Spirit Vs Lynx definitely game of the round, on recent form Spirit as certainly in better form than the Lynx & probably should win at home tonight.

Cracker of a game rn with 1 quarter to go!

That was great. A probable grand final match up. How Perth, or any team will stop Bendigo twice in a row I'm not sure. Culture of both teams looks pretty good from the outside. Few teams with some hard match ups this week, and I’d assume the ladder will begin to form more lines in it. Can the Flyers get off the bottom of the ladder?

Pretty strong first 3 quarters by the Lynx, but when the game was on the line we got Whitcombed pretty hard.
2nd spot not out of reach for the Fire now.

Don't panic Luuuc there is no way Fire is catching Lynx for 2nd spot, Sami was definitely good but certain Lynx players didn’t follow the scout (LA) by playing in drops action when Sami comes off any P N R action! It was sheer laziness by LA & left Lynx guards (AW & SG) battling to get over the best screener in the WNBL (MT). Ally Wilson was pretty special & again put on a dominant display in her old gym, Lynx certainly needed more offensive input from Maley who only contributed 4 points for the game but did rebound strongly as usual with her relentless effort & energy.

A few more shots could have dropped, but I felt it was the defensive end that cost us. Spirit's 51% from three was exceptional, but so many of those were wide open looks after defensive breakdowns that it can't be dismissed as a lucky shooting night. It was high quality offence that we dealt poorly with. (and that was without Kelly Wilson)
A good learning game anyway.
I wish LA could eliminate the pointless fouls from her game, like her first one last night, because they regularly seem to cost her stints on the bench that we can't afford. Need more than 23 minutes from her.

It's Perth's recent form overall that makes me think #2 is far from locked in though, not just a road loss to the #1 team.

We play @ Townsville on the last day of the regular season, and the series between the 2 teams is 1-1 atm. I guess time will tell whether that's a dead rubber or not.

Bendigo missed a number of wide open shots in the first half, too.

The skipping on the 9Now broadcast of Geelong v Sydney is unwatchable for me. Anyone else?

Not skipping for me. Very much enjoying this game. George has quit on her team nice & early

I don't understand why Molloy leaves her on

Usually 27 points at a great %, 17 boards, 4 blocks won't get you benched in a hurry.
What'd she so? (or not do) - I didn't get to see it.

Jaz with another nice line again.

That is probably the best I think Geelong have played. Players seem to be finding a groove. Can they test Bendigo? That will be a very tall order for them, but I would love to see it.
Perth V Southside should be a one sided affair. Probably won't watch.
I’m actually interested in how Adelaide go against this sydney team now. Surely super coach can get a win?

Swain seemed off tonight? Obviously got into some foul trouble. Injured maybe?

Georga was amazing, she didn't let her team down at all, in fact she kept her team in the game and was superb.

I think Swain is still finding the balance between taking the right shot vs heaving up shots as she is a volume shooter.

If you go back (3rd quarter) & watch when the game went from a 2 point margin to a 15 point margin in the blink of an eye, a lot of it was due to sloppy play from George.

In her defence, she's no doubt tired. She’s mid 30’s & playing 36+ minutes every game, same as expecting Kunek to play 40 minutes over & over. George regrouped in the 4th but the damage was done.

Brilliant game from Shelley last night. Her hands on defence are elite. And she's doing an excellent job controlling the tempo. Geelong ran Flames off their feet especially in 3rd quarter. Potter, Jones, Sharp all dominant. I don't rate Sydney though. Obviously Bendigo on Sunday is a huge test.

How bad must Cochran & McD-White be (in Seebolms eyes at least) to still be on the bench with 4 minutes to go when you've been up by close to 30 for a very long time.

Lynx have zero commitment to play defense! Petrik's plan of having both Atwell & Sowah in the starting 5 hasn’t worked & recalling Gorman for defensive purposes should be done immediately.

Unlike Maley to rush a shot late and give the Flyers time to go down the other end and score on the buzzer.

Problems run deeper than that, but I don't disagree.
Super lazy & dumb first half by the Lynx.

(prev post was responding to SamCro)
Handing the flyers 2 points when we had no need to give them the ball at all was the icing on the dumbcake.

Won't be too critical of Maley overall since she was one of 2 Lynx that made a positive impact that half.

Flyers have got some quality players. We're acting like they'll just beat themselves.
No excuse for that garbage.

@Luuuc

Can you elaborate? Regarding things running deeper?

@Bigboy, I wasn't meaning to imply anything nefarious, just that we were bad, on-court, in so many ways.

Ally Wilson really in a purple patch of form at present & thankfully her output in the first half kept Lynx somewhat in the game until LA, Atwell & Sowah finally decided to join the party late! Petrik definitely needs to work with the Lynx around some strong consistent set of defensive principles & limiting the dumb turnovers as well.

No shortage of things to work on at practice next week, that's for sure.

We're very lucky to have escaped with a win, and are certainly not playing the level of basketball that is going to win playoff games at the moment.
Still time to turn it back around of course.

Handing the flyers 2 points when we had no need to give them the ball at all was the icing on the dumbcake.

Won't be too critical of Maley overall since she was one of 2 Lynx that made a positive impact that half.

Remember when the Adelaide team had the coach fired because that was why they were not performing?
Me too.
Olympians, future Olympians, WNBA talent; there is no way this team should be that bad. Dismantle and send Nat Hurst a card that says 'Turns out it wasn't you, it was me’.
Can they make up a 22pt deficit with 1 period to play?With that talent, yes. Will they? I’ve seen this movie before.

Looks like this will be five consecutive losses for Ninnis.

What's his overall record as coach since taking over the Lightning?

Who is coaching Adelaide today ? Wnbl website states - Coach: N. Hurst Assistant: S. Ninnis, M. Clarke ?

Yeah, I wasn't exactly expecting a late playoff charge by the Lightning or anything, but this has been a disaster right from the start.

If Borlase was thinking of using this season to launch her WNBA career then it might be worth reconsidering. It feels like she has gone backwards, unfortunately.

Agree re Borlase - whereas I have seen constant improvement in Puoch.

Talbot looks so disinterested in this game. Would live to see her move on or try Europe next season.

Lightning under Ninnis

v SSF: W (+10)
@ SYD: W (+13)
v BEN: L (-28)
v CAN: L (-11)
@ PER: L (-18)
@ CAN: L (-15)
@ SYD: L (-24)

Ninnis was coaching. Just another poor error on the WNBL website.

The scoreline flatters Adelaide if anything. Woeful effort.

Thanks Luuuc that's not good. I remembered Ninnis winning his first two games as coach of the Lightning but was hoping there might've been another win or two in there before this five game losing streak. Not exactly building his case for another NBL coaching job.

Adelaide Lightning = Great Pretender! Can't believe Talbot was talking in the pre-game interview about WNBL Finals possibility & then serve up that garbage! Borlase has gone away from her strengths & subsequently her form has definitely gone backwards this WNBL Season.

Ninnis lacks energy, appears to have no idea what he's doing. Which makes sense, considering he’s never coached women. I wonder what excuses Boti will make for him this week.

Hard to predict final spot in the 4 atm. Geelong looking alot better of late but not a great schedule.

Ninnis lacks energy, appears to have no idea what he's doing. Which makes sense, considering he's never coached women.

Not great is right.
Spirit twice, Fire and Lynx still on their schedule.

Although Sydney have Lynx and 2 x Fire on theirs.

Ninnis lacks energy, appears to have no idea what he's doing. Which makes sense, considering he's never coached women.
It's still the same sport.

So you don't think it matters whether a male coach has experience coaching women to be a WNBL HC? And, by the same token, a female coach wouldn’t need to have experience coaching men to be an NBL HC?

Great effort by Geelong for first half but Spirit put the foot on the throat after that, Griffin took the game by the horns and Whitcomb took a bit of a backseat but got the job done in the end.

Yeah Geelong showed some good fight, but too loose with it while the Spirit were just clinical.
I'm enjoying them lately. Hope they can keep the playoff race interesting.

Kelly Wilson needed 1 assist to become the all time league assist leader. She dished out 10 just to be sure.

Kelly Wilson is HER!! Unbelievable career! Gearing up for her 5th WNBL title this season, if Bendigo keep tracking like they are

Despite the loss, how much better does Geelong's offense look without their marquee (?) player in K Froling. It’s just a black hole whenever she’s on the floor - never seen a shot she doesn’t like - and now players like Hank and Shelley get a chance to show what they’re capable of. This

Always interesting to see who the league picks for Team of the Week and Player of the Round.

In the biggest game for a while, Whitcomb went 29p 10r 4a to take down the Lynx and all but guarantee the Spirit top spot. She followed it up with a not too shabby 21p 6a in the win over Geelong.
I was thinking she's a good shot for Player of the Round. She didn't even make Team of the Week, which is Shelley, George, Woods, Wilson, Griffin.

It also irks me that 'Player of the Round' is for a player's single game performance, not their entire round- worst case was Collier getting it when she had a 20-20 in one game and fouled out without scoring (I think) in the other.
If that's what they want to do, call it 'Performance of the Round'!

George has quit on her team nice & early

I don't understand why Molloy leaves her on

Wow! Make it make sense

George also had 8 TO, 2 more than Whitcomb had across 2 games! Wonder who actually makes the decision and be fun to hear them justify it. Only exceptional thing George did was haul in 14 DR's but when the oppo goes 6-25 from 3 and you play 36+ minutes you will get a few DR's. Maybe one player from each team goes into a lucky dip?

Add to that having the Breakout Player of the Year (Most Improved) instead of having a Rookie of the Year and the Breakout Player .

Criteria is completely different yet last year they had Conti , previously nominated multiple Breakouts and Issie Bourne first year in the League , doesn't make sense .

Will be nice when BA are gone and hopefully someone who knows something about the game is in charge .