Fans can help put heat on Flames
THE Townsville Fire are determined to set the tone when their WNBL semi- final showdown with the Sydney Flames gets under way at Townsville Stadium on Thursday night.
The Fire have the home court advantage for the opening match of their best- of- three series before travelling to Sydney for game two on Saturday and game three, if required, on Monday night.
Townsville has a poor recent record against the Flames, losing seven of their past nine clashes including a 2- 0 sweep in last season’s semi- finals as Sydney went on to win the championship.
Slow starts have cruelled the Fire in their two losses to the Flames this season and guard Sydney Wiese said it was crucial that they make the most of their opportunity to build some momentum with a passionate home crowd behind them.
“Our fans are great and so it’s fun being able to play and hear them cheering for us,” Wiese said.
“They have our backs and so we want to make sure that we take care of business on our home floor while we have the opportunity.
“It’ll be good to not travel throughout the week. We’ll have time to just be comfortable on our home floor and practising against each other.
“I’m proud of what we’ve done in the regular season and I’m looking forward to beginning playoffs and putting all the pieces together and peaking at the right time as a group.
“I think our minds are in the right place and I know we’re hungry to get a couple of wins here and hopefully another championship.”
The Fire were soundly beaten 107- 81 in Sydney last Friday night, but they produced a strong response to defeat minor premiers Perth 83- 51 in Townsville on Sunday afternoon.
The Lynx weren’t at full strength as coach Andy Stewart chose to rest some of his stars for the second half, but Wiese said that performance still showed the Fire have plenty of improvement in them as they prepare to take down the defending champion Flames.
“We’re capable of playing much better than we showed the other night ( against Sydney) and so I think everyone took it personally,” Wiese said.
“Going into the playoffs you want to make sure that you set good habits up for yourself and I think we did that. We played hard and did what we had to do to get a win.
“We did a really good job moving the ball and made really good reads defensively.
“Now it’s time to get back to work and to prepare for Sydney and to focus on what we did wrong against them and what we can improve.
“They play hard. I think right from the jump they were physical against us. They set the tone defensively, they were crashing the boards hard, and we let their shooters get loose.
“They have a lot of weapons everywhere and so I think it’s just a matter of us playing the right way and controlling the tempo.
“Making sure that we swing the ball and we get the looks that we want offensively and we don’t let their pressure bother us.”