South West Slammers part ways with women’s import Chervelle Cox three games into NBL1 West season

South West Slammers have parted ways with women’s import Chervelle Cox after only three games with the club, with coach Jason Chalk saying he “wasn’t prepared to waste money on someone that couldn’t perform for us”.

After operating with solely local talent over the past two years, the club’s women’s outfit — which has won only one game in their past four seasons — signed centre Cox and guard Yasmeen Smith over the off-season in a bid to bolster their competitiveness.

Cox debuted with an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double against the ladder-leading Rockingham Flames but scored only one point across their next two games against Cockburn and Joondalup.

Chalk said Cox, who arrived at the club managing a knee issue, was the “wrong fit”.

“We performed better when she wasn’t on the court, so we cut our losses,” he said.

“We didn’t think it was going to get any better. The gelling with the team wasn’t there.

“She did struggle to pick up the offences we were running ... she battled to get through training with the knee.

“The girl we recruited on the video wasn’t the same one (that arrived).”

Smith, a first-year professional, has averaged 11.8 points and 4.3 rebounds across her first four games with the club.

Chalk said he was confident the return of Bree Chalk from a back issue would allow the Canadian to flourish.

“The first couple of games, we played Yas out of position. We’ve moved her back to her more natural position,” he said.

“She’s still got to get a little bit more confidence in herself.

“She’s been getting better and better but we need more from her and I think she’ll give us more over the next couple of weeks.”

Playing another winless team, the Goldfields Giants in Kalgoorlie on Saturday night, the Slammers sunk to the bottom of the ladder after an 84-64 defeat, with Chalk calling the performance “disappointing”.

“Our preparation couldn’t have been better, we got up there Friday, had (time to) shoot around, plenty of rest, and then we didn’t execute,” he said.

“The prime example was after half-time, we came out and got six stops in a row, but we only scored once ourselves. 10 from 39 inside the keyway, that’s not going to do it for you.

“We shot ourselves in the foot, well and truly.”

Both Slammers sides will head to Perth to take on Lakeside Lightning on Friday night before hosting Joondalup Wolves at Eaton Recreation Centre on Saturday, with the women’s home game tipping off at 5pm before the men’s gets under way at 7pm.