Tag: Ally Malott

Suzy Batkovic on WNBL19, the evolution of the game and the 1999 AIS WNBL triumph

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Suzy Batkovic’s career achievements are staggering, reading like some basketball version of that old Christmas carol: seven WNBL all-star five appearances, six MVPs, five championships, four WNBL top shooter awards and three (should have been four) Olympic tournaments.

The sheer weight of numbers easily makes her case as one of the league’s all-time greats, but what the accolades don’t quite convey is the hunger and competitiveness that she brings every game and that have made her one of the great winners not just in the WNBL but in all Australian sport.

The finish line is now in sight with Batkovic announcing this will be her last campaign. But she says the thought of retirement is still “surreal” and won’t be front of mind during the season. “I think it will be more put on the back burner, and I’m just focusing on my job at hand,” she tells The Evening Game.

“I still have plenty to give. I still love the game, and I know that eventually, I’ll miss it. But for me, it’s just business as usual.”

Reflecting on the evolution of the league, Batkovic says the days of easybeat teams have passed and talent is now evenly spread. “You could go back quite a few years ago, and you had your top half, and your bottom half. There’s no game where (you think) ‘At least we’ve got this team, and we should be fine against them’. You’re battling every team. I think that’s great. That’s what we want the league to be like.”

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The virtue of stubbornness: “I didn’t want to be put in a box”

Batkovic has long been dominant around the rim, but her game is based on a lot more than simply muscling into the key. She has a soft touch from mid-range, an excellent passing game from the post and enough nous to inevitably get to her favoured left hand and preferred shooting spots.

Discussing the evolving game and a trend of bigs increasingly becoming three-point shooters, Batkovic says the best fours and fives have always had a broad skill set.

“If you look at Lauren (Jackson), she has always shot threes,” she says. ”Myself, if I’m wide open, I’ll take a three ball. Darcee Garbin – that’s one of her strengths. Ally Mallott is the same.

“I still have plenty to give. I still love the game, and I know that eventually, I’ll miss it. But for me, it’s just business as usual – Suzy Batkovic on her final season”

“Back in the day, I remember people used to say: ‘Oh, posts, you just shoot from in here (the paint) and I remember thinking: ‘No, I’m not doing that. I’ll be working on everything’. I didn’t want to be put in a box.

“I was lucky enough that I had coaches that allowed me to work on that aspect of my game. I was probably a bit stubborn. I didn’t want to just be a post player, I wanted to be capable of doing a bit of everything.”

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“Just a bunch of kids”: the historic 98/99 AIS WNBL champions 

Batkovic’s first WNBL championship came in one of the most remarkable teams in the last quarter-century of Australian sport; the AIS student athlete team of 1998/99. It’s difficult to think of a comparable victory to this team of teenagers, who were assembled as a purely developmental team and ended up powering to an elite professional title.

That squad was a once-in-a-lifetime collection of talent with Penny Taylor and Kirsten Veal in the backcourt, Belinda Snell spacing the floor and an imposing Batkovic-Jackson frontcourt. Batkovic says the team also had an ideal mentor in Phil Brown, now an assistant coach at the University of Canberra Capitals.

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“He was a tremendous coach,” Batkovic recalls. “We were basically just a bunch of kids and, if anything, he probably coached us at our toughest point, when we were all going through different things. Puberty and whatever else, growing up. He was just incredible, the way he handled us and there was a lot of respect there.”

Batkovic says she entered the AIS not knowing all the rules of basketball and having never heard of a five-man-weave. She left a much more polished player and a champion.

In Lauren Jackson’s ‘My Story’, she recalls a turning point in the season where the coach and players met and agreed to shift from a development team evenly sharing minutes into a group firmly set on the unlikeliest of championships. Batkovic also remembers that moment well. “We were just playing and enjoying it, but you didn’t really think, like, “Oh, wow, we could actually win this.” Batkovic says.

“(Brown) kept his composure and kept us composed. We connected really well and I think a lot of credit goes to him, the way he handled everything. He took the pressure off for us so we could just go out there and play.”

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A friendship with the GOAT

Batkovic will exit the game with a lot of friends across the league and beyond. Abby Bishop is a close mate. Lauren Jackson, an old AIS teammate, is another. “We went through a lot together,” Batkovic says of Jackson. “We did NSW Country (junior rep team) together, AIS, representing Australia together and then we played in the WNBA together. We got to know each other so well.”

The pair still talk or text every week. “Even though she’s retired, she’s still that person for me,” Batkovic says. “She’s still that close friend. We share a lot of memories together. Our friendship wasn’t just all highs though, we have had the lows together.

“When we were younger, we both had stubborn and strong personalities. It was like: ‘How do you deal with this person?’ But over time, it just sorted itself out, and we got to really know each other, and bonded.

“Now, I’m grateful to have played with the best female basketballer Australia’s ever seen. I’m very grateful for that.”

Header image credit: Bruce

WNBL: Dandenong coach Larissa Anderson on the Rangers grand final run

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Before season 2016/17 tipped off, Dandenong star Sara Blicavs predicted the side woul be “that annoying, youthful, speedy side that oppositions don’t like to play against”. They were all that and more, powering through the odd flat spot (like a late four game losing streak) to a 19-5 record and a home semi-final berth.

         “It was a phenomenal effort to make the grand final” coach Larissa Anderson says. They eventually fell to a Sydney outfit who were not so much a team with momentum as a full-on basketball avalanche, entering the finals on a 12-game winning streak and coming off a comprehensive slaying of defending champions Townsville.

          Still, Dandenong weren’t satisfied with being runners up and Anderson feels they had more to give. “I don’t think we put our best foot forward in that series” she says of the 2-0 grand final loss. “We all know we could have done better,  but you learn a great deal from the experience”.


Dandenong had a switchy, versatile defence. In these stills from game 2 of the grand final series, Leilani Mitchell is guarded by (from top to bottom) Aimie Clydesdale, Natalie Novosel and Amelia Todhunter. Dandenong had a switchy, versatile defence. In these stills from game 2 of the grand final series, Leilani Mitchell is guarded by (from top to bottom) Aimie Clydesdale, Natalie Novosel and Amelia Todhunter. 

Dandenong had a switchy, versatile defence. In these stills from game 2 of the grand final series, Leilani Mitchell is guarded by (from top to bottom) Aimie Clydesdale, Natalie Novosel and Amelia Todhunter. 

          Injuries had been a subplot for Dandenong all year and raised their head during the finals. The team kept this quiet at the time, but import Ally Malott was again playing through significant injuries, having previously suffered ankle and foot problems and been on a minutes restriction earlier in the season. Before the grand final series, she had suffered a new knee injury which meant she couldn’t push off or get any power.“I really felt for Al” Anderson says. “She had injury after injury. She was in quite a bit of pain, and losing her for that series was a big loss for us, she is a quality player that made a large impact when she was fully fit”.


Steph Cumming continued to be an all-round contributor and tough bucket maker for the team. "She is Dandenong through and through" says Anderson.Steph Cumming continued to be an all-round contributor and tough bucket maker for the team. "She is Dandenong through and through" says Anderson.

Steph Cumming continued to be an all-round contributor and tough bucket maker for the team. “She is Dandenong through and through” says Anderson.

          If opponents didn’t like playing against Dandenong, one of the main reasons why was the all-round play of Steph Cumming, who finished in the league’s top 20 for points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, three-point percentage and free throw percentage. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she was the only player to appear in every one of these lists.

          Cumming shared the team’s MVP award with Sara Blicavs, who enjoyed her best WLBL season yet. A self-described “coffee coinnosseur”, Blicavs was like a human triple espresso shot for the Rangers this year, forever energising the team with her all action inside/outside game.


Sara Blicavs takes it to the hoop against finals opponent Asia Taylor. "Her playing ability is endless".Sara Blicavs takes it to the hoop against finals opponent Asia Taylor. "Her playing ability is endless".

Sara Blicavs takes it to the hoop against finals opponent Asia Taylor. “Her playing ability is endless”.

Asked whether Blicavs could one day be MVP of the league, Anderson has no hesitation. “Absolutely” she says. “Her playing ability is endless and she’s only just now realising the damage she can do”. Anderson says Blicavs’ energy and personality were also keys to the team’s success. “She’s always happy, and always happy for her teammates. She’s a phenomenal team player”

“Larissa Anderson on Sara Blicavs: “Her playing ability is endless. She’s only just now realising the damage she can do””

          The Rangers firepower went well beyond their two leading scorers; apart from Sydney there was no deeper team in the league. Perth coach Andy Stewart felt the greater scoring power of the Rangers bench was the key factor in his team’s semi-final loss to Dandenong. They were a stacked and versatile unit, able to go big or small and bring match-winners off the bench depending on the matchup.

          Anderson says the team’s depth made it hard to get rotations right at times, but she notes she would always take a deep squad over a top-heavy one. “We were deep, but at the same time still very young, so different players contributed in different ways each week”.


Two things that worked well for Dandenong in season 2016/17: crisp ball movement and Natalie Novosel shooting threes.Two things that worked well for Dandenong in season 2016/17: crisp ball movement and Natalie Novosel shooting threes.

Two things that worked well for Dandenong in season 2016/17: crisp ball movement and Natalie Novosel shooting threes.

          Natalie Novosel was one of the players who gave them such enviable depth, and although knee injuries affected her season, the new acquisition was again one of the competition’s sharpest three-point shooters (44%), made smart passes and consistently drew contact and got to the foul line. Anderson is quick to point out that Novosel was an excellent addition to the squad. “We knew Nat would fit really well with this group and she settled in very quickly. She brings a great deal on and off the floor”

          Another beastly defender off the bench was Rosie Fadljevic, who hustled hard and could be used to defend multiple positions. “Every minute she played, she made the most of” Anderson says of Fadljevic. “She constantly made a big basket and came up with a great stop”.

          Co-captain Aimie Clydesdale fit the “young” and “speedy” parts of the team’s identity and was easily amongst the most improved players in the competition. Her field goal percentage jumped from 31% to 39% and her assists per game exactly doubled. She also showed signs of developing into a three-point threat, hitting twice as many three-pointers this season as in her previous two years combined.


AImie Clydesdale, pictured here in Dandenong's SEABL team back in 2013, had her best ever year for the Rangers.AImie Clydesdale, pictured here in Dandenong's SEABL team back in 2013, had her best ever year for the Rangers.

AImie Clydesdale, pictured here in Dandenong’s SEABL team back in 2013, had her best ever year for the Rangers.

“I could not be more proud of Aimie’s improvement” Anderson says. “When I first came in, I knew Aimie had it in her to be one of the most prominent point guards in the league, the way she holds the team together and thinks on her feet”.

          At the other end of the positional chart were bigs Jacinta Kennedy and Lauren Scherf. Still only 21, Scherf proved a good shot blocker and rates as one of Australia’s most promising centres. She could not have hoped for a better mentor than Jacinta Kennedy, who was again a revelation in her final year of a decorated career.

        For anyone outside the Dandenong setup, the continued productivity of Kennedy, who returned to top-level basketball in 2015/16 after a break of nine years, was remarkable, but it was no surprise to those who knew her well. “I had no doubts she would have an impact, she’s just an amazing person” Anderson says. “She just picked up where she left off”.

          Having coached Kennedy in the Dandenong Rangers SEABL team, Anderson convinced her to return to the top flight WNBL again. “I was sure she was up to it physically, it was more about the commitment it would take having a family and at the time her husband was still overseas. Thankfully she was able to make it work”.

          Another player Anderson coached at SEABL level, Amelia Todhunter, certainly did her share of annoying opponents and was a huge part of the grand final run, routinely being given major defensive assignments, picking up steals (46, third in league) and generally harassing opposing scorers and point guards.

          Todhunter was one of many former Dandenong Rangers Anderson has brought back into the fold.  She also helped recruit Rosie Fadljevic, Sara Blicavs and Steph Cumming, who she describes as “Dandenong through and through” back to the club. Thrown in mainstay Aimie Clydesdale, who has never played a minute for a rival club at Big V, SEABL or WNBL level, and the Rangers have remarkable continuity.


Dandenong have made a point of bringing juniors and former players back to the club. This includes Steph Cumming, pictured here with Aimie Clydesdale, after the team's 2011/2012 grand final win.Dandenong have made a point of bringing juniors and former players back to the club. This includes Steph Cumming, pictured here with Aimie Clydesdale, after the team's 2011/2012 grand final win.

Dandenong have made a point of bringing juniors and former players back to the club. This includes Steph Cumming, pictured here with Aimie Clydesdale, after the team’s 2011/2012 grand final win.

“I’ve got a lot of history with those players” Anderson says of the returning group. “They know exactly what I want from them. It’s really special to have that connection, but it’s also about creating an exciting new journey with a great group we have assembled ”.

         Similarly, Jacinta Kennedy, a revered figure at the club, will not be lost to the program as she moves into a new career as a teacher. She will be in around in some capacity, perhaps just as the team’s most high-profile fan. “We’re not letting her go anywhere” Anderson laughs.