Murray in call to Fire up
TOWNSVILLE Fire vice- captain Mia Murray has urged her side to match Bendigo’s desperation on the road tonight or risk tumbling out of the WNBL top four.
The Fire’s championship aspirations took a hit on Thursday night after they were outplayed from the opening tip- off in a disappointing 79- 64 loss to Adelaide at Townsville Stadium.
It was Townsville’s third defeat in their past four matches and to make matters worse their main rivals for the top four — Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide — were all victorious.
The Fire are still ranked third, but there’s now a midtable logjam with Sydney and Adelaide also on nine wins and six losses meaning Townsville could slip out if results go against them this weekend.
Murray didn’t believe the Fire were complacent against an Adelaide side which they had comfortably beaten twice this season, but she said it was crucial that they bring more effort and intensity to the clash with Bendigo.
“We never want to lose like that on our home court, particularly when you’re losing effort plays,” Murray said.
“We had such a great win against Sydney last Saturday, particularly the intensity we played with for the 40 minutes there, and to not replicate that is very disappointing.
“Every team in this league is tough and with the flick of a switch the lead can change like that. What’s concerning is that we didn’t have that counterpunch.
“Adelaide made a couple of effort plays. They’d come up with a big ‘ O’ board and finish with a buzzer beater and we’d come down and take an early shot and make it easier for them.
“They pushed us out of our stuff and we crumbled a little bit down the offensive end and I think that was from the first play as well. We’re definitely looking at how we can change those momentum swings.”
The Fire know they can bounce back from a frustrating loss after dropping back- toback games on the road last week before finishing strong with a win over defending champions Sydney.
They’ll have little time to adjust before taking the court in Bendigo tonight, but Murray said it was just as important to ensure they’re mentally focused for a tough contest.
“Obviously we need to address some things and address them quickly, but Bendigo will be hungry on their home court,” she said. “We don’t have a practice to prepare for them so that’s a mental thing for us as well to get ourselves in the right frame of mind for a particularly hungry team.”
Bendigo have struggled since losing star forward Kelsey Griffin for the season and they’re coming off an 86- 42 loss to Melbourne on Thursday, but Fire coach Claudia Brassard stressed that they still can’t afford to give the Spirit an opening.
“If we come out with the intensity we did ( against Adelaide) and then they feel good about themselves at the start of the game then they might hang around,” Brassard said.
“We want to make sure that we play our style of basketball and that we’re imposing our defence on the other team and we’re setting the tempo.”