Tag: Lauren Jackson

Lauren Jackson and Carrie Graf: two legends discuss #WNBL20

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Lauren Jackson and Carrie Graf are two of the greatest winners in WNBL history. Talking to this site at the launch of the league’s historic 40th season, they reflected on the past, present and vibrant future of the competition.

 

Jackson’s first memory of the league is a quirky one; she saw Trish Fallon on a current affairs show training to throw down a slam dunk. “I’ll never forget this,” Jackson recalls. “I was just a young girl, but I remember at the time West Coast Wine Coolers was a sponsor of the WNBL and they had put $10,000 on the table for the first woman to dunk it.”

Jackson was only 12 or 13 when she saw this forgotten chapter of league history and became intrigued by the world of professional basketball. Remarkably, she and Fallon would share the league’s MVP award just a few years later.

Today, she retains that initial excitement towards the sport, the fire that fuelled a storied career, including five championships with the University of Canberra Capitals and a stunning triumph with the youthful AIS squad.

Looking ahead to WNBL20, she is excited to see Perth Lynx import Imani McGee-Stafford in action. “She’s going to be very exciting and a big player in this league. She would have been able to mix it with Lizzie (Cambage).

“Then there’s the Opals – Abby Bishop is back in our league. There’s a lot of great people that are out here and hopefully that will take us to great places.”

For her long-time coach, six-time WNBL champion Carrie Graf, silky Canadian Kia Nurse is a firm favourite. Graf says the returning Capitals standout reminds her of Alana Beard, the WNBA all-star she coached as part of the 05/06 Capitals side. “They’re pure athletic talents,” she enthuses. “They can break peoples’ ankles with their ability to change direction on a five-cent piece.”

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On Opals and imports

Graf believes imports have added an extra element of flair to the league over the years. “I think their passion for the game is exciting to watch,” she says.

“Sometimes, the Aussie players tend to hold back in showing that, but the US imports tend to be more overt when they make a big play and I think that’s entertaining. But I look back at some Aussie athletes who did bring that; Tully Bevilaqua was a classic. When she came home from playing in the WNBA, she thought: ‘You know what? It’s fun to celebrate the big plays and get the crowd engaged’.”

Graf is also heartened to see many of the Opals squad members playing domestically. “They’re legit world stars…they set the standard for how Australians play: gritty defence, intelligent, hard-working and with a fair amount of flash.”

Coach Carrie on WNBL’s 40th season

The master coach, cutting a dapper figure in a blazer and a black broad-brimmed hat, sees the upcoming competition as even and difficult to predict. She does, however, particularly like the chances of her old team, the University of Canberra Capitals, and the battle-tested roster assembled by new franchise Southside Flyers.

She believes the game’s analytics-fuelled evolution towards ‘pace and space’ basketball will continue, with teams looking to run and seeking out either lay-ups or three-pointers. “The mid-range game has been lacking in basketball in general,” she notes.

“But trends in the sport can shift and if a team is a successful with a strong mid-range game, that will shift a whole league.”

Whatever the stylistic differences from her coaching era may be, Graf sees the current crop of players as historically good.

“The depth of talent across the league is probably the best it’s been in the past decade,” she says.

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A new role for the GOAT Jackson

Jackson emphatically says she is loving her new role as Head of Women’s Basketball. She is proud to have all games livestreamed this year and believes that the ongoing relationship with Fox Sports as well as an injection of new staff, including a newly appointed Chief Marketing Officer, will help achieve the visibility she sees as the lifeblood of the league.

“There’s definitely challenges, no doubt. Business is so different to being an athlete; dealing with people on that level is very different. But I love being part of the league again and working towards something that I’m so passionate about.”

The future

Both Graf and Jackson are in favour of an expanded competition at some point. Graf says a Brisbane team makes sense, but also nominates Newcastle as a “really intriguing” location for a new franchise.

Jackson notes there were discussions about a ninth team last year and is hopeful the WNBL can scale up. “We’ve just got to make sure that we’re a sustainable league and teams that come in are also sustainable so they can keep moving forward with the league.”

“We’re in a really good place,” Jackson concludes. “We may not be as visible as AFLW or whatever, but we are working towards getting there.

“I think we’re on the cusp of something really exciting. We’re getting all the pieces together and then we’re just going to keep growing.”

Header image credit: &DC from Coulsdon, Gtr London

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: Guy Molloy talks Melbourne’s brush with extinction, working with Lauren Jackson and dancing with Bec Cole

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“I’ll be honest, it was bloody brutal” Melbourne Boomers coach Guy Molloy says of the team’s 2016/17 campaign, which saw them record just five wins. For a team that could have easily become extinct, however, on-court results were secondary to survival.

             For their fans, who continued to turn out in healthy numbers despite an early exit from finals contention, the good news is that the team is in a much more stable place and is planning a quick return to contention rather than an extended rebuild. “We’ve come out the other end” Molloy says of the dark days.

             One thing that hampered Molloy’s side all season was a real lack of frontcourt size, which saw them place ahead of only one team for rebounds collected as well as rebounds allowed. Molloy says this deficiency was a direct consequence of the uncertainty about the club’s future which dominated the Boomers off-season.

““We’ve come out the other end” Molloy says of the dark days.”

             “We were in limbo for a long time” he explains. “There was a really tenuous stretch there…we weren’t able to take part in free agency, we couldn’t sign players until very late in the piece”.

          The team’s lack of size was compounded by a serious knee injury which ruled club co-captain and Opals squad member Elyse Penaluna out for the entire 2016/17 campaign. Adding to their snake-bitten season was a shoulder injury to star wing Maddie Garrick. “She got crunched badly really early on” Molloy says. She continued playing, but the injury “really impacted on her shooting for about a month”.  


Brittany Smart takes it to the hoop.Brittany Smart takes it to the hoop.

Brittany Smart takes it to the hoop.

          Still, the undermanned team refused to throw in the towel and had several agonising defeats, including a one point loss to Bendigo and two point margins against Dandenong and Townsville. The team finished with eight losses of five points or less. “I really felt for the team” Molloy reflects. “We worked really hard and there just wasn’t the reward. We battled valiantly”.

         Help, however, is well and truly on the way. Having sat out free agency last off-season, the Boomers will now be aggressive free agency players. The team has already pulled off one major coup with the signing of Opals mainstay Jenna O’Hea, with more big-name signings soon to be announced. O’Hea’s scoring ability promises to make life much easier for Smart and Garrick, who have both already re-signed, and can settle into more natural roles as complementary scorers.


Jenna O'Hea in WNBA action for the Seattle Storm.Jenna O'Hea in WNBA action for the Seattle Storm.

Jenna O’Hea in WNBA action for the Seattle Storm.

          O’Hea rejoins the team (she previously played for Bulleen Boomers) after stints in the WNBA and a championship-winning sojourn in France. “I’m excited” Molloy says of her impending arrival. “She’s a truly elite player in this league… she works so hard and she’s a ‘lead by example’ player. That will soak into our culture”.

          Many players on last season’s roster also showed enough to suggest better times are ahead. Young forward Olivia Thompson continued to develop as a physical presence and showed real resilience. “Through the difficult part of the season, she just found a way” Molloy says of Thompson. “She gained consistency and confidence”.


Olivia Thompson: "She gained consistency and confidence"Olivia Thompson: "She gained consistency and confidence"

Olivia Thompson: “She gained consistency and confidence”

      Molloy credits Thompson and point guard Brittany Smart with driving the team forward in the barren weeks of late 2016 when the team was ravaged by injuries. Smart continued to be a crafty point guard and reliable outside scorer, while Maddie Garrick also added new facets to her already potent game, improving her ability to slash to the basket and taking her defence up a gear.  

        Another positive for the Boomers was the play of rookie of the year Monique Conti, who joined the team after winning the world championship with Australia’s under 17 team. “I copped a bit of criticism for playing her” Molloy says of Conti’s initial appearances, which saw the then 16-year-old was fast-tracked into court time due to the injury toll. “She turned the ball over and lacked confidence”.

          But the pint-sized point guard improved at warp speed in the surrounds of a professional team. “By December, we found she was really taking it to the older players at training. She’s a terrific talent and a hell of a good kid. She is legit”.

          Known as a prolific scorer and silky ball-handler at junior level, Conti also showed real skill as a ball hawk, collecting a steal every 18.86 minutes, a rate that compares favourably to even the league’s best one guard Leilani Mitchell (who had a steal every 21.27 minutes).


Monique Conti "She's a terrific talent and a hell of a good kid".Monique Conti "She's a terrific talent and a hell of a good kid".

Monique Conti “She’s a terrific talent and a hell of a good kid”.

Molloy agrees Conti has all the tools to become a disruptive defender. “She definitely plays both ends and has…real speed in a basketball sense. She is built quite low to the ground, has great balance and quick hands”.     

          Off the court, the new Boomers ownership consortium have shown a willingness to recruit top front-office staff, including Lauren Jackson, who joined the club as a commercial operations executive last year. “Lauren’s been awesome” Molloy says. “Through a really, really hard year, she’s been a great help to me”. Jackson brought valuable networks and winning experience to her role and Molloy says her instincts on players are a huge asset. “Her read on players is really good, she knows how they are as competitors”.

          One player everyone is confident is a great competitor is club veteran Bec Cole, who returned from injury and after taking a while to shrug off its lingering effects, enjoyed a strong end to the season. She brought intangibles to the team and even involved Molloy in some pre-game dap. “I’ve coached Bec a long time and she knew it was a stressful time and figured I needed to lighten up a little before games” he laughs. “I’m not much of a dancer, but she thought she’d give me some rhythm. It’s a good bit of fun”.


"A good bit of fun": Molloy and Bec Cole dance it out."A good bit of fun": Molloy and Bec Cole dance it out.

“A good bit of fun”: Molloy and Bec Cole dance it out.

          For a team that has stared down basketball extinction and is now eyeing a return to the finals, the fun is only just beginning.