PORTLAND’S Country Basketball League men’s season resumes this weekend with a home clash against Millicent.

The two sides will hit the court at Portland Basketball Stadium tomorrow night, and meet again the following Saturday at Millicent.

The Coasters have had a solid but not awe-inspiring start to the season, with three wins from their first five fixtures – one of which they lost due to forfeit.

Millicent is on the other end of the spectrum to the Coasters, having played just one fixture thus far this season, in which they got the upper hand on Colac by just two points.

For Portland coach Rebel Noter, their opponent’s lack of game time thus far is all the more reason to not underestimate them heading into the upcoming contest.

“They’ve got some good young players coming through… they beat Colac despite Jordan Lingard returning for the Kookas,” Noter said.

“We’re looking forward to the game… it’ll be a good test for us.”

He added that with the teams playing in consecutive weeks, it was important for his group to get on the front foot early while they’re at home.

“It’s important for us to start with a win… we’ve been working on a few things especially with our transition defence and it’ll be a chance for us to put that into action on Saturday,” Noter said.

“They’re a quick team that likes to move the ball down the court… we need to make sure we don’t get beat in that area.

“I think our offence can take care of itself to some degree… getting stops defensively is what is going to matter most.”

The other point of emphasis that Noter has highlighted to his squad has been their discipline towards the officials, with teams noticing that the association is clamping down on referee abuse.

“We need to keep our mouths shut and focus on the game… the league has put us on notice, and we need to be aware of that… that was on the agenda at our training session and the boys know what’s expected of them,” he said.

“Basketball Victoria are trying to clean it up… we need to look after the referees… they’ve put it out early and we need to respect that.”

Although the team is expecting to welcome Toby Jennings back into the fold for this match, they’re still waiting on a few guys to recover before they can say they’re back to full-strength.

“Toby (Oakley) is still a week or so away with his injury… Davey (Denboer) is also likely another couple of weeks at least,” Noter said.

“It’s good that we’ve been able to win and be competitive without them… we’re certainly not going to rush any of the guys coming back from injuries.”

The men’s team will take the court tomorrow night, with tip-off set for 8pm.