Clint Steindl is walking proof that focusing on your strengths instead of worrying about your weaknesses is a formula for success.

Steindl was today named as the Perth Wildcats Most Improved Player for the 2019/20 season after playing a key role in their championship campaign.

Camera Icon Wildcat Clint Steindl has been named Most Improved. Credit: Justin Benson-Cooper / The West Australian

But while his 15 three-pointers at 52 per cent during the play-offs were pivotal, they followed a start to the season when nothing went right.

In the opening month of the season, Steindl put up 20 shots from the perimeter and only made four.

But when you focus on your strengths, short term form slumps are viewed as the exception instead of the rule.

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“When you play the role I play on a team you have to stick with it and not deviate,” Steindl told thewest.com.au.

“My role is to shoot. It wasn’t going in at first, but if you stick with it and stay aggressive, shots will start falling and then it’s a snowball. You make one and then you make another and another. If you stick to what you do well, it will work out.

“My role is to shoot threes and whenever you can string a number of them together and see them go in at pivotal times of the game, they feel like the moments where you know this is what you’re meant to be doing and this is why I’m here.

“When the crowd gets involved after you sink a couple of them, it is a whole lot of fun. I definitely live for those kind of moments on the floor in those big momentum changing parts of the game.”

But while Steindl’s three-point shooting turned several games, his ability to confuse the opposition by driving to the basket throughout the season added another dimension to his play.

He more than doubled his number of shots taken from close range this season and said the variety made him harder to defend.

“I definitely enjoyed it,” Steindl said.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of work needed in order to be able to do it. It was just about knowing when I can and can’t do it.

“I’d shown it in previous seasons, like in my second season at Townsville when I had that part of my game. Now that I’m comfortable in this system, I know I can take it inside and that makes my outside game a bit easier. I can take what the defence gives me.”

Steindl will never forget the 2019/20 season. Not only did he win his second championship, he became a father to son Noah in December.

Adding fatherhood to basketball meant he had more to focus on, but it also provided mental challenges during the finals as the players coped with the coronavirus crisis.

Play Video Watch the moment the Perth Wildcats found out they were named NBL champions. The West Australian Video Watch the moment the Perth Wildcats found out they were named NBL champions.

“The past couple of weeks were tricky,” Steindl said.

“We’re playing professional sport and travelling, then coming home to a 10-week old and wife. I had thoughts in the back of my head of whether I’d caught the COVID-19 virus or not. It was tricky to keep my mind on the job and keep my family healthy.

“During the Sydney trips, everything blew up. The rate at which people were becoming infected was growing significantly.”

With borders now closed and Steindl’s parents living in Queensland, he is thankful that they attended the semi-final in Cairns.

His parents cancelled plans to come to Perth for the play-offs and with Steindl’s wife’s sister Tami also living in Mackay, he and Kayla are turning to championship teammates for support.

Steindl said it was important to stay positive given the challenges facing the entire world.

“All of our family are on the east coast but we have a good network out here,” he said.

“We’ve got a very good support system among our teammates and their families. We have our friends outside of basketball too.

“The club makes sure that if anyone ever needs anything that they will help us.

“I just think we were fortunate to have completed the season. The league and the club are in a better position than the NRL and AFL who don’t have a season of revenue behind them.

“Hopefully when the public is ready for live sport again, the NBL will be able to start up again too and we can all see things flourishing again.”

And when that happens, Steindl will be ready to start shooting three-pointers again too.