Five young Australians to look out for in the near future

Monday 18 October 2004

Belinda Snell

She had a poor Olympics shooting wise and it didn't help that Jan Stirling didn't play her nearly enough but Belinda Snell *is* the best Australian who has not been drafted/signed by the WNBA (well theoretically she was in 2001 but that doesn't really count).

Many will laud Snell for her awesome displays of streak shooting but her floor game is just as impressive. She will use her 6 foot, 176 pound frame to grab a bunch of rebounds, sees the floor extremely well for a wing and has good timing in defence which result in a fair few steals and blocks (currently top 5 in the WNBL in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks). She's also improved her inside game a lot and no longer relies on her 3 pointer as much as she once did. Her lack of lateral speed makes her one-on-one D suspect but that part of her game has improved significantly over the last couple of years. She's worked hard at improving her defensive fundamentals.

Snelly deserves a spot on a WNBA bench now and she will contribute straight away in many departments. With a couple of years in the WNBA, she may blossom into something special.

Jacinta Hamilton

If there was a player considered a 'sleeper', Jacinta Hamilton would be it. "Cinno" was one of the last cuts from the Olympics team (and undeservedly so, she and Grima were needed to provide post depth for the Opals) and has been one of the big improvers over the last couple of years. Hamilton is a 6'2" 4/5 who crashes the boards hard (particularly good offensive rebounder), has a nice set of post moves (more than LJ!), shooting range which extends to 15 feet, good footwork, good athleticism and works hard on D.

Hamilton probably has to put on some more muscle to be competitive in the WNBA but if she can do this and adjust to the physicality, I think she can certainly stick on a roster and become a valuable contributor. She's probably more of a 4 than a 5 in the WNBA.

Hollie Grima

Like Hamilton, Grima was unlucky not to make it on the Olympics team - and she had made the 2002 World Championships team. Grima is a 6'3" 4/5 type who has a very nice mid-range jumper and moves very well off the ball. She's a good passer for a big player and has a large amount of untapped potential.

What Hollie needs is more aggressiveness in the paint and a coach that will help her refine her post moves. The raw talent is there but the post fundamentals are lacking (I don't think Australia has particularly good post coaches - see below). I accept that Hollie will always be a finesse kind of player (as opposed to the bruiser Australia really needs) but that doesn't mean she can't play in the post more assertively.

Michelle Musselwhite

The other big improver over the last couple of years has been Michelle Musselwhite. She was always known as a strong penetrator when down at Dandenong but the rest of her game was considered to be lacking. However she's improved three things over the last couple of years - her defence, her shooting and her ball handling and now she is a borderline Opals player (was one of the last cuts and deserved to make it over Tranquilli IMHO).

It would be interesting to see Muss play in the bigger leagues - she had no trouble dominating decent Division I NCAA schools when they visited (dropped 29 on Virginia Tech and 34 on Oregon in an awe-inspiring display). She doesn't get to shine much on the Flames because there are bigger and better offensive options ahead of her (Belinda Snell, Shelley Hammonds/Trish Fallon) but on occasions, I've seen her take control of games and she's got that special knack of being able to slice through defences when the way appears closed. She's probably my other 'sleeper' and I really think she should give the WNBA a try in 2005. Even just experiencing the training camp will boost her development (in a similar way to what the Opals camp did for her).

Shelley Hammonds

Out of the tweener like forwards (her and Summerton), I think Hammonds has the better chance of making it big. Her perimeter skills are more developed than Laura's (better ball handler and better jumpshot) and she's more mobile. Like Laura though, the real problem is that she's always being forced to play in the post. I'm sure Shelley was looking forward to play on the wing in Perth but the injury to Nat Love snuffed that idea out. Shelley's transition to the wing has been an interesting thing to follow and I see that she's slowly becoming more confident in using her dribble penetration to score and to create for others. Hopefully she can pull off a Penny Taylor, the postergirl of successful 4 to 3 transition, and I do think the potential is there.

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