Round 8 WNBL Preview | Thebigtip

If Round 7 was a cracker, then this round could be considered an interesting one. We have another battle between the top 2 which has the potential to be huge and also the Victorian Derby between Dandenong and Bendigo. It’s a quieter round with only 5 games though so by the end we should start to get an indication of how the battle for 5th with pan out with all of Bendigo, Logan and Dandenong in action.

Friday night: AIS vs TOWNSVILLE @ AIS TRAINING HALL
This unfortunately has the potential to blow out severely with the AIS struggling to get players on the court consistently while Townsville will be steaming after 3 consecutive losses

Key Matchup: Sara Blicavs vs Vivian Frieson
Frieson has shown herself to be talented and yet inconsistent while Blicavs has really stepped up for the AIS over the past few weeks. Both girls play different roles in their team with Frieson the depth player for Townsville while Blicavs is one of the AIS stars but when they come up against each other on Friday night, it has the potential to be an exciting duel. This is the sort of game that Frieson needs to improve her averages on the season while Blicavs just needs to continue on with the consistency that she’s shown over recent weeks

The Final Word
Ugly! That’s the only appropriate word that could be used to describe this game. Townsville are coming off 3 straight losses while the AIS are 9 losses and counting. Townsville will be looking to get on track before a really tough period in their fixture which could describe their season. With an extra match on Sunday, Townsville will be really looking to rotate their players around to keep them fresh for that game. They will win very comfortably but I believe the AIS will put up a fight for at least a quarter to a half

Townsville by 24 points

Friday night: Sydney vs Adelaide @ SUSAC
1st vs 2nd and this is even more of a showdown than Sydney vs Townsville. Genuine superstars on both teams with both having 2-3 players that can take a game by the scruff of the neck

Key Matchup: Belinda Snell/Ellyce Ironmonger vs Suzy Batkovic
This is unusual in that I’ve chosen to list 2 players from Sydney who will be given the ridiculously tough task of stopping Adelaide’s Suzy Batkovic who in her past 2 games has scored 38 and 37 respectively. Stopping someone in such red hot form is going to be a very tough task but when these 2 teams met earlier in the season, they were able to limit Batkovic to 20 points so they have every chance of being able to do so again

The Final Word
Wow! This match is something out of this world this season. Belinda Snell, Amy Denson and Alicia Poto against Suzy Batkovic, Abby Bishop and Angela Marino. That is the big 3 from both sides and it promises to be an absolute cracker. It’s Adelaide captain Jo Hill’s 300th game and Adelaide will be looking to win it for her but really, whichever team can get on top in the battle of the big 3 may go a long way towards winning this game. Logan has shown the way to knock off Sydney and the question is whether Adelaide can follow suit. I give them every chance but I just think Sydney will be looking to make up for last week’s loss and may be just too strong at the end of the day

Sydney by 2 points

Friday night: Logan vs West Coast @ Logan Metro
5th vs 9th in a match that really shouldn’t be a contest but stranger things have happened. Logan became the first team to upset Sydney last week and will be looking to consolidate on that but they were really primed for last week and they could be in danger of a letdown this week

Key Matchup: Cayla Francis vs Rohanee Cox
This is the marquee matchup of the night. Both girls have been in exceptional form this season and have led their team brilliantly. Francis averages 16.3 points and 10.4 rebounds per game while Cox averages 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. This duel could go a long way towards deciding the outcome of this game.

The Final Word
This match has the potential to be one-sided considering how Logan managed to defeat previously unbeaten Sydney last week. Having said that though, this actually looms as a real danger game for them. They look superior but they don’t have the heavy scoring to really hurt the Waves defense while the Waves could be reasonably confident of being able to limit Logan. If Rohanee Cox brings her A-game for West Coast, this could be a lot closer than expected and wouldn’t surprise me if the Waves got up. Logan though have finally gotten into the top 5 after an inconsistent start and will not want to throw that away

Logan by 8 points

Saturday night: Dandenong vs Bendigo @ Dandenong Basketball Stadium
It’s the first battle between these sides in the 2011-12 season and in the Victorian Derby, it promises to be an absolute cracker with both sides in reasonable form

Key Matchup: Jenna O’Hea/Kathleen McLeod vs Tess Madgen/Kristi Harrower
O’Hea and Madgen play both guard/forward while McLeod and Harrower both play guard. This battle between the 2 sets of players has the real potential to decide how this game will play out. All 4 players have been in pretty good form however there are still a couple of questions surrounding Harrower’s fitness. She’s played but hasn’t been anywhere near 100% fitness though having said that she always has the capability of hurting Dandenong and has done so on a regular basis.

The Final Word
This is a vital game between 6th and 7th with the winner maintaining their challenge for finals while the loser won’t be out of it but they will be behind the ball in terms of head-to-head which could decide 5th spot. Bendigo in recent times have had the wood on Dandenong however it’s really hard to get an accurate gauge as Dandenong seem to undertake rebuilding programs every season. Bendigo has kept their players together for a while so what you see is what you get. Whoever wins the key matchup though could go a long way towards winning the game but the battle of the centers (Krista Phillips vs Gabrielle Richards) is also one to look forward to as a game decider

Bendigo by 4 points

Sunday afternoon: Townsville vs West Coast @ Townsville RSL Stadium
Both teams are backing up after matches on Friday night with Townsville definitely having the easier game by far on Friday night but this will be interesting to see which team backs up best.

Key Matchup: Shanavia Dowdell vs Zoe Harper
Both are well matched in height (Dowdell 192cm to Harper 191cm) but that’s where the similarities end. Dowdell averages 17.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game while Harper averages 5.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Both will go up against each other purely on height as West Coast has no-one else who could go with Dowdell. They could try Rohanee Cox here but that might prevent her from playing her natural attacking game so whatever way you look at it, Dowdell could have a dominant game unless she gets into early foul trouble.

The Final Word
Danger! Danger! Danger! This is a game that could see West Coast’s defense brutally exposed. With Dowdell, Foley and Cocks providing the points for Townsville, all 3 have the potential to cause some real damage. As always for West Coast, their best hope of being competitive is Rohanee Cox having a ripper of a game. Usually she does but it’s about time she got some help and about time that West Coast played some defense. It’s the second game in 48 hours for both sides but I think Townsville may be too strong here

Townsville by 20 points

So ends my preview of Round 8 and I look forward to reviewing the action.