‘Too many gaps’: Vixens’ big struggle

By Matt Fotia 

Melbourne Vixens long-time coach Simone McKinnis was disappointed in her sides inconsistent performance against a rampant Adelaide Thunderbirds outfit. 

The ladder leading Vixens were dismantled by the in-form Thunderbirds, going down 73-58, despite scores being level at quarter time. The win helped the Thunderbirds finish the round just one game behind the Vixens on the ladder and with a superior percentage. 

McKinnis said that while her side had good moments in the game, they were unable to maintain the required intensity levels across the four quarters. 

“There were too many gaps in our consistency across the game,” McKinnis said after the loss. 

“There were little patches where we did what we needed to do and (were) working it well, but (it was) just (the) little things. 

“I didn’t think we maintained the intensity and concentration about what we needed to do out there. 

“The Thunderbirds were very good.” 

The Thunderbirds have been in sparkling form, especially on their home court at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, but the Vixens were well down on their usual defensive best, finishing the game with just six gains, six deflections and three intercepts as a team. 

By contrast, the Thunderbirds finished with 18 gains, 26 deflections and six intercepts, with Shamera Sterling-Humphrey bettering the Vixens by herself, finishing with nine gains, 7 deflections and three intercepts. 

McKinnis once again lamented her sides lack of pressure and lack of care with ball in hand. 

“We weren’t able to put much pressure on defensively, we had moments, but being able to consistently keep a team under pressure was up and down,” McKinnis said. 

“I think at times we were not looking after the ball as well as we should have and not maximising our opportunities.” 

Romelda Aiken-George gave the Vixens headaches all game, finishing with 47 goals and 7 rebounds in a holding role. The Vixens will face a similar task this weekend when the West Coast Fever and Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard come to John Cain Arena. 

Captain Kate Moloney said the lack of pressure up the court as one of the key reasons why Aiken-George was able to have such success on Saturday afternoon and said that it was good preparation for their upcoming battle with Fowler-Nembhard. 

“We didn’t have the pressure up the court and that ball was able to go into Romelda pretty quickly, so we’re going to have the same thing next week with Jhaniele,” Moloney stated post-match. 

“We’ve got to put more pressure on the centre pass, we’ve got to put more pressure on from goal shooter all the way down.  

“(It’s) great preparation for us heading into that Fever game, hopefully we can look into that game (against the Thunderbirds), take some learnings and come out better next week.” 

On paper the Vixens have had one of the tougher runs home, facing their two closest rivals back-to-back on the eve of finals, but McKinnis believes this tough end to the season is a blessing in disguise. 

“It’s brilliant,” McKinnis said.  

“I was thinking about it this week, it’s so good. 

“It’s an opportunity to learn and just get better at what we do, be match hardened, match conditioned, to take knocks, to take challenges and (develop) that resilience that you need heading into finals.” 

“It’s a positive for us to be playing those games.”