Jackson tips fireworks
AUSTRALIAN basketball great Lauren Jackson has tipped Townsville Fire captain Suzy Batkovic and Melbourne Boomers star Elizabeth Cambage to try and “frustrate the hell out of each other” in their blockbuster WNBL grand final match-up tomorrow night.
Now working in the corporate sector with the Boomers, Jackson has urged Cambage to keep her cool and not be distracted by officiating. The clash of the big name centres-up is the marquee attraction of game one at Townsville Stadium, and Jackson expects both players to do whatever it takes to get an edge.
Cambage has been frustrated by getting in foul trouble on numerous occasions this year and Jackson expects Batkovic to apply the heat from the opening tip. “If I was Suzy I know what I’d be doing. I’d be trying to get under Lizzie’s skin and trying to do everything underhanded I could possibly do to get her frustrated and in foul trouble,” Jackson said.
“The more I’d see her responding and reacting to that the more I’d play better, it would motivate me.
“For Liz she’s at that age and that dominant that she’ll go out there and say ‘I’m here’. I don’t think she’ll focus on getting Suzy into foul trouble, she’ll focus on herself because she’s young, and because she can.”
The greatest player Australia has ever produced, the 196cm Jackson grew accustomed to getting “beaten up” on court and said the supremely gifted Cambage must accept it and adapt.
“She’s such a dominating force in this league and no matter where you are in the world you’re not going to get calls you want to get,” Jackson aid.
“We’ve got to take note that they are humans out there, and it’s the same for Suzy. She’s so big and so strong that people are going to beat up on her.
“You’ve got to suck it up and move on. You can complain and bitch about it, but what is that going to get you?”
While the Batkovic-Cambage battle will be crucial, Jackson said how their teammates respond on the run is key.
“It’s going to be a battle of the bigs and whichever one gets under the other one’s skin the best and frustrates the hell out of the other one (will have an edge),” Jackson said.
“It’s also how the rest of the team responds around that.”