Ouch! 75-40 at the last break.
Fire have more O-boards than Caps have D-boards. That doesn't happen much to Tolo & Ruef.

Did not see that margin coming at all.. Wow. Townsville look to be coming along nicely now, so the Caps would want to find some form quickly or else they'll fall behind in the race to the 4.

For those interested the Boomers are streaming their game tonight through the following link; https://iframe.dacast.com/b/14506/c/420126

Lightning serving it right up to the Boomers so far

Live stream link
https://www.facebook.com/DeakinUniversity/

He's 33-37 and has signed a 3 yr extension

Hopefully the boomers board see some sense and utilise any out clause that may enable them to get a new coach

I'd suggest that next time Bendigo's players all disperse for the holidays, they come back a little earlier than they did this year, because yikes, that was embarrassing.

With Tenaya Phillips back from injury we were finally able to set the dogs loose on defence, and the result was the best Lynx D I've seen since last season, but that doesn't excuse the Spirit's sloppiness. The 41 point margin was flattering.

This league never fails to deliver with the surprises does it..

Good on Adelaide for getting a win on the board, albeit I wish it wasn't against the team I support. It's just that sort of year for the Boomers it seems. I'm a little perplexed why Bygate only got 3 or so minutes and Bowen getting none at all. I'd have thought Jess's height and Bowen's pressure on the boards would have been useful to the team especially when Roberts was plucking points and boards from over our heads left right and center. I also have no clue why the coach had Kunek sitting on the bench for just about the whole last quarter - she was their highest scorer and I thought she was one of their best defenders last night.

I think the issue with the Boomers is the lack of height, they have good outside scorers but when they go inside they get absolutely dwarfed, likewise on the defensive end - they have to crowd the paint to avoid the bigs getting easy looks but it opens up the perimeter and gives the opposition just about uncontested looks. Sometimes Smart tries a bit too hard to force her shot, it's good she drives to the paint, but I think sometimes it would be better to get the ball back out to girls like Kunek or Garrick who are often left wide open by their opponent when that happens as opposed to forcing a heavily contested shot.

Geez I wish that Lynx/Spirit game was streamed. Anyone know what happened to Harrington? She didn't even get 2 minutes to her name after starting..

Harrington apparently went into the game with an existing injury concern. She started, but I guess it was evident straight away that it wasn't going to be right so she was subbed off again very quickly and took no further part in the game (which really hurt the Spirit in terms of just advancing the ball and getting into their offence, because the Lynx ball pressure was intense)

I really liked the former american import the boomers had (red hair not that tall but played the 5, hurt her knee)- she has a great work ethic and could play.

The boomers issue isn't just lack of height, it's lack of belief between coach and players, poor coaching and selection and the only thing that will change that is changes to coaching panel and/or roster. They have some great players who by rights "should" be able to bring home way more wins than they do, watching these games it's not so much the opponent out plays them, it's boomers underplay themselves, Molloy IMO is their biggest hinderance, and his assistants are not much better, that's if he even bothers to listen to them.
Frankly I think Chante Black though not a great player saw the writhing on the wall,
Shame really as the club itself sets the bar high when it comes to promoting not just their own team but the WNBL itself.
Hope they can fix this for next year as a lot of people stuck their necks out to keep this club going.

Ditto. I don't like seeing any club struggle like this. Boomers have a tradition of doing well with limited resources, but now when it seems that they've got the front office in good order and some good support in the community, the results on the court have fallen away. Very unfortunate timing.
In a comp of this quality you don't have to be far off the pace to end up with a bad record.

Replacing Black with Keane was just weird though. It's pretty clear that this team lacks a good rebounder in the middle who can defend the many other quality bigs that are running around the league this season.

Anyway having said all that I'm very pleased for the Lightning. Pity they have to play again today because they deserved a celebratory drink or two after finally breaking the drought.

The solution to the Boomers lack of height is sitting in their front office.
Start getting LJ fit and ready for next season. If Kennedy from the Rangers can get back after having 3 kids and being mid 30's surely LJ can as well.

LJ isn't coming back anytime soon. She's completely cooked and done.

So, 3 teams had an extra week of holidays before returning to action:
- Canberra: Got smashed by 30+
- Bendigo: Got smashed by 40+
- Dandenong: Currently trailing Adelaide by 15 at half time!
Luckily for them the Lightning played last night so will likely fatigue in the 2nd half.

Lightning hangs on! What a weekend for them.
Roberts huge again, as was Maley.

One week perth gets smashed, and the next they are the ones doing the smashing. You can see that the WNBL is all over if Perth puts the wins together. No other team comes close.

Sydney absolutely dismantled us in our own building a week ago - and they still have Snell to come back - so you can't say that no other team comes close to us.
At our best we're good I agree, but we are very vulnerable especially in the front court. We get very little rebounding from the 3 spot this season, and we've got very little off the bench behind Hamblin & Mijovic at the 4 & 5.

I'm not going to read too much into last night's win. That same opponent did a number on us a few weeks ago despite Sami scoring 39. Last night they were visibly rusty and without their starting PG.

Next round we are @ Sydney Uni. That will reveal more about whether we're for real or just flat track bullies.
Last night's win takes us to 2-4 vs top 4 teams.

Rangers needed to use their players better, they have probably the deepest bench in the league and yet when andersons starters are flat as tacks she refuses to look to her bench.
That hurt them today wonder if they will learn from this

2 Adelaide Lightning players in the WNBL Team of the Week!
First time anyone from Adelaide has made it since Hodges in round 1, I believe. Nice way to cap off a memorable round for the team.

Round 13 Team of the Week
- Tayla Roberts - Adelaide Lightning (who is also Player of the Week)
- Colleen Planeta - Adelaide Lightning
- Sami Whitcomb - Perth Lynx
- Ruth Hamblin - Perth Lynx
- Amy Kame - Townsville Fire

Hamblin is the first Perth player not named Whitcomb to make TOTW this season.