Tough round for Flames, Lightning: WNBL 9
TweetCOMING off a narrow loss to Perth, Sydney Flames will like their chances tonight in Bendigo against a Spirit team which now has lost Leilani Mitchell for the rest of the season. But it's the first of three matches for the Flames in a difficult round which also sees WNBL leader Adelaide in Townsville then playing at home 36 hours later.
How Thursday's home match for Southside against the Lynx plays out will have much to do with who suits for the Flyers, and Paul Goriss coaching Canberra against Sydney on Friday will irk a lot of Flames followers.
Fighting back from a 20-point deficit to beat the Boomers in Melbourne should stand the Fire in good stead when they host Melbourne in Townsville.
It's a big, and overdue, round for sure.
PICKING the Flames to end their win drought by taking down Bendigo. Leilani Mitchell will miss the rest of the season following the birth of her newborn child, opening the door for Sydney's backcourt to set up a road breakthrough.
WITH COVID question marks still hanging over some members of Southside's roster, Perth has to start favourite to knock off the defending champion. Even at full strength the Flyers would have their hands full but at anything less, this looks like the Lynx to win again.
THE first match up of these two clubs ended in the Videogate scandal which saw Capitals coach Paul Goriss briefly suspended and a referee outed for the season. But even though there were doubts over the validity of Canberra's win, the WNBL and Basketball Australia typically did nothing to redress the result. Unfortunately for Sydney, this looks like road rage gone wrong.
BEATING Adelaide in Adelaide to start the season suggests Townsville at home has to start an odds-on favourite. The road win by the Fire over Bendigo, backed up by a come-from-20-behind victory over championship-contending Melbourne should see the Fire full of confidence. The Lightning though will be no pushovers.
AT "home" in Ballarat, Perth Lynx should see off Bendigo in relatively short order. Perth's scorepower should overwhelm the Spirit and the size and versatility of its frontcourt has the potential to dominate proceedings.
SIMILARLY, it is hard to see the Flames in their third game of the round, having sufficient size to hold out Southside Flyers. Once again blessed with a tender draw - you'd think the WNBL was based in Melbourne - Southside has the chance to restore its roster which, on paper, is too good for Sydney.
PLAYING in Townsville, then flying home the next day and suiting up in the afternoon against a waiting Canberra side should make Lightning fans wonder if their team kicked a black cat recently. Or broke a mirror. Or if it just is regularly treated with contempt by the league. Provided Adelaide can organise its game plan in the plane or the airport, it still might get this.
WHAT happened to the Boomers in that fateful, fitfull last quarter against Townsville? They led the Fire by 20 earlier, but were over-run so now in Townsville, they will be revved up to make amends, or struck down again by a club which feels it has their measure. This may again be the game of the round but perhaps with a different result.
LAST ROUND
Perth Lynx 102 d Uni of Canberra Capitals 73; Adelaide Lightning 77 d Sydney Uni Flames 52; Townsville Fire 77 d Bendigo Spirit 67; Townsville Fire 68 d Melbourne Boomers 66; Uni of Canberra Capitals 94 d Bendigo Spirit 60; Perth Lynx 86 d Sydney Uni Flames 81.