TRAVEL- WE ARY FIRE DESERVE A BRE AK
THE Townsville Fire are looking forward to a less frantic week on the training court as they prepare to host Bendigo at Townsville Stadium on Saturday night.
The condensed schedule has hit the Fire hard in recent weeks with three double- headers in a row, including a trip to Perth last Thursday before returning to play Adelaide on Sunday.
Townsville had to fly out immediately after the Perth game to make time to prepare for the Lightning, which meant a restless night of travel.
That fatigue didn’t seem to affect the Fire as they claimed an emphatic 84- 42 win, but coach Claudia Brassard said it would be a nice change to have just the one home game this weekend.
“It’d be beautiful to not travel for one week,” Brassard said.
“I can’t stress that enough. I actually got to unpack my clothes and put them away in the closet rather than back in the bag.
“That’s going to be really nice and I think everyone’s going to enjoy that. Townsville’s just been beautiful weather as well, so it’ll be good just to be here.
“I thought we executed well ( against Adelaide), but now we’ve got a bit of a chance to fix a few other things we’ve been working on.”
One aspect the Fire have been eager to address is their slow starts, with Sunday’s win the first time this season they have been in front at quarter- time.
Brassard is still trying out different combinations after bringing imports Laurin Mincy and Sydney Wiese into the starting five, but she felt they had done an excellent job against Adelaide.
“We have been changing it up quite a bit, just trying to find the right combination that works and gets us going,” she said.
“What we’ve needed is some production from the guard spots and they really came out strong.
“‘ Loz’ and Syd were firing, even Kelly ( Wilson), the first shot of the game was her being aggressive into the dribble- jump shot and she knocked it down.
“That’s what we need out of those guards. We need to take the pressure off our bigs and we need to make sure that we’re stretching that defence and I thought they did a great job.”
Bendigo has endured a tough season with just two wins, but they are coming off a 71- 66 win over title favourites Melbourne last weekend.
The Fire have been strong at home this season, but Brassard stressed they had to make the most of their longer preparation to ensure they don’t get caught out by the Spirit.
“Bendigo did a job on Melbourne, so we can’t by any means look past them. They’ve got some great players in Kelsey Griffin, who’s beaten us a few times as well,” Brassard said.
“I guess it shows how tight the competition is. You’ve just got to be ready to play.”