Nadeen Payne – The Evening Game

Third in season 2015/16 and second last year, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the Dandenong Rangers are slowly but surely building to something special. They recently re-signed tireless point guard Amelia Todhunter, whose relentless defensive work gives the side much of its identity. The 29-year-old says the team’s recent second place finish will be front of mind when they return to training. “We’ll embrace it for sure and use it as motivation” she says.

“There’s the three of us coming back (with Sara Blicavs and Steph Blicavs [nee Cumming]), but we’ve recruited really well. Getting Kayla (Pedersen) back is really exciting”. As Todhunter says, the Rangers will have something of a new look squad next season, but it’s not like the group are complete strangers. Blicavs, Carley Mijovic and new signing Tessa Lavey all came up together at the Australian Institute of Sport and are looking forward to reuniting on court.

Todhunter is currently playing for the Dandenong Rangers SEABL team, where she is putting up her best three-point shooting numbers (48%), making her more of an off the ball threat.

The Rangers SEABL side often plays Todhunter alongside fellow point guard and outgoing co-captain Aimie Clydesdale. Come the WNBL season, she expects to often share the court with Opals floor general Tessa Lavey in similar small ball two point guard lineups.

Todhunter often guarded the opposition's best scorer. Here, she sticks to Melbourne star Maddie Garrick and forces a turnover. — Todhunter often guarded the opposition’s best scorer. Here, she sticks to Melbourne star Maddie Garrick and forces a turnover.

“It’ll be really good working with Tessa” she says. “I think we can play that way where whoever gets the ball is the one (for that play) and the other one can run up the court. I think playing together will work well and will improve both our games”.

A smart, unselfish player on the offensive end, Todhunter is best known as a tenacious, pesky lock-down defender. Last year’s campaign, her tenth, was her best season as she racked up steals, snaffled rebounds from the clutches of larger opponents and pursued opponents up and down court and through mazes of screens, pushing herself into the discussion for WNBL defensive player of the year.

Not blessed with any great size or height, Todhunter instead relies on hard work and basketball smarts to negate opposing scorers. Every week, Rangers assistant coach Reece Potter compiles a video of her coming assignment, and then Todhunter starts scheming. “I try to see what (her opponent)’s go-to move is, and I try to take that away” she explains.

Always ready to hit the floor to grab a loose ball, Todhunter is one of the league's ultimate hustle players. — Always ready to hit the floor to grab a loose ball, Todhunter is one of the league’s ultimate hustle players.

In the mould of celebrated on-ball stoppers like Shane Battier and Briann January, Todhunter studies the tapes of her opponents long and hard and draws on every minute of her experience, which has given her an extensive knowledge of players tendencies and habits. “I’ve been in the league for a while now, so I know a lot of players games really well” she says.

Not only does she know some opponents better than they know themselves, she also has a strong grasp of her own game and sticks to a well-defined role. “I’m definitely more of a hard-worker than a finesse player” she says. “I pride myself on hustling and working really hard”.

Asked who her toughest defensive assignment has been, Todhunter says there are a number of very difficult covers. “The league is full of amazing players” she says. “I would say Leilani Mitchell, she is a bit smaller than me, which is hard to find, but she’s really tough and has so much experience”. Sami Whitcomb also rates highly, while she is glad she no longer has to guard new teammate Tessa Lavey in games and is expecting some tough battles against Adelaide-bound Aimie Clydesdale.

Todhunter guards Sydney Flames star Leilani Mitchell in last year's grand final. "She's a bit smaller than me...but she's so tough, and has so much experience" Todhunter says. — Todhunter guards Sydney Flames star Leilani Mitchell in last year’s grand final. “She’s a bit smaller than me…but she’s so tough, and has so much experience” Todhunter says.

Before those matchups, however, Todhunter will be part of Australia’s 3v3 team in the FIBA World Cup, which kicks off in Nantes, France on June 17. She will represent Australia alongside new Rangers recruit Mijovic, Bendigo’s Nadeen Payne and Boomer Bec Cole.

Todhunter says the preparation has involved the squad upping their aerobic fitness to even greater levels. “A lot of the training has just been sprinting for ten minutes straight. It’s very physical and it’s a lot more fast-paced. In three on three, you’ve just got to be going and going and going”.

Australia are relatively inexperienced in the format and will enter the tournament seeded 19th, but Todhunter says they have the nucleus of a successful team. “We’re working hard to be ready. (The format) is new to us, but I think we’ll pretty competitive. The games are going to be really physical, but being smaller, it’ll be nice to have a bit more space. Bec Cole and I will be looking to penetrate a lot and then kick the ball out”.

Louie, Louie: Todhunter's King Cavalier in the Dandenong Rangers calendar photoshoot. — Louie, Louie: Todhunter’s King Cavalier in the Dandenong Rangers calendar photoshoot.

Finally, here at The Evening Game, we take a strong interest in the WNBL’s top doggos and had to ask Todhunter about her King Charles Cavalier, Louie, whose listed interests include exploring, cuddles and “the ladies”.

Her beloved pet is already something of a celebrity; he has his own Instagram account and even appeared with Amelia in the Rangers 2017 calendar. Todhunter says she has plans for an international-themed Louie post to tie in with her 3v3 campaign.

“I’m going to get him a little Australian jersey!” she laughs. “I just have to find something small enough. It’s funny (the attention Louie gets), because I find him pretty adorable”.

Amelia Todhunter 2016/17 Stats:

Points per game: 4.89

Assists per game: 1.96 (5th on Rangers)

Steals: 46 (3rd in league)

“The thing that stands out to me is that we conceded the least points of any team” Bendigo Spirit coach Simon Pritchard says of the team’s 2016/17 campaign. “But at key points, our defence broke down”.

The anomaly of the team’s greatest strength deserting them at times summed up a puzzling season which saw the team produce some masterful defensive performances, but also endure some extremely costly lulls which resulted in a sixth place finish.

In the first half of the competition, the Spirit were downright miserly, grudging only 66.08 points per game, In the back half, they allowed a far less imposing 76.25 a game.

Kerryn Harrington with the steal and fast break points. Her injury-enforced absence would prove costly for Bendigo.

Along the way, the hard-nosed team had managed to completely shut down grand finalists Dandenong, who could only manage a miserable 44 points and hassled eventual champions Sydney into a 55-point outing. Oddly, the team also seemed to do better when on the second leg of a back-to-back, compiling a 4-1 record in these games.

Boasting a 10-5 record at one stage, the Spirit went into a major swoon in January, losing four games straight. This stretch included a 41-point shellacking at the hands of Perth, where both Sami Whitcomb and Ruth Hamblin ran riot. “Emotionally, it shocked the hell out of us” Pritchard says of the loss to the Lynx.

Pritchard believes a big part of this dip can be explained by the lengthy break the players were given around Christmas. It’s a mistake he takes responsibility for and one Bendigo won’t be making again. “That was a really poor decision on my part” he says. “The long break allowed some deconditioning. Ideally, we would have brought them back five days earlier”.

Major injuries also hampered Bendigo’s campaign, with veteran guards Jane Chalmers and Kerryn Harrington both going down after the former played through a thumb injury in 2016. After the Spirit had already lost Kelly Wilson to Townsville, their loss hit particularly hard. “We had two injuries in the same position” Pritchard says. “To lose both of them and to have to shuffle a heap of players, it had a compound effect down the line”.

Pritchard on Kelsey Griffin: "a match winner" — Pritchard on Kelsey Griffin: “a match winner”

The silver lining of this injury cloud was that it allowed Kara Tessari to gain valuable exposure to WNBL level competition, and the 17-year-old, one of the team’s many juniors from regional Victoria, thrived. “She’s a great defender and controlled the team really well” Pritchard says. Having been elevated from a development player spot to the senior list during the season, the team sees Tessari as very much on the ascent. “She’ll be an important piece going forward. We’ll certainly look to give her more of a role”.

Long-term, Tessari may be able to help with an area where Bendigo struggled this year, namely perimeter shooting. The Spirit made just 102 three-pointers, only one ahead of last-placed Adelaide and, remarkably, behind the individual three-pointer tally of Sami Whitcomb (105). Their overall three-point percentage was 26.42%, again only good for seventh. “That was a personnel thing” Pritchard notes. “We need to recruit into that spot next year”.

The Spirit had sought to bring in more long-range shooting by signing Seattle Storm player Blake Dietrick, but she couldn’t recapture the shooting form she previously showed at Princeton. “We thought we were recruiting a better shooter than we did” Pritchard laments. “We did expect Blake Dietrick to do a bit better job than what she did, offensively and defensively”.

Kelsey Griffin and Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe were the team's star players. Here, Griffin throws a bullet pass inside for Raincock-Ekunwe. — Kelsey Griffin and Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe were the team’s star players. Here, Griffin throws a bullet pass inside for Raincock-Ekunwe.

The club’s other import, super athletic Canadian Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, proved a revelation at both ends of the court. Scoring mainly around the basket (she had only 11 three-point attempts, for one make), she ranked amongst the competition’s most efficient players. She put up 15.88 points per game (good for eighth in the league), collected 8.38 rebounds (fourth in WNBL) and ended up earning an invite to training camp with WNBA team New York Liberty.

The club are hopeful of getting Raincock-Ekunwe back next year. Although they have secured their financial future, they do have budgetary restrictions to contend with which mean Raincock-Ekunwe may play as the team’s sole import.

Kelsey Griffin, who started as an import before becoming an Australian citizen, is another player who the team are desperate to retain. The thought of Griffin, who has won two championships with Bendigo, playing for another team just seems wrong. “Kelsey is a match-winner, she’s proven that over a long period” Pritchard says. “It’s just a matter of whether we can keep her”.

With Raincock-Ekunwe and Griffin, the team’s strength was in their frontcourt, where Griffin also chipped in with scoring (15.13 a game), typically outstanding defence and rim protection (27 blocks). Popular centre Gabe Richards was again hard to keep off the boards, though her scoring was somewhat down from past all-star five efforts, slipping from 15.50 in 2015/16 to 7.58 this season.

Gabrielle Richards muscles to the hoop against the Flames. "She's a really smart basketballer" Pritchard says. — Gabrielle Richards muscles to the hoop against the Flames. “She’s a really smart basketballer” Pritchard says.

Pritchard suggests there are a number of reasons for Richards’ lower numbers. “We changed our offensive structure this year, so she wasn’t getting as many of those baseline looks” he says. “Though she also had some good looks that she missed, she was maybe a bit unlucky there”. He backs Richards to continue to be a high-level contributor. “She’s a really smart basketballer. We need to find a role that maximises what she can do”.

The team finished on a strong note, with Nadeen Payne coming off the bench to hit 14 and then 16 points in consecutive one-point victories against Melbourne and finals-bound Perth. Underrated guard Heather Oliver also had strong all-round performances in both games, while Raincock-Ekunwe hit a long two to seal the game against Perth. In many ways, the closing stretch summed up the Spirit at their best: tough, intense and confident that Raincock-Ekunwe and Griffin would make the clutch plays to get them over the line in a dogfight.

Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe hits the game-winner against Perth.

Those last two wins meant the team finished with a 13-11 win/loss record, which Pritchard agrees would normally be enough for a playoff berth. But the Spirit have zero interest in settling for consolation prizes. “We’re all about championships” Pritchard says. “There’s only first”.

Tag: Nadeen Payne

WNBL: Amelia Todhunter on 3v3 World Cup, dogged defence and her dog Louie.