Level of effort by Adelaide is embarrassing.

Maybe Hurst not the key reason for the lightning woes? Bendigo are going to be tough to beat for all teams in this form. But Adelaide absolutely have the cast to compete better than that.

Dean is already a significant loss so fingers crossed for Basham.
But yeah, disappointing game by the Lightning. That 0-20 run in the 1st quarter was horrible.

Watching the game live tonight in Adelaide it's plain to see that Lightning don’t have any real commitment to defense. Sami absolutely lit up Steph Talbot in the 1st quarter which definitely required some defensive changes from Ninnis. Great to see KG get back some real spring & athleticism into her game tonight as she completely mauled the frontline of the Lightning!

They have no faith in their systems. Ninnis coaching someone else's stuff. Should be better next season with a preseason. For the past 2-3 years This has been and still is one of the top 3 rosters in the comp.

What happened to Dean.

She played some minutes in a game and then did not even travel with the team when they played the Flames in Sydney.

Thought maybe she was not happy with minutes and possibly quit.

Lightning had the #1 ranked defense and #8 offense under Hurst. Clearly Ninnis shouldn't be tinkering with one of them!

From what I read a week ago, Dean has a broken finger.

Commentary last night said Dean has a broken metacarpal (commonly caused by punching something, or by doing closed fisted push-ups according to Kevin Love!)

Dean was there last night on the bench. I would be very happy to have her back - a quality PG with a great work rate.

Lightning's shooting at 34% & 33% could not match Bendigo's 41% and 47%.

IMO - Lightnings offence needs a bit more in and out - a lot of 3 point line pressure is exerted on them - some in and out offence will make the D sag.

Spirit played very good - shot extremely well.

Adelaide did not defend the on ball well - blitzed the dribbler but many times Griffen received it easily off the P&R and scored. Maybe the defensive rotations for Lightning were out - often Bendigo had 1 or 2 players wide open on the 3 point line with no defender anywhere near them.

What happened to Dean.

She played some minutes in a game and then did not even travel with the team when they played the Flames in Sydney.

Thought maybe she was not happy with minutes and possibly quit.

Was at last night's game & was really disappointed with the defensive effort by the Lightning.

Surely the new coach could tweak their man to man rules or even add something different to their defensive repertoire. Even running at the 3 point shooters & forcing the drive to the basket, something more than standing there with their hands at their sides.

The team still doesn't look happy to be there it needs to be fixed asap.

Lots of people attended & a lot of comments around effort plays, will have to wait & see

So Lynx v Caps went from a 9.30 broadcast on 9Go to a 9.30 broadcast on 9Gem to delayed to 10am even on 9Now

Much better game by the Caps today. Made us work for that one.

Amihere & Maley huge for Perth.

How underwhelming has Jaz Shelley's form been in the WNBL so far this season? It’s common knowledge she & her Agent placed a big number on signing her this Season which shocked a number of WNBL Teams that were looking to sign her out of College. On current form she shouldn’t really come near any Opal Squads anytime soon until she really elevates her level of play & her sides fortunes.

Agree re Shelley. I enjoyed tonight's game, anyone have an idea as to why Rocci got pulled from the game in the last minute? Thought that was a bit weird, stats said she only had 4 fouls.

Harrower would like Rocci to be more team oriented & increase her assist totals, she wasn't too happy with Rocci’s shot selection prior to subbing her out. Harrower is very high on Loughridge as a PG & distributor & took the opportunity to provide a teachable moment for Rocci & sit her out for the remainder of the game.

Interesting take, considering she'd just made 2 free throws & you’re trying to win a game. Loughridge only played 20 minutes in that game & was okay at best, she is also a score first PG imo.

I think they're both fairly typical modern point guards who will look for their own shot when it is there - as they should IMO (provided they're capable shooters of course, which these 2 are).
Rocci is already established as one of the premier PGs in the country so of course she will get big minutes by default. She does have a slight tendency to go into hero ball mode, which I could understand Harrower being a bit irked by. So the above theory by SamCro is interesting if true.

I've previously mentioned how impressed I've been by Loughridge this season. I love her instincts as a PG for someone that young. Finding court time for her is a nice problem for Harrower to have, really.

Dean due back soon

Point guard Japreece Dean is eyeing a New Year return to the Adelaide Lightning from a broken hand.
The 28-year-old American, pick 30 in the 2020 WNBA draft, suffered the injury in the December 20 win over the Flyers and had surgery on Christmas Eve.

"It's a fast recovery process, no cast or nothing, I'm anticipating to be back pretty fast. I've started doing some work outs, trying not to use my left hand," she said.
"The doctor said it was a good break, the kind you want to have. The estimated time was two to three weeks from the day of surgery and I'm being optimistic and going two weeks."

Dean a quality PG - hope a return to the Lightning for another season too

Flyers have been underwhelming for me. Kristy's game seems old school, and I don't think it suits her line up. Kunek, while still having a pretty good season overall, I feel her game just doesn't doesn't look as good for Harrower. Having to play inside a lot probably not helping, but she looked way better last year and for the Opals. Carley being injured has hurt them considerably. The minutes some of the players are logging is far too long, Kristy doesn't sub nearly enough and I believe it affects their output a lot.

New Import being announced shortly , should make the back end of the season interesting .