With a relatively new line-up, the Canberra Capitals were looking to make amends for a previous season that could be described as pedestrian at best when they took on the Sydney University Flames at AIS Arena.
Without Lauren Jackson but with Abby Bishop and Nat Hurst returning from Europe – along with French Under 19 representative, Isabelle Strunc – the young Caps were certainly fresh.
But there were questions marks over their ability to dominate the second best Women’s league in the world.
With only two senior players in Jess Bibby and Carly Wilson and a bench that is barely out of high school, a lot is riding on the ability of the starting five to stay fit and produce dominate performances.
The Flames were also recovering from a summer that saw them finish seventh with an 8-16 record.
Rohanee Cox has been coaxed out of retirement by coach Dalton and they have a shot blocking legend in Ashley Gayle recently arrived from Texas.
Other new additions include Renae Camino, Casey Samuels and another US import in Kathleen Scheer. Unlike the Caps, their bench is more experienced and they were expected to provide some depth of skill if notthe quickness of the younger Caps.
The WNBL preview placed them at 7-8 and the Caps at 4-6.
Pre-game my thoughts turned to a potential clash of styles – the Flames with a distinctive US style of hard to the basket driving and rebounding play, and the Euro style of the Caps in which guards are looking to outfox their opponents with drive and dish to outside players.
Would Abby Bishop outplay Ashley Gayle?
Would Rowe/Samuels provide a better combination at the top of the arc than Hurst/Hunt?
Would Coach Graf pull a rabbit out of the hat or would Coach Dalton go big early to match the Caps height?
Lastly, would the previous thumping of the Caps by Sydney at the Arena be a one-off aberration or a recurring nightmare?
By half-time, the recurring nightmare was looking very possible.
Sydney dominated the first half in every aspect and led by 16 points at the major break. Casey Samuels and Katie-Rae Ebzery shot out the lights, while Sydney’s American bigs in Scheer and Gayle picked a truckload of rebounds at both ends.
The Caps were simply hapless. Apart from a few bright moments, they were not able to get inside for a decent layup, nor pot the ball from the arc with any consistency.
Victorian youngster Carly Mijevic provided a few moments from outside but the key players failed to spark.
With Nicole Hunt injured and Isabelle Strunc taken off with a shoulder injury early in the second quarter stocks were low, and Abby Bishop and Carly Wilson were simply not firing an any cylinders.
A zone defence allowed the Flames to shoot from outside with impunity. When they went back to man defence, they failed to pick up the pick-and-roll as the Sydney guards Poto and Ebzery were given easy looks from inside.
The second half commenced with a flurry of points from Jess Bibby, but this was negated by the Flames forcing the Caps into several turnovers resulting in fast breaks that took the lead to 18 points.
The Flames continued on as per their first half performance, maintaining this lead for the remainder of the match. The Caps showed patches of good basketball but were comprehensively outmatched in all aspects of the game.
In the final wash, the Flames defeated the Caps 83-68. The Flames had good contributions from all, but Alicia Poto, Katie Rae Ebzery, Rohanee Cox and Casey Samuels were the stand outs.
Jess Bibby led the way for Canberra, with some contributions from Abby Bishop and Natalie Hurst.
An interesting take away was the modest level of effectiveness of the imports. Strunc was injured early and contributed little for the Caps, while Gayle and Scheer did little to assist the Flames’ effort.
Sydney continues on to Melbourne to complete a road double with a game against the new look Melbourne Boomers.
Canberra head west next week for the dreaded road double for games against the West Coast Waves and the Adelaide Lightning.
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