Adelaide Lightning coach Chris Lucas undecided on his future after grand final loss to Capitals
An exhausted Adelaide Lightning coach Chris Lucas says he’s given no thought to his or his team’s immediate future in the aftermath of losing the WNBL grand final to Canberra as the cloud of uncertainty over the team looks set to lift this week.
36ers
Don't miss out on the headlines from 36ers. Followed categories will be added to My News.
An exhausted Adelaide Lightning coach Chris Lucas says he’s given no thought to his or his team’s immediate future in the aftermath of losing the WNBL grand final series to Canberra.
Having achieved his goal of returning the Lightning to the finals within three years, Lucas says he is out of contract and no closer to knowing if he will continue in the job.
The cloud of uncertainty over the team’s future looks set to lift this week with confirmation of new owners. A formal application for the takeover — headed by Lightning president Bruce Spangler — is set to go to the WNBL and Basketball Australia for approval within a fortnight.
But it’s not known whether Lucas will remain head coach.
“I need a break, I’m exhausted, haven’t even thought about it,” he said after Adelaide lost game three 93-73 to the Capitals at AIS Arena on Saturday night.
“Effectively, my contract finished today. Obviously I’ll catch up with the girls before they depart but my job is done.
“I put a three-year plan in place and our goal was to make finals, so I’m pretty pleased with that.
“But I haven’t even thought about it (the future); it’s not something I want to think about in the next week or so, that’s for sure.
“There’s going to be different people take off in different journeys; no one team will stay together, that’s not reality.
“The girls are either semi-professional or professional athletes, but if we could keep this group together — the core group — then absolutely.
“We need to add some pieces, no doubt about that, but we’re competing against big dollars as well.
“But that’s women’s sport now. I’ll speak to the players before they depart and reflect on that and let’s see where that takes us.”
Lucas said while disappointed to lose the title to the Capitals, he was very proud of his team’s efforts this season.
“I asked my girls to give their absolute best and I thought they played their hearts out. That’s what they’ve done all year,” he said.
Colleen Planeta, who top- scored for Adelaide with 15 points on Saturday night, said she never stopped believing the Lightning could wrestle the trophy from Canberra’s grasp until the final buzzer.
“I thought we could still win until it was physically impossible to not, when we ran out of time,” she said after the game.
“Our team has so much character and we’ve been through a lot and never give up. So we were confident coming in but obviously they (Capitals) played pretty well today.”
United shine in CG43’s 450th, as Kings dominate Taipans
Melbourne United stormed home to a massive victory over the 36ers in Chris Goulding’s 450th game as, the Sydney Kings didn’t miss their star point guard as they cruised to victory over Cairns.
Crosscourt: Gazey’s left-field pick for return of Boomers’ coach
The hunt for the Boomers’ next head coach is heating up, and hoops legend Andrew Gaze has floated a left-field option. We take a closer look at all the contenders, and more in this week’s Crosscourt.