UC Caps Preview
Steph Reid’s hopeful of hitting the floor this weekend after sitting out round 11. The point guard is battling a back complaint and has barely been on the court at practice this week but coach Shannon Seebohm is optimistic she’ll suit up at some stage in round 12.
“She’s progressing, she’s been doing a bit of shooting, but we’ll have a test before tomorrow’s game just to see where she’s at and we’re hoping she’ll be able to play some minutes, but its still a little bit up in the air.”
Townsville toppled Adelaide despite her absence and on paper should be too strong for Canberra at the Fire Pit without the pocket rocket’s presence, which would give Reid extra time to prepare for the Flames on Sunday. Seebohm certainly isn’t underestimating the Capitals.
“There’s no such thing as a game you should win in this league, you’ve got to go out and do it. Canberra’s tough they compete really well and their coach Kristen Veal is getting them to improve every week. So overall I think we just want to make sure we execute really well, just as we did last week, you know get the ball through hands and take the best shot we can.”
There’s no complacency among the playing group as the hosts look to beat the Caps for a third time. The JCU Fire won their season opener by 36 points but the 77-62 away victory earlier this month was a closer contest than the scoreline suggested. Krystal Leger Walker expects the visitors to come out with a nothing to lose mindset.
“I think they’ve definitely stared to find their stride and they’ve had a lot of changes as the season’s gone on so they’re definitely coming out every game and competing so not taking it lightly at all.”
The back up point guard knows it’s important not to look too far ahead with Townsville about to start a stretch of 4 games in 9 days.
“Yeah 100% just take 1 game at a time and I think Shannon’s just done a really good job at keeping us focused on what’s in front of us.”
The Fire will be chasing a fourth straight win when they run out at the Fire Pit tomorrow night. Tickets for the Capitals clash are still available. They’ll fly out to Sydney on Saturday and won’t return home until February 5, following a round 13 double header against the Lynx header in Perth.