22/1/06 - Sydney Uni 80 Dandenong 54 WNBL game report
Sunday 22 January 2006
Wow. Fucking wow.
It's taken them 17 rounds to get there but the Flames have finally reached that zen state where they know they're good and deliver on it. Of course, the problem is that it's taken them a bit too long to reach this level but I won't discuss that in detail. It's time to savour tonight's victory.
Except for a small period in the middle of the second quarter, the Flames were focused and in control of the game. They were sterling at both ends of the court - on offence, they repeatedly found the open cutter/player for easy layups/open shots which they knocked down. Eva Afeaki in particular was just in the zone with her pinpoint passing. On defence, the Flames just packed the passing lanes and played great interior D. Dandenong couldn't get it going outside and eventually their offence just collapsed in a very messy heap (see 17-3 last quarter). There were a couple of notable defensive plays: a couple of monster blocks for Afeaki and Veal on Richards and Hamilton respectively (not entirely sure though on the blockees - feel free to correct me) and there was a key defensive player in the second quarter when Lindsay stole the ball on a Dandenong inbounds after a Flames basket and fed Snell for the open three, to cap off a 9-0 run and give the Flames a 31-18 lead in the middle of second quarter.
What's amazing about this is that instead of their usual third quarter crumble, Sydney seemed to grow in confidence as the game went on and just blitzed Dandenong in the last quarter. Dandenong really ramped up the defensive pressure in the last six minutes of the game but Sydney responded with a poise I have not seen fromr them this season. They were patient in their offence and time and time again, outwitted the Dandenong defensive pressure with incisive cuts and precise passing. Their clock management in the final quarter was superb. They also kept up their level of defensive pressure and as mentioned before, restricted Dandenong to three points in the final quarter.
The game ball tonight goes to Eva Afeaki. I have always said that if Eva could get it together mentally; she would be easily be an Opals squad member. Well she was *there* tonight. There were a couple of stupid fouls, which did restrict her PT but besides that, she was near perfect. Her decision making was a thing of beauty tonight. Instead of blindly charging towards the basket like she is prone to do, she really thought about what she was going to do with the ball and knew when to go inside and when to pass it out/dish it to the open player. Once in the paint and in good position, few can stop her. On the defensive end, she played great post D and also used to her size and athleticism to deflect balls and grab steals. Eva was at that zen level tonight and I hope she continues to stay in that zone.
The rest of the Flames elevated their game as well. Trish worked harder than usual on the boards and was her usual steady self on the offensive end, and even busted out some moves. Snelly worked in the paint more than usual, including an impressive spin move (which she should do a lot more often) and her borderline legal step-through moves are always fun to watch (mainly to see whether the refs call it a travel or not!). She does seem to get a bit of a raw deal from the refs though - apparently hacking Snelly is not considered to be a foul unless she falls to the ground. Nat Porter had a couple of moves where she was hacked by several defenders but she barrelled through them and made the layup. It was just pure strength and she really should be doing this more, instead of jacking up jumpers. Vealy and Lindsay's state lines don't seem to be particularly noteworthy but they did a great job of running the show, especially with Dandenong's famed defensive pressure on them.
I have to say I lost a lot of respect for the Rangers tonight. The wheels came off in the second half and they lost their self-discipline and decided to display their diva sides. Yes Caitlin Ryan, jumping into the player you are defending while they are moving *is* a block. Emily McInerny, a lot of your defence is borderline legal and complaining so vociferously about holding and handcheck calls looks silly (or maybe she's just so shocked they're actually being called). Sam Richards also committed a couple of cheap and rather un-necessary fouls at the end of the game, which seemed petty and spiteful. Jacinta Hamilton and Carly Wilson carry themselves with class and the rest of the team would do well to follow their example.
Game wise, Dandenong couldn't get anything going tonight. As I mentioned before, the Flames really disrupted their offence. Even when they got open, they clanged a lot of their open shots. It was also interesting to notice the Flames sagged right off McInerny when she got the ball in the first half. When I mean sag, they retreated into the paint! McInerny initially passed up open shots but knocked down a couple of treys in the third quarter and the Flames respected her a lot more after. Hamilton looked threatening in the first quarter but Sydney shut her down in the other three quarters and she could barely get off a shot (only 4 attempts in the final three quarters). The rest of the players didn't do much and their best work of the game was doing a good impression of deers in headlights. Carly Wilson continued her hot/cold streak, which is maddening for Rangers fans and if you're the recipient of a 'hot' night.
I'm aware the Rangers had been through a tough match the night before but historically, Dandenong have often come down to Sydney the day after a match in Townsville and whupped our arses. They are a well coached and well conditioned team. I don't think this is a case of simple of "back to back" syndrome; it's clear that Dandenong have entered a form slump and at the wrong end of the season.
For Sydney to make the playoffs, they have to win both games in the upcoming round and rely on either Canberra to lose at home to a slumping Dandenong or Bulleen to lose *all* three games next round. I think we can with both but relying on other team's results is dicey at best. Either way, it's great to see them playing such great ball now and it creates a sense of tension and anticipation for Flames *and* WNBL fans in the end-of-season playoff race and it's a good sign for next season.
Other notes
* Reffing - well not too many complaints tonight but Sydney got away with a couple of blatant moving screens. Is it legal for a player to protect the ball-handler by getting between them and the defender and then conveniently be in that defender's path while running to the half court line? I'm guessing no.
* I hope Sydney Uni has sufficient public liability insurance with regards to the three quarter time lolly throw. Somebody's going to get hit somewhere sensitive one day.
* Come on scoreboard people, it's not that hard to have correct team fouls up there. Also, the floor wipers seem to be trying to set the record for slowest floor wipe ever. The peripheral staff really need to get their act together.
* Emma Randall broke/dislocated/did something to her nose in the early fourth quarter in an incident I missed. Even stranger was the reaction of the Dandenong bench. Only Jess Bibby really tried to help among the players and she was ordered on court by Gary Fox. So poor Emma was in distress and being attended to by a couple of staff while the rest of the team was worrying about the meltdown. Surely a couple of her team-mates could have shown a bit more concern towards Emma. Fortunately she looked ok after the game but did have some nice swelling on her nose.
* At the post-game function, coach Dalton gave Eva Afeaki the team MVP and introduced her as the "Foul Machine" (given her propensity for fouls). She even made note of the fact that Eva DIDN'T foul out this game. Heh! One the Flames staff also implored the Dandenong team to do their duty by beating Canberra next round. The Dandenong team didn't look particularly accommodating of this request.
Comments
It's unbelieveable to think that the Flames with three Opals, all those recruits and the biggest payroll that they missed the finals..what went wrong as you saw most of their games
Tim
Posted by: Tim | Monday 30 January 2006
What went wrong? I might discuss it at some length in a future end of season Flames article but to put it succinctly, they didn't discover the elusive team chemistry till the New Year and that was a bit too late.
Posted by: Insane Platypus | Monday 30 January 2006