In the name of...: The Lightning will not only have to live up to their "pride" in this week's double header but also fight hard on court in another season defining set of games led by Borlase and Monroe once again - Photo credit to WNBL
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WNBL ROUND 10
Adelaide Lightning vs Sydney Flames/Bendigo Spirit
When: 7:00pm (ACDT), Thursday 12 January and Saturday 14 January
Where: Adelaide 36ers Arena (Formerly Adelaide/TS Arena – The Lighthouse)
Broadcast: Nine Now
STRIKE BACK IN HISTORY
Commander Camino sets up first quarter blitz to bury Flames in famous win (WNBL Grand Final 2007/2008)
A barnstorming opening stanza from the Lightning setup by guard Renae Camino saw them to one of their most famous victories over the Flames.
Adelaide and Sydney have had hotly contested matches since the 90s and into the 2000s and with the Lightning having not won a title since 1998 – the opportunity on the road against a strong Flames outfit presented itself. Not only with the Opals Camino but a lineup of Tracy Gahan, another former Opal in Erin Phillips, Jess Foley and the soon to retire Jenny Whittle while Captain Sam Woosnam at the time was retiring from the WNBL (But made a comeback in 2009). Sydney had Opals Natalie Porter and Kristen Veal along with 243 WNBL gamer Michelle Cosier, a superstar guard at both ends of the floor in Alicia Poto and a youthful Rachel Herrick.
The scene was set for both teams with Sydney having finished second with a 17-7 record and having upset Adelaide at their home in the Semi-Final 71-90 – The Lightning were primed to strike back hard and they did. They poured in 30 points in the opening quarter led by Camino (Grand Final MVP with 32 points, nine rebounds and three assists) at 57 percent from all over the floor and lit up the glass with 14-6 in rebounds. The Flames fought back in the second through Porter (23 points and seven rebounds) and Poto (16 points and nine rebounds) as they brought it back to 25-40 at the half.
The “Championship” quarter influenced by Whittle (eight points and nine rebounds) and Phillips (16 points and seven rebounds) saw the Lightning with a 52-64 and a comfortable 12 point lead with one to go. Both teams opened the flood gates in the final term as Sydney tried to open the game up to get back into it. The Lightning were having none of that as they matched them bucket for bucket led by Captain Woosnam (13 points and eight rebounds) and claimed their fifth championship in their club history.
Key Matchups
Izzy Borlase vs Tiana Mangakahia/Ally Wilson
Borlase inserted into the starting five has given the Lightning an increase at both ends of the floor and chemistry on the court. Since the departure of Kierstan Bell – she’s averaged 12 points, 2.3 rebounds and playing at the two and three position given the Lightning a different look at both ends of the floor.
Mangakahia meanwhile who had a quiet 15 points last time they met at the Lighthouse has been a big contributor for the Flames in recent matches. She’s logged 15, 10 and 15 in their last three games and needs to drop another 15 plus points for the Flames to be competitive in this one.
Wilson for the Spirit has been quietly accumulating under coach Kennedy Kareama – despite the Spirit’s recent decline of 0-3. She’s averaging 13 points per game along with 3.5 rebounds and 3.25 assists and will need to keep producing for the Spirit to get their team back on track after some spirit-breaking losses to Flyers, Boomers and Wednesday night’s upset to the Caps.
Jacinta Monroe vs Hannah Sjerven/Anneli Maley
Monroe is a must have in this year’s Lightning lineup and against both teams is the key to going 2-0 this week. Since her return against the Lynx – she’s produced an average a double double of 22 points and 10 rebounds. Her presence and smarts have allowed the Lightning offence to flow as well as stop the influence of the bigs at the defensive end for opposition.
A big that needs to fire for the Flames is Sjerven. A role player that simply needs to find her groove. She’s tracking north in her contributions with nine and six points in recent games as well as five rebounds in her last three outings. Against Monroe though – the Flames need her to double figure here in either category or at least prevent Monroe from impacting if they are to cause an upset.
Speaking of impacting – Maley monstered the Lightning memorably last time with 19 points and 24 rebounds! Its obvious but that can’t happen again and Monroe, Talbot and Borlase will need to spend some time on her at the defensive end to prevent giving up another nine offensive boards again…
THREE QUESTIONS TO STRIKE ON
What did the win against Fire mean for the Lightning?
Not a huge amount right now in terms of record but huge in the context of season’s end. They are now tied 1-1 with the Fire but still have a big gap to make up as well taking care of the teams around them in the Flames and Lynx. It starts with rolling for 2-0 this week which sets up potentially a Fire team with a 7-4 record (with a win over the Flames likely) and the Lightning at 6-8.
Then it comes down to a huge game on the Friday night 20 January – where the Lightning could get even closer by claiming the series 2-1 and moving to 7-8 with the Fire then 7-5 and then it gets real interesting in the final weeks.
Are the Flames all just Willoughby?
For much of the season yes but now they are starting to play some good quality WNBL basketball under Heal. Much like the Lightning their competitiveness has been there against teams with an average losing margin of 10.6 points whilst beating the bottom of the table Caps twice in back-to-back games. The WNBA import in those losses had 22 points (with three other Flames in Shyla Heal, Mangakahia and Keely Froling), 10 points (with Heal and Froling in double figures) and 16 points (with Heal and Mangakahia in double figures).
Its shows while there is a reliance on the star player – shutting just her down doesn’t equate to keeping the Flames out of contest.
Who’s the bigger danger Saturday – Griffin or Maley?
It’s like choosing your favourite child – you can’t split it. Griffin came up big down the stretch while the MVP of last season destroyed the Lightning on the glass last time gifting the Spirit 23 second chance points.
Keeping both quiet is ideal but you have to lean slightly towards Maley given her recent form – but KG 23 needs to clamped down as well.
So who wins?
The Lightning showed against the Fire they can play the full forty minutes to compete and while they should take care of the Flames at home with favourable matchups – it will be no easy assignment given how competitive Heal’s Flames have been in recent times.
Saturday is a flip of the coin but the Spirit will be coming in on a shock 0-3 streak and be hungry to jump back into outright third as they chase the Flyers in second. The Lightning can really make a statement making the WNBL ladder real interesting and given what happens tonight I’ll leave my prediction for Saturday night ready to update below on the day of the game.
Update for Friday
The Lightning will rue that particular game on Thursday night letting it slip in the second half and even though they did – they could reverse it Saturday night against the Spirit.
It all comes down to the start like they did against several teams but weathering the storm of strong defence and offence has been difficult for the Lightning in WNBL 23. Containing that no doubt has led to a majority of their close competitive losses so addressing that will be key moving into the future but I’m not sure (and of course I’m hope they are wrong) that will be enough to overcome the Spirit…
COD Prediction: Lightning by 18 points over Flames and Spirit by 8 points
CROSS OVER DRIBBLE 