thanks Luuuc, it's handy to have this to refer back to as the week progresses.

Why are so many Adelaide Lightning games on ESPN? To quote Steven A Smith, they've been 'hot trash’ to watch!

It's gone without saying for too long: thanks Luuc for putting these threads together.

SamCro, this is their last game on ESPN for the season according to the fixtures I've seen.

Still no swain or Talbot?

Lightning lose again, they should cut Willoughby soon. They actually looked better with Brazel replacing her, I'm not convinced Nat Hurst is their coaching answer...

Adelaide every time to Borlase ,its so obvious . If you are expecting a 19 year old to carry your team there is something wrong with the recruiting and/or Coaching.

Yep, hurst probably not going to last long.

6 players playing
182mins

6 players deeper on the bench
17mins

Basham and Stasinowsky not getting the minutes they deserve.

Hurst still has another year left on her contract. Her coaching style might work better with more talented rosters, but she hasn't produced so far as a head coach.

Stasinowsky isn't up to this level yet, but Basham could potentially provide something. I don't have an issue with her rotations, just her offensive system.

To be fair to Hurst, Adelaide lost to a stacked Sydney team by 2.

Molloy has to be the most overrated coach in Australian history. 1 championship in how many years coaching in the league is way below par. Insanity that clubs keep going back to the same thing and expecting a different outcome.

I think he is well respected and liked by Cayla George, Tess Madgen and few others, so maybe that helps?

I know Hurst just lost to Sydney, but their overall record is 2 and 6 and they would have one of the strongest starting 5 line ups in the competition if they played cohesively. So i guess one loss like this ok, but there are 5 others along the way. The Reid call last week was tough on Adelaide too, no foul there.

Not a solution but would love to see cbr and ade combine. I think you could make a decent roster out of both squads.

Melbourne Borlase Talbot Sharp Bourne Turner Potter Fowler Clark Munger

Do agree that they were probably expecting more production out of Willoughby, especially given it is her second year in the league

If these coaches are going to play half the roster, the wnbl should think about reducing the contracted players to 8 per team. +3 or 4 DPs. Keep the cap the same so that the contracted players can earn a decent salary and make the contracted spots highly sort after.
Add a brisbane team asap, the league is getting stale and the talent pool has dried up with so many in europe + those college kids who decided to stay. Gifting spots to locals and friends and overlooking talent from other states is also a bit frustrating.

What is the WNBL salary cap/ average player wage?

23/24
https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/wnbl-and-players-association-finalise-wnbl-cba-for-2023-24-season/



WNBL 22-23 BUDGET BLACK HOLE
EIGHT CLUBS
Expenditure: $12.081 million
Revenue: $7.089 million
Approximate collective loss: $4.992 million
Average loss per club: $624,000

BA
Expenditure: 2.663 million
Revenue: 2.135 million
Approximate loss: $528,000

WNBL 22-23 PLAYER WAGES
Hard cap: $430,000 11 players, min 10
Soft cap: $350,500
Average player wage: $38,106
Minimum wage: $15,000
Development player: up to 6

Lynx were pathetic in the fourth quarter. Four points?? I know they were playing the bench players but that's got to be one of the worst quarters ever seen in the league.

They were pretty sloppy for most of the game tbh.
A good fightback after being down early, had a lead for a little while, but it was all downhill after that.
A very disappointing way to back up a great road win.

3/27 from the perimeter is a shocker that hopefully won't happen too often, but not all of those misses can be attributed to bad luck. Plenty were just bad attempts.

Caps a chance to get their first win here.

Wow, when I saw the half time score I was thinking regulation win for Sydney coming up.
23-5 is quite the 3rd quarter fightback.

So close, heartbreaking end for Caps

Very heartbreaking for Caps!

Loz Nicholson was outstanding for Sydney tonight and the difference in the game. The referees were again questionable tonight, and excellent grit from the Caps to hang in there.

Sydney finding a way this round to get it done... but looks far from championship quality.

Yeah the refs call way to many fouls, stay out of game. Albeit, I though Jade Melbourne was fouled 3 times at least on her drives to the basket and refs didnt call anything, then as soon as something small happened, they called a foul.

Nicholson was great for Sydney and Madgen.

I missed the start of tonight's game. Who is on the commentary mic?

It was Liam Ellison & Rachel Antoniadou

Looks like Bendigo, Canberra and Adelaide may be out of the finals race (early call). Who makes it out of Sydney and Perth? Top 4 nearly set. Unless Adelaide or Bendigo get on a big run.

Anyone know if Zahui B is suiting up today for Fire?

Adelaide's shooting % very good so far today

Lightning had a great first half, can they hold on til the end though?

Awful first 15 minutes by Perth.
Dragged it back to 7 at the final break, but we'll see whether there is anything left in the tank in the 4th.
Good spread of contributors for Adelaide, led by Willoughby. They're a capable unit when they get going.

Hah, when I wrote "final break" I did think to myself for a moment that it was being ever so slightly presumptuous.
Aari McDonald, take a bow. What a half by her.

Take a 2nd bow, Aari.

Awesome.

McDonald is spectacular!

JD14 looks like you are right re finals teams

Tired caps did well to keep up for a half of basketball. Hope Alice is okay after that nasty fall. Looked like they called her an ambulance straight away.

RECORD AS HC

VEAL - 2W / 27L
HURST - 7W / 23L

Getting off lightly? If this was nbl, they would be gone already...

Little Heal comes in for Kunek , stranger things have happened ????

Bec Allen a better replacement for Kunek... and she has just been released from Spanish club Valencia.

Hi Weedy Slug

Nat Hurst and Kristen Veal (along with Perth) are the only coaches in the league committed to playing younger players. Also, Adelaide and Canberra are two of the more attractive teams to watch.

Maybe the longer-term building of teams might produce wins and championships in the future- provided their developed players aren't then poached by clubs with larger chequebooks.

Both teams have needed finishers at the end of close games. Adelaide is missing Talbot- that might help. Canberra's younger players will learn over time.

They are both on 2 year contracts and we have seen little improvement.
Canberra hierarchy will likely go back to Goriss if this continues.

How on earth can you say Adelaide has one of the most talented starting rosters? I don't see that at all. I think commenters on here are being a little harsh on Hurst, she's lost a bunch of games very narrowly and has a depleted line up. Talbot and Cubillo out for a start. The Adelaide bench is very thin and I think the fact they're so dependent on Borlase, as good as she is, speaks volumes.

Aari fantastic if you just let her go left all night, which was all we saw on Adelaide. Townsville figured out how to guard her and she was very exposed.
The Lynx have a stacked line-up in comparison and only just won it. Is Kunek out long term? What was the result there?

In my mind, Part of Canberra's issues this season is team composition. They are lacking genuine size and production from imports. Just about every team is reliant on either opals squad players or their imports (or both) and caps just don’t have that. That said, I do foresee Sharp, Fowler and Potter having very successful wnbl careers should they choose to stay in the league. You can’t deny the emerging talent and potential on both the Canberra and Adelaide rosters (Bourne + Borlase!!), but I don’t think any other coach would be getting significantly better results when the team doesn’t have the depth, experience or size to compete.

What is the update on Kunek's injury?
and what is the status on Bec Allen returning to Australia? or is it different european club?

RECORD AS HC

VEAL - 2W / 27L
HURST - 7W / 23L

Getting off lightly? If this was nbl, they would be gone already...

I don't disagree with that. I'd be interested in Kereama's record as HC this time and last time. Bendigo look pretty lacklustre and he would be considered somewhat of a veteran coach would he not?

Kereama has a lot of coaching exp at all levels. Apart from big v, he has always floated around that 50% win rate.
Alabakov surely gets his shot if kereama goes.

I would've thought Harrower would be the obvious choice for Bendigo to replace KK with

I don't think the Harrower's and the Bendigo Basketball higher ups get along for whatever reason/s that may be, I'd assume the last year or two of her WNBL playing days would allude to that, in particular the liberal politician Greg Bickley sticking his hands in things.

New ownership since then tho & it's a pro club so why would they care about that? I’m sure she would still have a lot of supporters in the community

Was there an update on Kunek?

Jackson's stats

7 games
16 mins a game
4.9 points
3.3 rebounds
1.1 assists
28.3 - FG %
11.1 - 3 PT %
75 - FT %

She ain’t doing too well...

Was there an update on Kunek?

Townsville socials said she had wrist surgery earlier in the week- no timeline mentioned but if she needed surgery then I dare say it will be more than a couple of games.

Think the commentator said it was unlikely she would make camp. from injury 6 weeks recovery time.