Sydney Uni 77 Townsville 75 WNBL game report/notes
Friday 11 November 2005
We won, we won, we won!
Ok, it was a far from convincing win but we won. The game was basically Sydney getting out to a 6-8 point lead (largest lead of the game was 10) but Townsville would always claw their way back with a couple of timely drives or three pointers. Sydney seemed to lose focus in the middle of the third quarter again but fortunately it wasn't a total meltdown like last weekend and Townsville didn't take full advantage of it. Sydney held their nerve down the stretch while Townsville ran out of steam.
Defensively, Sydney has some work to do. Their D off the drive is still atrocious. They give the opposition too much room to drive and then the help D often rotates too late. Flanagan, Wilson and Heritage got some easy baskets because of the slack Sydney D. Fortunately down the stretch, Sydney tightened up and forced turnovers on two key possessions late in the game but come on ladies, you can do better overall. The rebounding was pretty good tonight.
Offence still alternated between moments of pure beauty and excruciating agony. Townsville's perimeter D is still crap and Flames made them pay for that but there are still too many possessions where Sydney looks stagnant and they force a bad shot or pass. Sydney's last offensive possession is a perfect example of this - about 15 to 20 seconds of standing around until Snell jacks up a rather awkward looking 3. For an offensive possession in a tight situation after a timeout, that's simply not good enough.
I was very happy to see Nat Porter and Eva Afeaki more involved in the offence this week and they were both posting up aggressively inside. There was also more dribble penetration this week. The finishing was a bit off but at least they're not settling for jumpers so much.
Player-wise, Trish Fallon gets the game ball this week. Trish bumped up her game a notch this week, she actually brought her D tonight and reallyudisrupted Townsville's interior game. On the offensive end, she knocked down open jumpers, showed some moves and even grabbed a few boards. Why doesn't she play like this every week?
Snelly, as usual, worked hard at both ends of the court. There was a scary moment in the 4th quarter where she fell hard to the floor after hustlng for a board. Fortunately, she was only winded and came back after a short spell on the bench. The Flames' offence really needs to run more plays for her.
It seems coach Dalton has tightened the rotation with Brick and Woodyard only playing a couple of minutes each. Samuels also started but after a non-descript first couple of minutes, she was yanked and barely saw any court time after that.
For Townsville, Rohanee Cox is amazing. Her combination of strength, skill and superb instincts make her a joy to watch. She better make the Commonwealth Games team but I'm expecting her to be left off for Tranquilli and Whittle. Lauren King recalled her shooting from its holiday in the Arctic but the rest of the Townsville guards were erratic. Crouse wasn't as nearly as effective I thought she'd be. She seems to be a step slower than when she was at Perth and the foul trouble she seems to be in every second week is warranted. When Nat Porter is consistently out-quicking you, you have to be worried...
So a rather unimpressive win but hey, we'll take all we can right now. And at least it was exciting so the TV viewers will have something to enjoy. Hopefully the Flames will get some momentum from this and next weekend should be fascinating with Perth and Adelaide both being a bit erratic this season.
Other notes
Refs - are they getting worse every week? They let physical play go and then call some really soft ones (like Eva's reach-in in the 4th Quarter). I still want to see coach Dalton slag them off and earn a tech foul.
The scoreboard people - nice shot clock debacle at the end of the first half! I loved the fact Dalts stared them down. You've heard it before but they really need to get some better people doing the scoreboard.
Claudia Brassard gets "flopper of the week" award. Sorry Claudia, you'll have a hard time convincing anybody that TRISH FALLON threw you down.
The Townsville bench gets the "classy moment of the week" award with them making funny noises during the opposition's free throws. I think that's the first time I've ever seen a team's bench do that.
I was shocked to see Natalie Porter set a pick for Fallon when she looked like she was going to drive. More please! (especially for Snelly)
Michelle Musselwhite's car has "Muss 15" personalised numberplates. No comment.
The crowd tonight was a bit lighter than its usual light self. I don't think Friday nights really work for Sydney.
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Posted by: Funkie | Friday 13 January 2006