Australia vs China Game 1 match report
Thursday 17 June 2004
It was a game of two halves. Well more like three quarters and one quarter actually. The aberrant quarter being the second one. The first quarter saw the Opals start slowly but they slowly asserted their control as the quarter went on despite some good perimeter shooting from the Chinese. The Opals were getting to the line with ease and getting a lot of offensive rebounds and they led 27-19 at the end of the first quarter with Laura Summerton leading the way with 7 points.
The second quarter saw the pendulum swing the other way. Defensively they were just too slow with their rotations and China were exploiting the backdoor and knocking down mid-range jumpers with ease. Offensively, the Opals were stagnant and there was a lot of pointless passing around the perimeter and jacking up of low percentage shots with 1 to go on the shotclock AKA the "Lin Dunn offence". China put on a 11-4 run to end the half, including a three pointer just before the buzzer by Miao Lijie and the teams went into the locker room, tied at 39.
In the second half, the Opals were an entirely different team. They picked up their game at both end of the court but their defence was particularly impressive. China couldn't adjust to this new level of intensity and were held to a mere 5 points in the third quarter. Offensive wise, the star players started to show their mettle with Penny Taylor putting on some moves, Belinda Snell racking up some assists and Suzy Batkovic nailed her only two FGs for the game in the third quarter spurt. The fourth quarter saw the Opals bench get a good run and they maintained the high level of play. The Opals outscored the Chinese 40-14 in the second half and ran out 79-53 winners.
I'll give Jan credit - what ever she said at halftime worked because the Opals really picked it up in the second half especially on the defensive end. The offence was spotty - it alternated between great ball movement and passing and the "Lin Dunn" offence. Barring that atrocious second quarter, defence was very good. The rotations were working well and China were bamboozled.
However I do have a long-term concern and that is the use of post players in offence. I don't think is merely a Jan issue - I think this is a general coaching issue (Tom Maher had the same problem). They're good with dealing with 6'1/6'2 forwards because we have heaps of those and they don't have problems with LJ because she plays like those forwards except she's 3 inches taller but when dealing with big post players like Suzy Batkovic (or even Tracey Braithwaite), they have difficulties.
Case in point, Suzy spent little time in the paint and when she was there - the ball wasn't given to her. When Suzy did get the ball in the block, she scored (she only got the ball in the block about twice in the whole game). No one on China can really guard Suzy - Chen Nan has the height but Suzy is stronger than her. Suzy is something the Opals have rarely had - a post presence with size and height who CAN score. They should utilise it!
China are a solidly coached team especially their offence - great ball movement and good use of off-ball screens to free up shooters. However they had two problems today. Firstly, they didn't make any adjustments when the Opals were crushing them defensively in the third quarter. They were a bit too predictable and that's probably why the only scored 14 points for the whole second half. Secondly, their rebounding effort was poor. Australia simply out-hustled them on the boards and China actually has a size advantage over Australia.
Player comments:
Penny Taylor - It's been a couple of years since I've seen Penny play in person and I've been reminded of how great she is. She looks in GREAT shape (and rather pink - probably from the Phoenix sun) and she was everywhere tonight, going after rebounds and chasing after loose balls. She also put on some nice moves against the Chinese D - they couldn't keep up with her. The only thing that wasn't working for her tonight was her outside shot but she definitely deserves the game MVP award. If Jan has any coaching brains, she'd give the ball to Penny more.
Laura Summerton - Laura's always looked a bit too laid back in the WNBL but she worked her butt off tonight. She was aggressive in the paint and fought hard on the offensive boards. I can see eerie similarities with her Adelaide team-mate Rachael Sporn except Laura's got a bit more meat to her, which is definitely a good thing!
Sandy Brondello - WELCOME BACK SANDY. She was the only Opal who was shooting well from the perimeter tonight and punished China whenever they left her open. Despite all her injury woes in the last couple of years, she's still one of the best pure shooters in the world. You can tell a lot of the team look up to her from their behaviour on the bench. She is definitely on my Athens team and probably on Jan's as well but IMHO, I'd include her and not Trish.
Kristi Harrower - Kristi was solid as always. She played smart and read the Chinese offence and defence well. And she should definitely be Opals captain.
Belinda Snell - Not her best shooting night out but I was impressed with her floor game. Snelly has really refined her playmaking skills over the last couple of years and she created some easy buckets for the frontline today with her court vision.
Suzy Batkovic - Suzy didn't stand out much - see the above comments about coaching. She looked a bit slow at first but warmed up as the game went on. Her D and rebounding have improved from when I saw her last (OWC 2002) - I think she's improved her positioning. I'll repeat it - GIVE THE BALL TO SUZY IN THE BLOCK.
The rest of the lot - Nat Porter looked good in the first half but was rarely seen in the second (she has to practise her free throw shooting). Grima had a solid outing - she has so much potential but really needs a good coach to bring it out of her (also has to bulk up a bit). I think Muss and Poto were forcing it a bit too much on offence.
Comments on Chinese players - I took a good look at Chen Nan who has been called the "Asian Lauren Jackson". It's a bit of a misnomer as she is nowhere near LJ's calibre but she definitely has potential and showed flashes of it today. However she doesn't assert herself as much as a good post player should. Chen Nan didn't take advantage of Jacinta Hamilton and Shelley Hammonds (smaller frontline players) when they were put on her. Credit should go to Jacinta, Shelley and the help D but Chen Nan wasn't aggressive enough when posted up against them. She also doesn't get enough ball in the block - maybe the Chinese coach has been sharing notes with Jan?
Miao Lijie and Sui Feifei had good outings from the perimeter but all the Chinese players with the exception of Chen Nan have similar type games. They move well - with and without the ball, have shooting range, set good screens but don't really dribble penetrate and are a bit lazy on the boards. I'd say that Miao Lijie is clearly the best out of their wing/forward types.
Miao Lijie was also constantly shooting the refs with the "are you kidding me" look after being called for a foul. Yes, sandwiching Sandy Brondello *is* a foul.
Actually the refs were pretty good. Only a couple of missed calls but the game didn't get overly physical.
Other notes:
* There was a promotion where a bunch of schools came in. Good idea - they were enthusiastic but there's only so much high pitched squealing one can endure...
* Trish Fallon and Rachael Sporn were on the sidelines in street clothing. Rachael is out with a torn anterior deltoid. Trish is out with a knee injury that will sideline her for up to 6 weeks (that could be cutting it VERY fine when it comes to Athens).
* Seeing the cheesy WNBL Yakult ads in the OneBasketball magazine made me cringe. I may scan the pics later.