill required, immediate value.
Rose stays the lead athlete among the women and keeps the pin-down job.
Backdoor stays shelved. It was built on finishing she doesn't currently have. Revisit only if the layups come back.

🎯

Optional Drills — 10 Minutes Before Tip

Tap to expand · Optional · Matched to each role

Everyone: Mikan, both hands, continuous — the whole division's finishing gap in one drill.
Terepai: drive-and-kick reps (drive baseline → opposite corner read) · 25 left-hand finishes.
Antony: rebound & outlet under 2 seconds ×20 · seal-and-catch off Bojan's drop — one bounce, up.
Nick: corner catch-and-shoot ×25 — one step, catch, shoot. Nothing else.
Rose & Angela: screening angles ×10 — feet, base, back angle · box-out hold-then-go ×10.
Bojan: elbow jumper off the catch ×20 — the CROSS outlet has to be automatic.

The Defence

Run what they run — with two 6'4" players in it. Every side in this division packs the key with three ordinary-sized bodies and it works. We can do it with Antony at 196cm and Bojan at 193cm. The whole division averages 33 points — daring them to shoot from outside is the right bet every night.

Spot	Player	Job
Top left	Terepai	Pressure the handler, force him left. Sets the angle for everyone.
Top right	Rose	Deny the reversal, jump the skip.
Left of key	Bojan	Mobile tower — steps out to the corner and recovers.
Rim	Antony	Never above the free-throw line.
Right of key	Angela	Physical closeouts, box out, own her baseline.

Six Rules

All five retreat on every shot.
Hands up, always.
Box out before you chase the rebound.
Stop the ball first, then recover.
Call "BALL" and "SHOT" out loud.
Trap the corners — never gamble in the middle.

The Corner Trap

When the ball goes to the corner, the nearest tower and the top defender on that side converge. The corner is the one place a trap can't be split.

▶ LOOPING · COLOURED = US · RED X = THEM

This replaces Kevin's 2.1 steals a game — half the team's total, and he's gone. It costs nothing when it fails because Antony never left the rim. The Pibblers take 11 steals a game in an equally weak division and hold teams to 26.3 in wins.

Switching

Situation	Switch to
One man is scoring everything	BOX-AND-1 — Bojan chases him everywhere
Trailing late	1-2-2 three-quarter press
Up 10+ inside three minutes	Hold the zone. No traps, no fouls.

The Three Kinds of Team That Beat Us

Derived from actual results, not theory. Every loss this season fits one of three shapes.

1 · The Wall

Packed key, two real bigs, out-rebounds you. Swish Me Luck (7–2, 39 reb/game) held us to 13. Dunkstersz (7–2, Justin Zabakly 8 & 17) held us to 29.

Play: CLEAR. Seal the second line, make their bigs choose between the rim and Bojan's shot.
Defence: box out or lose. No traps — trapping a rebounding team concedes the offensive glass.
Extra: hunt fouls. Three bodies in a small space means contact on every entry. Get to the bonus.

2 · The One Man

One dominant scorer, rest are passengers. Best Friends beat us 43–30 on Jordan Schick's 20 & 12 — from a 3–6 team. Ball & Order (Kenny Ngo 13, Carl Cruz 12/11).

Defence: BOX-AND-1. Bojan chases him everywhere. Take him away and they have nothing.
Play: CROSS. Their one big is busy scoring — Angela screens, Antony seals.
Extra: if he's going to get 20, make him take 25 shots to do it.

3 · The Movers

They pass and share. Hoopligans 2.0 — 1st at 8–1, 48 points and 10 assists, Ryan Madden 14/7/5. Beat us 42–37 despite being out-rebounded 34–29, with three times our assists.

Defence: deny the reversal. Pressure the passer, not the handler. Trap the corners hard.
Play: DOWN. Smaller and quicker — screen Nick open, shoot over them, crash the glass.
Extra: this is the benchmark. 10 assists to our 4 is the whole gap between 1st and 8th.

The Ladder

#	Team	W–L	PTS	AST	REB	Type
1	Hoopligans 2.0	8–1	48	10	32	Movers
2	Ball & Order SBU	8–1	38	5	30	One Man
3	Swish Me Luck	7–2	34	4	39	Wall
4	Dunkstersz	7–2	33	4	27	Wall
6	Best Friends	3–6	33	5	29	One Man
8	Benchwarmers	3–6	34	4	29	—

Everyone in this division scores 33–34. Rebounds don't separate the ladder — Swish Me Luck lead with 39 and sit 3rd. Steals don't either. Assists do, and only at the very top.

The Scorecard

Metric	2026 s2	Target
Team points	34	39+
Team assists	4	7+
Antony's share of scoring	61%	under 45%
Screens that led to a shot	—	count them

Screens appear in no box score. Tally them on a phone: screens set, and screens that produced a shot. Six good screens from Rose with two producing a Nick jumper is four points a game from a player currently contributing none.

Game Format

Two × 17-minute running halves. Clock stops in the final minute if within 8.
One timeout per half. Not after scoring; yes after being scored on.
Four personal fouls out. Six team fouls in a half = bonus.
One-minute overtime if tied.

Player Balance

Minimum 2 men and 2 women on court, maximum 3 of either.
Our standard: 3 men + 2 women, no exceptions.
Minimum 4 to start. Not on within 3 minutes = 2 points conceded per minute. Fewer than 4 by half-time = forfeit.

⚠️ Mixed-Only Rules — Verified in SSB Bylaws

Both rules below are published in SSB's Mixed bylaws PDF (the Nov 2025 Mixed BYLAWS document on sydneysocialbasketball.com.au, checked 25 Aug 2026). One caveat: that PDF is titled for Arncliffe — one email to info@sydneysocialbasketball.com.au confirming Parramatta Tuesday C runs the same document closes the loop.

Female shot protection ("Obstruction Fouls")

When a female has the ball above chest height with shooting intent, males within reach must freeze — arms straight up, feet planted.
Leaning, reaching, jumping, moving toward, or waving = automatic shooting foul.
Males CAN steal while the ball is below her chest. If she throws it into your straight-up arms, play on.

Backcourt possession

Males cannot steal from a female in the backcourt while she has possession or is dribbling. Live again once she crosses half-court.
On rebounds: once she controls the ball below her chest, it's possession — can't be stripped. Above her chest it can still be stolen.
Illegal contact causing a steal = foul.

Fouls & Situations

Forfeit = $100 fine. Two in a season and our nomination is rejected next year.
Finals eligibility: 5 of 11 rounds per player. Checked at Round 4, not Round 9.
Up 10+ inside three minutes: hold the zone, no fouls, no gambles.
Down late: 1-2-2 press, foul early rather than at the buzzer.

Common Fouls — Don't Give Them Up

Obstruction (the freeze). The biggest gift in Mixed — arms up before the ball goes above her chest, then statue.
Reach-in. #1 most common. Can't see the ball? Move your feet.
Verticality. Straight up at the rim is legal; leaning isn't. Four fouls goes fast.
Box-out arm bar. Use the body, never the arms.
Charge. Set feet beat you — spin off or kick, don't barrel through.

Timeouts — Ammunition, Not Breathers

Call it: to stop a 6-0 run · after back-to-back turnovers · to script the shot inside two minutes.
Don't: in the first five minutes, or to argue a call.
Who: Nick calls it. Terepai backs up when Nick's off the floor.

Uniforms & Misc

Matching design and colour, numbers front and back — repeat breaches = 2-point penalty.
Shorts may differ; no loose pockets or drawcords.
18+. Injury claims within 28 days. Jerseys take 3–6 weeks.

Offence

Pop — the screener steps away from the rim, not toward it.
Roll — diving to the rim; we don't, there are three bodies there.
Pin-down — off-ball screen from above near the baseline.
Cross screen — across the front of the key, freeing a big to seal.
Seal — pinning your man behind you, hands high.
Short corner — baseline just outside the key, 2–3m out, 45° off the glass.
High post / elbow — the free-throw line — the hole in every 2-3.
Skip pass — long pass across the top; kills a shifted zone.

Transition

Outlet — first pass after a defensive rebound, straight to Terepai.
Trailer — the big arriving second wave.
Safety — the one who stays back.

Defence

2-3 zone — three in the key, two up top.
Anchor — the player who never leaves the rim.
Corner trap — two converging where baseline and sideline help.
Box-and-1 — four in a zone, one chasing a scorer.
Deny the reversal — pressure the swing pass, not the ball.
Box out — body between your man and the rim before the ball lands.

Rules

Bonus — after six team fouls, every foul gives free throws.
The freeze — the mixed rule requiring males to stand still, arms up, when a female shoots.
Running clock — doesn't stop for whistles — possessions matter more than they look.

Drills

Mikan — alternating layups off the glass, both hands, continuous.
Rebound & outlet — grab, turn, throw in under two seconds, 20 reps.
Screening angles — same screen ten times, checking feet, base, back angle.

Coaching Notes

Give Antony one read, never a menu.
Give Rose and Angela physical jobs, never skill jobs.
Give Terepai and Bojan decisions — they're the only two who can take them.
Give Nick a shot and nothing else to think about.

Team Playbook

Lineups

The Three Plays

1 · CLEAR — Against a Packed Key

Where the Threes Come From

2 · CROSS — Against One Big, or Man-to-Man

3 · DOWN — Against Anyone Sagging Off Nick

How to Set a Screen

Screen the Second Line, Not the First

Transition — Before Any of This

The Roster

When Dominique Returns (Late Season)

The Defence

Six Rules

The Corner Trap

Switching

The Three Kinds of Team That Beat Us

1 · The Wall

2 · The One Man

3 · The Movers

The Ladder

The Scorecard

Game Format

Player Balance

⚠️ Mixed-Only Rules — Verified in SSB Bylaws

Fouls & Situations

Common Fouls — Don't Give Them Up

Timeouts — Ammunition, Not Breathers

Uniforms & Misc

Offence

Transition

Defence

Rules

Drills

Coaching Notes