Hoops

Natalie Burton / Opals - I don't get it?

The Lavey selection was a complete embarrassment and disappointment for many players who beat her convincingly in the WNBL when she is actually on the court. How can someone that cannot get court time in our own very good league but play for Australia. It was a disgrace at Turkey when Joyce played Lavey and left Allen on the bench.

And that is another thing. Joyce absolutely destroyed Allen's confidence in Turkey and now wants to take credit for her making the Liberty team. What a joke. How about her talent got her the signing and who developed that talent over the last two years? Guy Molloy. I would have Guy Molloy as the Australian Opals coach any day over Joyce.

She has had ample opportunity in Bendigo this season, especially in the period since Kristi retired.
Zero minutes today in an overtime thriller.
If that's what she adds at WNBL level, for a coach that sees her constantly, there's just no way she should be near an Opals team.
I applaud Joyce for giving the up and coming girls extra opportunities to test themselves at a higher level. For some players it has worked really well (eg. Allen), some held their own and maybe now have extra confidence and incentive to work hard at their continuing development (eg. Burton), but there's no shame if not every gamble pays off.

There's no room for passengers at the Olympics. Especially at the point guard spot.

Now is just not the time for Lavey. I don't care what the athletic metrics say. The is-she-good-at-basketball metrics - i.e. basic observation - quite clearly says no at the moment.

"Ebzery is the Same height as cumming..."

Really? That surprises me a little. She's very slight compared to Steph. She's built for speed, whereas Steph is built for contact. Which of those is preferable is arguable I guess. I just think that Steph's game would translate well to the next level up.

I like Ebzery but she's pretty small for a 2 internationally.
Calling O'Hea a SG is a stretch, but one I can probably live with. Calling Taylor one is even more of a stretch. She can handle the ball and is one of the best passers going around, but her defending other 2 guards is just a bad idea. That's my main issue with Jenna at the 2 as well. The defensive end.

I think I can live with it though, when I look at which genuine SG's could come in. Overall I like that 12, and hope that Griffin will be available to us.

^ off the top of my head I can't think of a change I would make to that 12.

On balance I'd probably like one more SG, but on form/ability it's tough to pick one. Snell & Cumming would be my possible contenders, but the Opals program doesn't seem to be a fan of Steph for some reason, and it's starting to get late in the piece to introduce her to the squad. (If it were my squad I would do so for sure at the post-season Opals camps)

I applaud Joyce for giving some younger prospects some genuine opportunities to this point.
But the Olympics is the tournament where you stop experimenting, and just put your very best team out on the floor. The day after it's over you can resume blooding for the future again.

She is far from useless, but she is also far from a certainty for Rio too. There's definitely a lot of competition at those forward positions.

Sorry jarry is useless, she did nothing at world apart from make mistakes and get in the way. You could replace her with several
Allen
Kunek
Talbot
Just to name a few without even thinking

Jarry will play some basketball soon. Fingers crossed she can stay healthy for a while. Poor girl has had a horror run of bad luck with injuries.

Surely not Jarry, she's a liability not an asset.

Batkovic has experience that money cannot buy, she's also more sound than Jackson , even though she Carly's injuries. Sherf and Mijovic are way off.

Agree re Wright, he really needs to use his bench more to give his leading players the chance to rest to be able to have the legs to finish the game strong, but Rangers did have a shocker today, the uneven foul count didn't help nor the fact Taylor and Pondexter, tried to do too much themselves.
But they will bounce back

"You can't rule batkovic out. She's solid, tall, good post defender and has range on her shot. All the other options are one dimensional.
What is she like 2nd in points and rebounds atm in the wNbl?
Yeah she's old, but she is still far better than hodges, mijovic, bunton, burton and scherf."

totally agree

Joyce's conception or should we say misconception of what equates an international player has long been a conversation point, primarily with himself.

Burton is far too weak, and not game savvy for international standards, anyone who actually plays at that level will tell you that.