‘Extremely disappointing’: Townsville Fire coach Shannon Seebohm delivers brutal WNBL reality check

A visibly frustrated Shannon Seebohm didn’t pull his punches in the press conference, accusing Townsville of playing without passion. Read why the eight-point defeat wasn’t up to standard.

Courtney Woods of the Townsville Fire gets past Kelly Wilson of the Spirit during the round three WNBL match between Townsville Fire and Bendigo Spirit at Townsville Entertainment Centre, on November 16, 2024, in Townsville, Australia. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)

The Fire were handed a brutal reality check on Saturday night, suffering their first defeat of the season as Bendigo extended its unbeaten streak to five games with a 84-76 triumph in Townsville.

While the scoreboard paints a satisfactory picture, facets of the Fire’s performance must be finetuned ahead of Thursday’s clash with the Caps.

A lack of defensive intent in the big moments and a failure to capitalise on the Spirit’s discipline issues proved costly as the match slipped away.

Townsville coach Shannon Seebohm didn’t pull his punches when he faced the media after the game.

“I’m very frustrated with how he played. We spoke about certain things and certain players that we needed to defend really well in that game, and just time after time, after time after time, we would lose them and leave them open,” Seebohm said.

Shannon Seebohm, Head Coach of the Townsville Fire shouts instructions during the round three WNBL match between Townsville Fire and Bendigo Spirit at Townsville Entertainment Centre, on November 16, 2024, in Townsville, Australia. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)

“Particularly in the very first part of the game, the two players we didn’t want to hit shots, we gave them two wide-open threes to start with.

“Honestly, I don’t think we played that hard. We didn’t play with passion.

“In the third quarter when we got two of their bigs in serious foul trouble, I don’t know if we thought we’d won the game or what, but we literally just started walking the ball up at a snail’s pace, and then gave them like 15 wide-open shots and lay-ups on the defensive end.

“Honestly just extremely disappointing. Extremely, extremely, extremely disappointing. I wasn’t coming in expecting we would win by 30 or anything, and I’m glad we found a way to compete with them, but (it’s) just very disappointing how we played.”

Kelly Wilson of the Spirit and Lauren Cox of the Townsville Fire compete for the ball during the round three WNBL match between Townsville Fire and Bendigo Spirit at Townsville Entertainment Centre, on November 16, 2024, in Townsville, Australia. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)

Bendigo’s Asha Nightingale fouled out of the game in the third quarter but Marianna Tolo, Abbey Wehrung and Veronica Burton were all able to play big minutes on four fouls and avoid picking up a crucial fifth.

Former Fire captain Sami Whitcomb was unstoppable for Bendigo in attack, shooting the lights out with a season-high 30 points which included four of seven three-pointers.

The 36-year-old veteran has enjoyed a sensational start to the season, averaging 26.6 points per game to lead the WNBL in scoring – almost doubling her 2023/24 average of 15.4.

Sami Whitcomb of the Spirit drives to the basket during the round three WNBL match between Townsville Fire and Bendigo Spirit at Townsville Entertainment Centre, on November 16, 2024, in Townsville, Australia. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)

Townsville’s top shooters Courtney Woods and Alicia Froling – who scored 25 points each in a resounding away win in Perth last time out – were both kept to single digits as the Spirit applied unanticipated pressure in defence.

The pair of Fire forwards made just five shot attempts between them through the first half of the game, scoring two baskets, and they finished the game with a combined 5/16.

Seebohm said it wasn’t an ideal situation but something his team would have to adjust to throughout the season.

“You could see they were sitting on Alicia’s left hand pretty heavily, which she needs to make an adjustment with, and then Courtney had some foul trouble, so didn’t play many minutes,” he explained.

“She (Woods) features pretty heavily in our offence … so not having her out there was tough. But again, that’s part of the game, so we need to adjust.

Courtney Woods of the Townsville Fire goes to the basket during the round three WNBL match between Townsville Fire and Bendigo Spirit at Townsville Entertainment Centre, on November 16, 2024, in Townsville, Australia. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)

“We’ve got a team where there’ll be games where teams lock into one person and other people get more opportunities to shoot the ball. That’s just the way we play.

“We want our best scorers to get the most shots, but I trust everyone in the team to step up when it’s their turn to get it done.”

Woods said the toughest part of the loss was the self-inflicted errors.

“We were just shooting ourselves in the foot. I think when we were making mistakes, it wasn’t even to do with Bendigo, it was more just to do with us,” Woods said.

“We missed a lot of lay-ups, missed a lot of free throws, gave really good players open threes.

“That’s credit to Bendigo, but that’s a lot to do with us, so obviously that’s disappointing.”

The Fire head to Canberra to face the UC Caps on Thursday night before returning to the Fire Pit on Saturday, November 23, to face the Adelaide Lightning. Tip-off is at 7pm AEST.

Originally published as ‘Extremely disappointing’: Townsville Fire coach Shannon Seebohm delivers brutal WNBL reality check