Opals Vrs NZ

[Andy K]

Tonight game 1, Im looking forward to the game even though Australia are no where near their best. Is this a danger game for them, like it was with the Men's basketball?
I still tip the Opals by a healthy 25pts.

[theFraudulentone]

hsould be an interesting game tonight...young kiwi team with only 7 debutants!!! played 3 games against japan last week and lost all 3...all were close games though...will be tough for the tall ferns as pretty much only 2 of their team have been playin at a healthy competition level for the last 6 months...Wallbutton (adelaide lightning/albury-wodonga lady bandits) and Edmondson (dandenong rangers/albury-wodonga lady bandits) will really have to stand up tonight, as they have in the past 3 games...Edmondson has lead the scoring in all 3 games...in the international on wednesday Edmondson had 25 and 10 and Wallbutton contributed 24 and 18...

aussie team is a lil under strength, but i think they're gonna be too strong...should be a solid crowd there, as they had over 2000 in napier watchin the tall ferns play japan...

hopefully its not a blow out!!!

[Warpig]

looks like the ref's showed up and left the whistles home!!

rough as both sides

[Old Hack]

Tonight game 1, Im looking forward to the game even though Australia are no where near their best. Is this a danger game for them, like it was with the Men's basketball?
I still tip the Opals by a healthy 25pts.

Well you were half right - it was a 50 point smacking! 98-48

[Derek]

The Opals were dealt a cruel hand when Beijing Olympian and reigning WNBL Most Valuable Player Rohanee Cox was helped from the court when 24 seconds remained in the period after twisting her knee awkwardly on a rebound.

The Opals will await tests on Cox’s knee but according to coach Graf the outlook is ominous.

“We’ve got an early flight to Canberra and the doctors will make an evaluation tomorrow afternoon in Canberra. She’s in good hands now with our medical people but it’s not looking good.”

Yikes.

DN

[Andy K]

I hope Cox will be Ok, Townsville will be sweating on her recovery as she is the only real threat in their team this year.
Last nights game was fun to watch i thought, Both teams played hard and even though the scoreboard was blown out in favour of the Aussies i thought NZ played quite well.
I was really excited to see Liz Cambage play, I think she will be a super star of the WNBA someday and im already really excited to see her play at next years world champs & in the London olympics in a few years time.

[theFraudulentone]

wow the opals really flexed some muscle there last night!!! i too hope that its not real serious for Cox, i quite like watchin her play!

there are some seirous issues for the tall ferns at the 1 spot...they cant have their 4/5 bringin the ball up all the time...i thought it was good when they gave it to purcell to burn her opponent, but they just couldnt get anythin outta it...i thought some of the younger tall ferns showed som good signs, and edmondson continued her good form! disappointing night for wallbutton, look for her to respond on wednesday night!

was great to watch cambage, she is a beast and is gonna dominate for quite a while!

my biggest disappointment for the night were the commentators! holy shit them dudes were terrible!!! i thought mark bradtke was bad, but these dudes took the cake! i dont think they've heard of doin research into the players that will be participating...

lookin forward to weds game, i think the tall ferns will have learnt a lot and it will hopefully be a lil bit closer!

[Hoopsta]

Cambage was a beast, and a very exciting prospect for Aussie bball... however, she ought to learn (quickly) that just because you're strong than every other girl around you is no excuse to be throwing reckless elbows. Being aggressive is one thing; but dangerous? Not on.

[Andy K]

Cambage was a beast, and a very exciting prospect for Aussie bball... however, she ought to learn (quickly) that just because you're strong than every other girl around you is no excuse to be throwing reckless elbows. Being aggressive is one thing; but dangerous? Not on.

Yeah i was thinking she went a little too far with the elbow swinging aswell, She needs to save her elbows for the monster USA women when she makes the WNBA.

[Coachpete]

Yeah i was thinking she went a little too far with the elbow swinging aswell, She needs to save her elbows for the monster USA women when she makes the WNBA.


In her defence I've seen plenty of her games where the refs seem to take the attitude that because she's so much bigger than anyone else that it's open season to do whatever you want to her. She's had to fend for herself a fair bit

[Hoopsta]

In her defence I've seen plenty of her games where the refs seem to take the attitude that because she's so much bigger than anyone else that it's open season to do whatever you want to her. She's had to fend for herself a fair bit

Fair call, and I admit I have not seen her play very much at all. But from what I saw on Monday nights game - it was over-the-top aggression and wasn't called for whatsoever. She's going to win opals games though in the future!!

[2sc945]

An one-sided Oceania Championship Series is fully expected, just take a look at the rosters for both teams:


Australian Opals

Player | Position | Age | Height | Club

Jessica Bibby | G | 30 | 1.68m | Canberra Capitals
Elizabeth Cambage | C | 17 | 2.03m | Bulleen Boomers
Rohanee Cox | F | 28 | 1.82m | Townsville Fire
Jessica Foley | G | 25 | 1.82m | Adelaide Lightning
Hollie Grima | F | 25 | 1.90m | Aix-en-Provence (France)
Natalie Hurst | G | 25 | 1.63m | Canberra Capitals
Elyse Penaluna | F | 20 | 1.93m | Bulleen Boomers
Alicia Poto | G | 30 | 1.66m | Brno (Czech Republic)
Emma Randall | F | 23 | 1.88m | CSS Targoviste (Romania)
Samantha Richards | G | 26 | 1.68m | AZS PWSZ Gorzow (Poland)
Marianna Tolo | C | 19 | 1.96m | Canberra Capitals
Carly Wilson | G | 26 | 1.81m | Challes-les-Eaux Basket (France)

Head Coach: Carrie Graf
Assistant Coach: Peter Buckle
Assistant Coach: Michele Timms
Manager: Renae Maycock
Physio: Rachel McAlister
Physio: Graeme Backen


New Zealand Tall Ferns

Player | Position | Age | Height | Club

Kim Barnes | F/C | 20 | 1.91m | UC-Irvine University (NCAA, USA)
Suzie Bates | G | 21 | 1.75m | Otago Gold Rush
Philippa Connell | F | 20 | 1.80m | Harbour Breeze
Antonia Edmondson | G/F | 22 | 1.81m | Albury Wodonga Lady Bandits (SEABL, Australia)
Natasha Hall | F | 18 | 1.83m | NZ Academy
Zoe Kensington | G | 18 | 1.71m | Taranaki Trojans
Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe | G | 29 | 1.72m | Townsville Fire (WNBL, Australia)
Natalie Moore | G | 19 | 1.74m | Taranaki Trojans
Natalie Purcell | F | 26 | 1.83m | Logan Thunder (WNBL, Australia)
Georgina Richards | F | 20 | 1.80m | Canterbury Wildcats
Erin Rooney | G | 18 | 1.75m | Canterbury Wildcats
Lisa Wallbutton | F | 23 | 1.83m | Albury Wodonga Lady Bandits (SEABL, Australia)

Head Coach: Shawn Dennis
Assistant Coach: Kennedy Hamilton-Kereama
Assistant Coach: Aik Ho
Manager: Natalie Tong
Physio: Karen Sutton


NZ named virtually their U23 Tall Ferns team for this series with only 2 verterns on their roster (those two are also the only 2 WNBL players in their team). The Kiwis probably already gave up the series even b4 it begins due to the fact that the gap between these 2 teams is too big and they have no chance of winning, so it would be a good opportunity to give their youngsters a chance to learn something from the World Champions instead. On the other hand, Australia probably overreacted a little bit after the Boomers lost to the Tall Blacks in their Oceania Championship Series and named a strong Opals team full of experienced pros (including 5 European-based pros) and just 4 U23 players to face the hapless Kiwis. IMO any WNBL team (bar Perth and AIS) can beat this young Tall Ferns team.

[Andy K]

^^ Don't underestimate Perth yet, I look forward to watching them play with their 2 new imports, they are well coached and may surprise a few teams yet.
NZ, surely miss players like Marino & Kerr but i still think they played well and to the best of their ability. Look out for Wallbutton tonight, she needs to make up for a bad game on Monday.

[bad gambler]

Opals just abused the Ferns on the boards in Game 1...50-26 rebounding advantage.

Ouch

Going to be more of the same tonight I guess