Anonymous
Years ago
Spirit V Rangers - Three Things I Learned
Spirit extended their dominance over the Rangers with a stifling 59-44 victory. Canadian Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe led all scorers with 18 with Kelsey Griffin contributing 14.
1. I Don't Know What I Am Talking About. Many would say that is not a recent revelation for them. Last week I suggested that the Spirit might need to take a few more from beyond the arc and obviously there is a reason Pritchard is coaching and I am drivelling from row 4 of the stands as they took even fewer and instead utilised a more cohesive offence and a smothering D to consistently get high % shots or easy lay ups on transition. Their depth is a little scary actually. How many games last season would have seen Griffin sit down with 6:40 left in the first quarter and Spirit up by just a point? Gabe Richards, Heather Oliver and new import Blake Dietrick are all coming off the bench.
2. Everything Is Better With Some Nayo On It. Personally I don't like mayo on my chicken wrap/burger but Spirit fans have been served up a tasty treat with the addition of the spring-heeled Canuck (her name is actually pronounced Nigh-oh which ruins the pun a little but who cares). I was a little concerned about how Spirit would guard Hamblin/Hamson (still have some) but it looks like R-E might be able to make up a few of those missing cm's with her leap as she added 14 boards (6 on the O) and a block to her 18 points before taking a well earned early rest in the last quarter.
3. Sara Blicavs Needs To Review Her Notes. A few seasons back Blicavs enthused about how much she was learning in training from KG but it looked like she either didn't read those notes or had lost them as her old mentor gave her a torrid lesson tonight. Griffin gave her absolutely nothing and Blicavs had just a single free throw and four fouls to her name at 3/4 time. She did manage a couple of baskets in the last before fouling out. Not that you can lay all of the blame at her door by any means. Last week Adelaide offence was too concentrated on three players but Dandenong didn't have that problem as they had an even spread, but that is easy to achieve when no player reaches double figures!! Much of the credit goes to the Spirit D though as they switched with manic effectiveness (is that a tautology like government organisation?) At stages Olly found herself isolated down low against Scherf and Mallott but their teammates just couldn't get an open lane to them.
