South West Slammers import Jamal Poplar serving suspension for offensive language towards match official

Star South West Slammers men’s import Jamal Poplar is serving a two-game suspension after being found guilty by the NBL1 West tribunal of using offensive language towards a match official. The league announced on Friday the ban had been imposed on Poplar after he was reported following the side’s loss to Perry Lakes Hawks last month. Poplar missed the Slammers’ 17-point loss to Perth Redbacks at Eaton Recreation Centre last week and he will remain out of the line-up for their clash with Rockingham Flames at Mike Barnett Sports Complex on Saturday. The suspension meant the Slammers did not have an import on the court against the Redbacks, with Calvin Whipple still sidelined by a knee injury. As the struggling Slammers have opened the season with 12 consecutive losses, Poplar has been one of few bright spots, sitting sixth in the league in scoring with an average of 22.4 points per game and fourth in rebounding at a rate of 10.2 a contest. Without their imports, the Slammers battled for offensive impetus against the Redbacks in an eventual 92-75 loss, with co-captain Devan Craig and Pharell Keats leading the way with 17 points apiece. The Slammers’ women’s side was also on the wrong end of a loss to the Redbacks, going down by 52 points in one of their heaviest defeats of a much-improved season. Despite another standout performance from import Mykea Gray, who produced a 26-point, six-rebound, five-steal, three-assist stat-line, the hosts were no match for their third-placed visitors in a 116-64 result. On Saturday, the men’s team will face a tough assignment against a ladder-leading Flames side which boasts NBL regulars Isaac White and Emmett Naar, while the women’s outfit will be hoping for a similarly competitive effort present in their in the reverse fixture earlier this season — which ended in a three-point loss.