Would be great to see the Caps take it to the Lynx tonight, could turn it in to a good old fashioned shoot out if they're on.

Caps a little too on for my liking!

hahaha, I bet! Great game so far!

hopefully McDonald's injury isn't as bad as they're thinking it is. The league needs her on the court!

What's the word on it?

Fun crowd. Between the Melbourne, Sharp & Clark connections there's no shortage of caps support in the building.

they said it's her knee & that it is looking serious

Atwell is unconscious!! 7 of her last 8 3's! Making a case for Brazil, surely

Bloody good win, Lynx.

Though that could be a season-killing injury :'(

The Veal coaching performance the last 4 mins of the 2nd quarter, including Melbourne then picking up her 4th foul, and then the poor time out. That was the game done there.

Have to wonder if she knows how to game coach at all, ditto for the Brisbane Bullets coach.

WNBL game far superior to the NBL game.

Melbourne's 4th was interesting. At the time I thought it was only her 3rd, and so did both Melbourne & Veal as they both remonstrated pretty vigorously with the refs & score bench when the "4" paddle went up. So assuming it was correct it caught everyone by surprise.

Caps played pretty well I thought. Bonus for them not having to deal with McDonald of course, but for the most part I liked the way they went about it. When your floor leader is 21yo of course there are going to be some ups & downs but I feel like they're on the right track given how lacking they are in inside presence.

I was at the game and thought she only had 3 as well. Was surprised to see the 4 paddle come up

Watching the broadcast now. Was that with a minute left in the second? Commentary said she had three, but there seemed to be quite a bit of debate with the score bench at the time.

The incessant use of the baseline angles on replays is bizarre.

Awesome game, I thought she had 3 too. Not on Veal to know that anyway, that's on the AC’s.

After looking at the live stats, it was definitely her fourth. She picked up her second and third within ten seconds at around three minutes left in the second.

Mcdonald <=======> Heal ????

That idea makes quite a lot of sense.


And yet ...
Do not want.

Yikes! Is that the only bridge that hasn't been burned?

Actually no, that bridge is also burned.
Remember, Heal bailed on her 2 year deal with the Lynx after 1 year.

Import PG > Heal

Did not know that Luuuc, toxic. If Canada & McDonald are anything to go by, that's true Weedy

Madgen a non starter again vs TSV. Has to be a real doubt for Opals tour in February. Probably good for Rocci or Reid .

Was that an offensive foul on Richards (even though Reid was clearly inside the no charge zone) because she passed it instead of shooting it? As in if she shot it, it would've been a block?

If Reid was in the charge circle, then it wasn't a charge. However, that doesn't make it a blocking foul as she was within her cylinder.

She was definitely in the no charge zone and they called an offensive foul. Richards passed it so I wondered if that was why. A similar thing happened in a game last round, might've been Rocci, passed it & they called a charge even though the D was inside the halo

The FIBA rules refer to an 'airborne' offensive player, so if it's a drive and dish without becoming airborne (as opposed to jumping as if to shoot and then passing once airborne) then maybe the no-charge zone doesn't apply?

That seems to be the case DMc

Montesano's commentary was inept as usual.

How many times did she use the expression 'early doors'. If it was more than 7, it's a PB!

Gutsy win. Swain out for the entire season, Madgen there in spirit only, Emma Clarke very strong game. Sets up an interesting clash with the Lynx for the faltering Fire.

Thank god they had Larissa Anderson doing the guest commentary to make it listenable. Montesano actually had an ok-ish night the other week which gave me some hope but she was back to being insufferable tonight.

Sets up an interesting clash with the Lynx for the faltering Fire.

Wide open comp now with all the injuries.

Nice timing - the Lynx just posted an Aari update, which is about as good as we could have hoped

AARI UPDATE
Aari suffered a knee injury in our game vs UC Capitals on Wednesday.
Scans revealed she suffered a mild tear, and we expect her back on the court in early February.
Aari is the ultimate professional. She has begun rehab and continues to support her teammates before they hit the road to Townsville.
We wish Aari a speedy recovery and can't wait to welcome her back!

Aari has got to be the most fun player in the league tl watch - I was worried she was done for the season.

That's great news for all parties (player,team,League,fans).

did the storms affect Townsville much ?

McDonald not back till early Feb, not sure that's good news...

8 missed games + fiba break.
Only 2 regular season games after that.

Probably need to win 6 of the 10 to make finals.

Bendigo have to be regretting the Ruth Davis for Meg McKay exchange this year! Davis has been an absolute liability on both ends of the floor this year...

I don't know how any team didn't give McKay a contract - even outside of Bendigo. Agree with you SamCro. She is definitely a good back-up big in this ieague.

I know that other teams, including Townsville tried to sign McKay, who is enjoying life in Bendigo... but no offer from Bendigo. They put all their faith in KG and an impressive but ageing Kelly Wilson and a range of others from elsewhere. Seriously lacking size (apart from Froling who has been great today) and Meg would lap up that spot.

Very nice win by the Spirit. Blew their lead & got it back again late.
Boomers underwhelming.

It seems like a lot of funds are in the hands of older players who are unlikely to finish a season.... KG, Madgen who has hardly played, George who has been out of form etc…. I know teams focussed on youth are struggling, but wonder about the balance of youth and potential vs experience and players carrying injuries and focussed on next season overseas somewhere… tough balance

It seems like a lot of funds are in the hands of older players who are unlikely to finish a season.... KG, Madgen who has hardly played, George who has been out of form etc…. I know teams focussed on youth are struggling, but wonder about the balance of youth and potential vs experience and players carrying injuries and focussed on next season overseas somewhere… tough balance

If anyone out there can understand KK's substitution patterns, please inform the rest of us. I’m definitely in the camp of Alabakov replacing KK next season...

I don't think teams are "focused on youth" by choice. It is usually forced upon them by budget. (I can't imagine many teams would choose not to have a couple of Opals on their roster if given the choice!)

Bendigo lowballing McKay is odd though I agree.
Madgen, who is perennially injured, is still a player most teams would want to have on their roster. The question is how much do you derate her salary based on the number of games she realistically likely to be available for.
Very hard to judge which players are or aren't overpaid without knowing their salaries of course. Maybe some people do ... I don't.
(Not that anyone in this league is actually overpaid. Some are just less underpaid than others)

Agree with all of the comments about payments, one of the reasons that players elect not to sit at the end of a bench and await their chances is that they simply can't afford to live on the base salary. Watching Southside v Lightning.... Huge contrast in ages etc. I am all for LJ playing as long as she likes. Working harder than ever, does such a lot for the game etc, but Mitchell, Ernst? You’d like to think there are younger players who could develop using those minutes.

Luuuc - Bendigo didn't lowball McKay, there was no offer made at all to McKay. KK wanted to go in a different direction with Ruth Davis, Kelsey Griffin & Alicia Froling as his preferred Bigs. In hindsight I’d preferred McKay over Davis, Davis doesn’t look interested & has a subpar work rate as well.

Adelaide struggling. Wrong decision by KK. Maybe change needed, but yes McKay should be on a team.

Turner was awesome til foul trouble - was answering Flyers height advantage. When Turner had to come off Adelaide hardly got a D or O board. Bourne was very good against taller players. Willoughby very good. Ernst shot well for flyers. LJ has still got it. Borlase and Puoch both different styles of game and both will be great players - so a very Penny Taylor style of game with Borlase. Both teams with some tired shots in the last quarter. Adelaide just didn't have the match up height when Turner off to challenge in the paint. Good crowd, some talented players on the court - didn't feel like a 25 point difference.

Turner with some highlight reel moves in the first half. Scored and got back in trans to block a shot - so quick.

I'd pump the brakes on the Borlase comparison with Penny Taylor, Taylor was always able to shoot the 3 ball, Borlase isn’t very consistent from that range at all. Taylor was also a very good defender & at times Borlase dials in her efforts at the defensive end...

I thought it definitely felt like a 25 point game, particularly the second half. Coach didn't try anything new.

Tough day at the office for lightning when Flyers go 10/15 from 3. Willoughby had her best game of the season though, maybe she'll get going now

Mckay was taking a year off...

Next season should be better, lots of college players to choose from.
Need to move on a few coaches though…

Who's on your list to go Weedy? And, who are your potential replacements?

If Mark Alabakov gets a coaching gig, does that mean he no longer commentates? If that's the case, he gets my vote.... There is a difference between commentating to support the entertainment value and constantly wanting to critique coaching decisions and provide super technical details. He just doesn’t make it fun.

I think Alabakov is definitely one of the better commentators around, would take him over Chizik, Graf & Cole!

Each to their own I guess. I find him to be one of the few insightful callers we get.

Lynx doing well to hang in this one so far.

Alabakov deserves his shot over kereama.
Chambers been around way too long, time to move on.
Would not surprise me if veal goes elsewhere, Goriss gets his gig back.
Hurst, Lucas could be gone, maybe, maybe not.
Molloy, I don't get it... how he got the flames job and remains the nz coach, I don’t understand.

Seebohm, Petrik are safe.

I don't agree that Veal will leave, she’s loved at Caps & has set up a young roster that are at least partly there to work with her. Chambers has a good record, I don’t see Flyers moving her on, too young to retire, so unless she’s looking for a new adventure she’ll still be in teal.

Agree on Lucas & Molloy. KK can go. I’d like to see Harrower in a HC rôle somewhere & does Anderson deserve a 2nd crack? Also what happened to Flynn? Don’t see Alabakov as a WNBL HC. Agree that if Gorriss wants to, he walks into any open HC role.

Lynx are doing awesome to stay within reach here

My point about Alabakov is that if it was a coaching clinic, he'd be my pick... but to attract and retain new viewers, needs a very different style of commentary. I actually like Graf in that role and when KG retires (surely soon), she would be ideal. Did a great job at World Champs last year.

Up and coming coaches?? Would they come from NBL1 ranks or elsewhere?

Agree CoachGirl, Graf is the best KG was/is great too. Out of the players, Cole does a good job, I like her in the NBL commentary too, much better than the other tokens

We're getting well and truly Sami'd in this 2nd half.

Molloy, I don't get it... how he got the flames job and remains the nz coach, I don't understand.

Weedy ..do your homework
on Alabakov and why chambers dropped him.

What's that got to do with the Bendigo job?

For someone who played with the Lynx for the last 5 years I don't understand how the Lynx players were so slow to react to Whitcomb especially at the 3 point line & constantly allowed Whitcomb just to walk into some rhythm 3 pointers wide open! I assumed the Lynx players would know Whitcomb’s offensive tendencies better than anyone but you wouldn’t have picked it on tonight’s defensive efforts against Whitcomb...

Whitcomb is special tho. The Lynx coaches should know better than anyone how to guard her but of the players, only Atwell, Ciabba, Forster & Clinch-Hoycard are returning players right?

Re: Alabakov, I don't think there's any issue with his insight but he does come across like video game commentary a lot of the time, where it's just detached phrases.

Talks way too much. I don't need the entire play by play explained to me.

Alabakov >>>>>>>>>>> Montesano and whoever was commentating tonight (not Rocci, the other woman).