Sydney vs Canberra - thoughts
Friday 06 February 2004
That was just a freakish performance from Sydney. I have never seen them play offense as good as that - EVER. Superb ball movement, knocking down almost all their open looks and just breaking down the Caps' D inside and out. It was a joy to watch. Sydney also managed to score a lot of points in the paint due to their good perimeter shooting opening up the middle, some smart play (the backdoor was exploited several times) and some lazy defence and boxing out by the Caps. Sydney also responded whenever Canberra tried to make a run - a good display of mental toughness.
It's unlikely Sydney would be able to produce such a torrid shooting display night in and night out (especially against Dandenong's grinding D) but if they continue the other things such as boxing out, playing D with great intensity and making smart decisions with the ball - they can win this thing.
Sydney did a great job on LJ by regularly rotating defenders on her and by swarming her whenever she had the ball. LJ still scored and rebounded but they did shut her down at key points of the game (mainly in the second half). Depth really helps when you're dealing with LJ.
Belinda Snell's star continues to shine. She really is the glue that holds the Flames together and if she leaves next season, it will be a huge loss. She did everything in this game - shoot, penetrate, crash the boards, create for others and played some tough D (even holding her own against LJ a couple of times). Shelley Hammonds was awesome as well with some tough play in the paint and showing that her perimeter game is coming along really well. Narelle Lindsay showed why coach Dalton should play her more - she knocked down threes at key times of the game and ran the offence well. Muss was tough as usual.
Tammy Hoare rates a special mention as she came up trumps in the biggest game of the year. Tammy has been inconsistent this season but she played superbly in this game. She did a good job defensively on LJ and took it to LJ on offence and executed some sweet post moves. Tammy also did a good job on the boards which she hasn't done for most of the season. Go Tammy!
What's the problem with Canberra? A couple of things. Firstly - they have almost no offence besides LJ. Kristen Veal did a nice job knocking down open looks but all the other Caps were pretty much a nonentity on offence. Lucille Bailie and Kellie Abrams had a LOT of open looks but couldn't convert. This is just unacceptable - Canberra needs to knock down these shots in order to dissuade opponents from using the "swarm defence" on LJ.
Secondly, there is just poor effort from the Caps (bar LJ) overall. They have the "let's watch the superstar while we stand around and do nothing" syndrome. LJ is a workhorse - she scores even with three defenders draped over her, rebounds at both ends of the court and plays hard D in the paint. The rest of the Caps? Non-existent on the boards and defence. Sydney had a lot of nice looks at the basket from the perimeter through screens and ball movement and the Caps were just too slow at reacting to this. Sydney also boxed out really well and the Caps didn't do anything much about this either.
Yes they played the night before but this has been the story of their season. They played better as a team while LJ was out but when she's there, they take her for granted and don't do their jobs. Earth to Caps - basketball is a team sport.
Graf and LJ has to tell the rest of the team to start pulling their weight because they're not going to get very far in the finals without them. Canberra will have to win an unprecedented three road games to three-peat and as shown by this game, LJ can have a brilliant game and the Caps can still fall significantly short.
As a sidenote, this was a very physical game and typically - the refs couldn't deal with it. They were letting hard fouls go while calling ticky tack ones? Unacceptable.
Comments
I think the crowd helped too!!
All season the stands were half empty?
Then LJ comes to town and it's standiing room only!!
The crowd was awesome with supporters for both camps!!
Mate, if only they could fill the staduim like this every week!!
I'll be back whether it's the Premlimary final or the Grand Final. Unless they change the venue??
ps LJ was very apologetic to the crowd when she was signing autographs. No diva attitude here, that's why she's a crowd favourite!! :)
Posted by: aupost58 | Friday 06 February 2004