Fire’s hot hands go cold Training court shooting doesn’t translate to WNBL rounds
THE Townsville Fire plan to throw everything they have at the Canberra Capitals on Friday night as they look to rediscover their offensive spark.
The Fire have the inglorious record of the worst offence in the league after three rounds, landing only 38 per cent from the field, 65 per cent of their free throws and 28 per cent from the three- point line.
There has been no hint of Townsville’s shooting woes on the training court, but they haven’t brought that hot hand with them on game day, averaging just 67 points per game.
Point guard Mikhaela Donnelly said it was frustrating, especially after back- to- back losses, but she believed points would start flowing if the Fire stuck to their offensive structures.
“It’s funny because we’ve actually shot really, really well throughout all the weeks and then we’ve got to the weekends and haven’t shot as well as what we know we can,” she said.
“We know it’s coming, we’ve just got to keep taking those shots and if we’re taking the right ones then they’re going to drop. We’ve got confidence with everyone in the team to knock down those shots.”
Townsville’s problem could be that they’re not sharing the ball enough on the offensive end, with Suzy Batkovic ( 17 points per game) and Cayla George ( 10) the only players averaging in double figures.
The Fire showed promise in the opening round when they beat Melbourne even after Batkovic found herself in early foul trouble, but they have since fallen into old habits.
The team sat through a brutally honest video review this week and Donnelly was confident they could address those issues before their double- header against Canberra and Melbourne.
“It’s always brutal when you lose, but I think you pick up on a lot of things that you miss when you win,” she said.
“Unfortunately at the moment it’s becoming a lot of pressure on Suze and Cayla and that’s just lack of movement from the outside, kind of standing and watching.
“One of the things we focused on was always cutting, always moving and always being a threat yourself so there’s not so much pressure on them on the inside.”
Donnelly has her own unique challenges in her comeback WNBL season, with baby daughter Adisyn travelling with the team, but the young mum said her teammates were making life easier.
“It is challenging, but we’ll get used to it. It’s getting easier every time,” she said. “My teammates and the coaching staff are incredible. They take her a lot more than what I even thought they would, which only makes my job easier."