Tale Of The Tape: Captain Jenna Leading Dominant Southside Performances
By Ryan Edwards
The Southside Flyers were able to continue their offensive rampage through Round 4 of the WNBL bubble, expanding their streak to five straight double-digit victories. Here’s an in-depth statistical look at how the Flyers managed to take down the Lightning and Boomers, positioning themselves on top of the ladder.
Jenna O’Hea Leading the Way
The Flyers started off the round in dominating fashion, defeating the Adelaide Lightning 111 – 72. After taking an early 7-point lead at the end of the first quarter, captain Jenna O’Hea led a second quarter explosion on both ends of the court, ballooning the halftime lead to 21 points.
Whether defending the ball-handler or lurking as a help defender, O’Hea was ferocious on the defensive end of the floor. When challenged one-on-one in the second quarter, O’Hea only gave up 1 bucket on 6 tries, good for 0.333 points per possession (PPP). Jenna was even more impressive off the ball, coming in with late, unexpected double teams to generate steals. She was credited with 4 steals in the 2nd quarter alone, more than a steal every 4 possessions she was on the floor. With O’Hea on the court in the second quarter Adelaide only scored 0.467 PPP, compared to 0.909 PPP when she sat.
Those steals created easy opportunities for O’Hea and her teammates at the other end, where they struck the Lightning with 9 quick transition points. Jenna continued her aggression on the offensive end, driving toward the basket for multiple and-1’s. O’Hea’s overall impact on the Flyers was just as impressive on offense, resulting in 1.467 PPP with her on the court, and only 0.818 without.
Getting Revenge vs the Boomers
After falling to a flurry of 3-point shots in their first matchup of the season, the Southside Flyers managed to take down their crosstown rivals the Melbourne Boomers 94 – 79 in their rematch. In a game that saw brilliant performances from the entire team, Sara Blicavs was able to help lead the charge on the offensive end. Sara was incredibly efficient at all 3 levels of the floor. She produced 1.500 PPP on shots in the paint, 1.500 PPP on mid-range jumpers, and 2.250 PPP on 3’s, shooting 3/4 from long range. This efficiency lead to the Flyers seeing a massive difference in their ability to score the ball when Sara Blicavs was on the court. Southside was almost an entire point per possession worse without Sara, scoring 1.354 PPP with her and only 0.429 without.
While she didn’t post the same flashy steal numbers as the game before, Jenna O’Hea was the difference maker yet again for Southside on defense. O’Hea was instrumental to the team defense, always being in the right position to help her teammates. The Flyers couldn’t leave Jenna on the bench for the long, as they gave up a massive 1.524 PPP when she sat, compared to just 0.734 PPP with her. O’Hea wasn’t just great as a help defender, she was excellent defending the ball as well. In possessions ending with as the primary defender, the Boomers only scored 0.789 PPP.
NEXT SOUTHSIDE FLYERS GAME
Southside Flyers vs. Sydney Uni Flames
Thursday December 10th – 9:00PM AEST – Townsville Stadium
Live on Kayo Sports!