SEQ by double figures - until Monty and LJ return then they will factor IMO. Lightning getting a big challenge this week.

Far worse than just an illness for LJ.
According to John Tuxworth:
"Yep Lauren Jackson is out for another month with a knee strain. Will update this later in day. More news coming with this I hear"

Haven't heard any news on Montgomery but she was supposed to arrive either Tuesday or yesterday, so fingers crossed that they can start easing her into the lineup from tonight (... or just throw her straight into the deep end with 40 minutes)

These issues that the WNBL have with their live scores are annoying and pretty embarrassing too. With no broadcast deal in place, people are more reliant than ever on the live scores, and they are failing regularly.
Tonight's one froze at half time and has been stuck there ever since.

Game is over now - SEQ converting a 10 point half time lead into a huge 95-58 win.

Would be nice if the WNBL could at least tweet a score each quarter when their website fails :-/

Ditto above posts re the Livestats demise and the absence of a TV deal.

Good win though for the Stars, Canberra were probably gutted by that LJ news.

Wow Payne was on Fire! Huge game and amazing shooting. That's was some easy money I made tonight!

Boxscore is fixed now:
http://www.fibalivestats.com/u/wnbl/137231/

Great to see Nads have a game like that after what she's been through over the last year.


Article about Lauren:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/basketball/canberra-capitals-play-down-lauren-jackson-injury-setback-after-another-loss-20151022-gkfs6i.html

LJ is a great player but I'm not sure why so many think she can be Canberra's saviour, she hasn't played in a long time and our league is better than ever, much better than when she played in it last time. Both the Stars and the Fire would have beaten Canberra even with LJ at her best, doubt she could make 40pts difference in a match anymore.

Lauren Mansfield with a near triple-double! She's looking the goods early.

Yes, she is a good pick-up for the Stars. A great SEABL season with Reece Potter's Launceston Tornadoes meant she started the WNBL season in peak fitness. It's a wonderful chance for her to develop further working with the quality players on the Stars roster.

I don't know about tonight's game? No Clydesdale means that Rangers back-court might struggle a bit, whilst with Gabe Richards doubtful Spirit's front court might struggle against those Rangers bigs. And if Gabe doesn't play, Rangers become almost unbackable favourites.

Sounds like you'll be jumping on board the Rangers at -6.5 points then?
Head to head it's $1.32 - $3.25

I got money on Bendigo, If Griffin plays well they have a chance in every game they play.

The thing about the Spirit this season IMO, is that, if they are to reach the post-season at all, Griffin, Richards, Snell and Kelly Wilson will all have to play major minutes and produce consistently high performances in virtually every game. That's a big ask.

Big win to Dandy, Snell shoots 1 of 11, that wont get you a win.

Fire $1.03, Lightning $10.00

Fire still feel like great value to me at that price :p


Flames $1.35, Boomers $3.01

One slip-up against an on-fire Louella Tomlinson shouldn't see Melbourne out that far IMO. They're a fairly shallow team but I love their starting 5.
But tonight I think the Flames front line should be too much for Melbourne to handle. Livvy & Elyse are going to need to work their arses off and also stay out of foul trouble, which is a huge ask against the class of Swords & Tinkle.
I think Kunek is crucial for the Boomers in this one. If she plays aggressively and is on target, and the bigs can hold their own, they can win this. But I still like the Flames.


No odds on Sportsbet for Spirit-Caps.
I don't like Canberra. Never have. Hope they cop another hiding :p Pretty confident that it won't be close. Carn Spirit!

Yeah $3 not bad for the Boomers. I lost money on Bendigo this week, not much only $10, to be honest I was never that confident but their price was good. Waiting for my Rugby bets to come in before I bet on WNBL again, probably next week.
GO All Blacks!

Flames-Boomers was neck-and-neck for the first half, but Sydney gradually pulled away to get the win by 7 despite Swords' foul trouble.
Massive games by Tupaea & Ebzery for Sydney, and Madgen & Penaluna for Melbourne. Sounds like a beauty.

Caps gave the Spirit a serious scare until a 24-9 4th quarter got Bendigo home by 11. Talbot huge but not enough help. Griffin & Richards too much to handle.

Fire in the process of blowing the Lightning off the court as expected. 57-24 at half time

Graf will just blame injuries again, really she is a great coach....yeah right!

Holy sheeeeeet ... 88-30 at the final break :O

Both teams have missed 8 3-pointers.
Pity Adelaide have only attempted 8. Townsville have launched 19.

104-41 to the Fire! Did the lightning even show up?

Lightning were better off with the Marino's.

Shooting % for adel and fire explains a bit

Unfortunate as it is for Spirit fans and creditors, there were 250k plus compelling reasons for the departure en masse of Blicavs, Penaluna, Roberts, Garrick and Lavey.

A strong win for Bendigo against an improving Canberra team. Steph Talbot's performances have been really eye-catching amidst the turmoil, and won't have escaped the attention of the Opals HC.

Despite there first up surprise defeat, life is all rainbows, sunshine and lollipops for the Townsville Fire!! Quite a leisurely front-end to their season schedule. For Adelaide, mere survival and instituting their new management model might continue to be their biggest wins.

It was a great game at Brydens Stadium last night. The venue had apparently been declared a 'defence free zone' for the evening. Among a host of great performances, Tahlia Tupaea produced a staggering career best.

You sure you read that right? It's correct now (-7.5) but if you got on them at +7.5 well done!
Rangers $1.25, Lynx $3.75.


I don't think I've seen this before:
$1.01 is too generous for SEQ against the Lightning today, so Sportsbet have them at $1.005 instead. Ouch!
Based on that it seems wrong that Adelaide are paying only $17. I'd be wanting $50+ I reckon.

Not WNBL but I may as well put it here ...

Cambage hasn't taken long to get back into the swing of things in China.
A flurry of games to start off their season, and she got
* 31 & 7 last weekend
* 25 on Tuesday
* 22 & 18 on Thursday
* 40 & 13 yesterday

Solid game for Penny yesterday too with 19 points & 8 steals in a 1 point win.

No Pickrel for Dandenong?

Sami Whitcomb you're a legend

Yes outstanding

Blicavs very good for Rangers by the stats, but a gritty home win for the Lynx, who are doing just fine.

Yeah, Blicavs was indeed very good.
I'm not quite sure about this point-forward role they've got her playing atm. She's a good passer but I don't know that you want her spending too much time with the ball in her hands. It's great to see her developing as a player though. Always had potential but I felt she was stagnating a bit lately. Playing under Larissa really seems to be working for her.

Not sure why Pickrel didn't play today. Did she pick up an injury in the Spirit game?

Yeah those 9 boards in 25 minutes were useless to us yesterday

... and the other golden rule is that they are 4 games into the season, so let's not get too carried away just yet. Perth have has good starts to the season before and then completely failed to go on with it.
It should also be noted that both our home wins have come against teams with quality players missing. (Cox & Swords for Sydney, and Pickrel, Cunningham & Clydesdale for Dandenong)

I had the Lynx as a preseason playoff chance. Any team except Adelaide and Canberra could make the playoffs...great tight season again.

"We can't take player who can dos little bit here and there we need 12 players who can dominate on a world stage."

Unless FIBA are introducing an increase in the number of balls on the court the players who fill roles to allow others to shine are just as important as those who can dominate.