SUZY WARY OF BIG GAME BOOMERS
TOWNSVILLE Fire captain Suzy Batkovic isn’t reading too much into their perfect regular season record against the Melbourne Boomers as they prepare to face off in the WNBL grand final series.
The title decider is set to be a blockbuster with five- time MVP Batkovic coming up against Boomers superstar Liz Cambage, who returned to the league this season after a five- year absence. The Fire have every reason to be confident after winning all three clashes with Melbourne so far this season, but Batkovic said playoffs always brought on a different intensity.
“Finals basketball is a different kettle of fish. You don’t even worry about what just happened during the regular season because you’ve got to step up in finals,” Batkovic said.
“If you want that championship, no one’s going to hand it to you, you’re going to have to grind it out and fight as hard as you can for it.”
Fire guard Sydney Wiese echoed her captain’s sentiments, saying she expected the intensity to lift again from their epic semi- final win over the Sydney Flames on Saturday.
“You play all these teams during the season and they’re intense games, but there’s always another level of intensity that you hit when it comes to playoffs because it’s win or go home,” Wiese said.
“That’s how it was from the moment we stepped on to the floor to warm up ( against Sydney).
“You could feel the energy and you could feel the sense of urgency.
“It’s only going to get more intense from here on out, but this is why we play.
“You want to put yourself in position to hopefully win that championship.
“We’re right where we want to be and so we’re excited to get back to work and do what we can against Melbourne.”