coaches view
SBL Women v Sunshine Coast Phoenix by Michael Kearney
The young SBL Capitals Women who proudly support the
charity of Young Pink Sisters, headed down to the bay to
play Redlands. The game situation was one where both
teams were in opposite positions on the competition
ladder. Redlands were seeking their first win of the season
and the young Capitals were striving to keep improving and
seeking a top two ladder position.
The Capitals exploded from the first whistle, with
smothering defence and fast transition offence. To take
a 28 to 7-point lead at the end of the 1st qtr. In the 2nd
quarter Capitals rotated through various forms of defence
which continued to frustrate the opposition with Capitals
taking charge of the rebounding they ran out to a 67 to 18
lead at half time.
In the 3rd qtr the Capitals switched to zone defence,
closing off the key and reading skip passes continued to
frustrate and then out run the opposition. The score at ¾
time was 97 to 30 points.
Over the last few weeks of competition, the young
Capitals when in control of games were failing play
out the full four quarters allowing opposition teams to
close the scores. This did not occur against Redlands,
if anything the on-ball pressure and tight zone defence
improved in the final quarter with the Capitals team
running out winners by 93 points. The final score does
not reflect the Redlands team’s spirit as they also played
out the game working hard and scrapping for the boards.
The final score was Capitals 133 to Redlands 40 pts.
QBL Women Brisbane Capitals v Southern Districts by Sue Jarvis
The message heading in to the game from the coaches was
focus and belief. If the team could focus and compete for
four quarters of basketball and hold the belief that they
could win, then the result would take care of itself.
The first quarter was an arm wrestle as both teams worked
to find the weakness in their Opponent’s armour. At the
end of the quarter the Wesley Hospital Women’s Capitals
held a one point advantage at 21-20. The notable statistical
difference being that 8 different Capitals players had
scored compared to the Phoenix with only 3 scorers for the
quarter.
The second quarter saw the lead push out to 8 points by
the end of the half. Coach Marshall found good rotations
off the end of the bench playing 10 players in total in the
game. Two junior players Audrey Fuller and Georgia
Wooley; the latter having just returned from an Australian
selection trial, repaid Coach’s confidence in them by
combining for 3 for 3 from the 3 point line and contributing
9 points from the bench for the quarter.
The third quarter was much the same with our visiting
team extending the lead to 13 points. Phoenix did manage
to get their Australian representative and 3 point specialist
Carlie Smith free for 7 points, including 2 from outside.
Smith was a focus of the scout heading in to the game
and Stacey Howard did an outstanding job containing and
contesting this player on every possession.
Ultimately a player of this calibre is going to score when the
players are designed to get her free. The defense should be
commended for forcing her to miss 13 shots and turn the
ball over 4 times in the game.
The fourth quarter saw Phoenix throw everything at the
Wesley Hospital Brisbane Capitals. Full court and aggressive
trapping defense combined with a willingness to foul and
foul hard saw our girl’s resilience, and the pregame themes
of focus and belief put to the test. The Brisbane
veterans of Dowdell, Woodford, Howard, Parker and
Donders put an end to the Phoenix’ momentum and
closed the contest out with double doubles for both
Dowdell; 22 points and an amazing 18 rebounds, and
Donders; 14 points and 11 assists. Captain Madie Woodford
lead by example with 12 points and 7 assists and Issy Parker
16 points and 3 rebounds. Brisbane’s 4 players scoring
double figures and 9 players scoring overall, compared
to Phoenix with 2 players in double figures, tells the story
of the game where Brisbane’s teamwork and trust in each
other combine
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