Sydney Uni/Adelaide game report
Friday 14 October 2005
Box score is here. Official WNBL recap is here
Oy, the Flames have a LOT of work to do. The game was a tight one (I don't think either team led by more than 5 points for the final three quarters) but in the end, Adelaide just pulled it together at the right time. Here are my issues listed in point form.
* Ballhandling. Every time Vicki Brick handles the ball, it's an adventure - you never know what's going to happen. I think she did an ok job tonight, especially with Erin Phillips on her but the team in general just turns the ball over way too much. I'm surprised Adelaide didn't press a bit more but they did have a short bench.
* Lack of on-ball screens. This has been a long term issue but it's just ridiculous now. I saw the Flames set about three screens in total tonight and that was for the ballhandler. My rec league team sets more screens than the Flames do. Belinda Snell did not get a screen for the entire game! Other teams have figured out the best way to guard her is to stick a player on her to face guard her for the whole game. So how is Snelly meant to get the room to shoot unless she has some screens set for her? The trey she nailed was a fluky 30 foot banked shot in the last 5 seconds of the game. Screen did a good job of shutting her down tonight but the Flames' offensive system made her job much easier. The Flames move the ball around well and make good entry passes but they've really limited the effectiveness of their perimeter game with the lack of screens for their shooters.
* Lack of direction in offence. The Flames have their inspired moment but then there's the all too frequent "headless chicken" moments. There were a couple of shotclock violations that resulted from people being unwilling to take the shot.
The Flames just make offence look really difficult. It's excruciating to watch at times. Having Kristen Veal would certainly help but I think the Flames need to rethink their whole offensive strategy.
* The rotation or rather, the lack of it. Eva's minutes were restricted due to foul trouble but why are Woodyard and Samuels only playing a combined 11 minutes? They should be getting at least 10 minutes each, especially against Adelaide's soft frontline.
* Defensive communication has to improve. Adelaide got a lot of open jumpers because the Flames' D broke down.
Looking at the Flames players, Natalie Porter was easily the player of the game for the Flames. She positioned herself well in the paint and got some easy buckets from good entry passes from Belinda Snell and the rest of the team (I love the Snell to Porter lob - well thrown and well caught). Porter crashed the boards well and hustled hard for the whole game. Missing the second half of last season and moving to a new club has seemingly energised her and it's great to see (especially with Snelly and Fallon not performing up to last year's standard so far)
Belinda Snell did her usual thing on the boards and created well for others but as mentioned before, her perimeter scoring has essentially been neutralised. The Flames will have to rethink their offensive strategy to get her more open shots. She worked really hard for her points.
Vicki Brick gets a pass mark tonight. Muss and her did a good defensive job on Phillips and Brick did have a couple of nice passes but she dribbled too much at times and did have a few too many "headless chicken" moments.
Trish Fallon and Michelle Musselwhite had a lot shots rim out. Eva Afeaki has to stop the stupid fouls.
Adelaide played pretty well tonight - they found the open player a lot and converted on those opportunities. They played good, tight D. Screen was their player of the match; the Flames often gave her too much room and she made them pay. Tami Willey has a nice shooting touch.
Erin Phillips had an ok night - she had an impressive fadeaway layup (probably the best description for it) but she blew a couple more and had a quiet night by her standards (credit the Flames D for that). Summerton was tough on the boards but she really needs to diversify her offensive game. It's a bit disturbing to note that Fallon and Snell have more moves than she does!
I think the refs called the game tightly initially and then they let them play. Screen fouled Snell on every second Flames possession but she only got called on it once.
Spotted in the audience: a heavily pregnant Adrianne Gilbert, Briana Hennessy (we need you!) and a very red Suzy Batkovic (we need you as well!). Looks like she's enjoying her time in the sun before heading to miserable Russia for the well paid winter.
The VIP door was just the side door. I felt very important after they put the hot pink tag around my wrist (which signified I was a STH and apparently very important).
I giggled everytime I heard Adelaide referred to as "the Fellas". It's just that stupid.
Comments
The ABC seem to just be referring to them as "Adelaide" to avoid having to mention it.
Posted by: lelak | Wednesday 19 October 2005
Would you know Vicki Brick's e-mail address? Or anyway to contact her? I've been meaning to interview her for an assignment in my Sportswriting Class.
Posted by: Jessica Hermosa | Thursday 09 August 2007