Commonwealth Games: Opals built on the rock of Liz Cambage

When it comes to foundation pieces, they don’t get much better — or bigger — than Liz Cambage.

Towering centre Liz Cambage is the rock the Opals are built on.

When it comes to foundation pieces, they don’t get much better — or bigger — than Liz Cambage.

The Opals centre will be the rock around which new Australian women’s team coach Sandy Brondello builds for future success, starting with Commonwealth Games gold on the Gold Coast.

Brondello is no stranger to getting the best out of a big body, having helped nurture American Brittney Griner to become the most dominant centre in the WNBA as coach of the Phoenix Mercury.

Griner’s mantle could be tested when Cambage ends her four-year absence from the WNBA following the Games, but for now her focus is on green and gold. And Brondello has vowed to make sure the Opals make the most of Cambage’s talents — both on the Gold Coast and into the future.

“We (coaches) all have our distinct styles, my system is more about personnel,” Brondello said.

“If you have only one way it doesn’t work if you don’t have the personnel. “We (Phoenix) do a lot of playing from the post, the playmaker can also be a post player.

“I’m generally pretty heavy on pick and roll action, keeping the ball moving. It’s more about getting players in the right spots.”

But Brondello knows it’s not all about Cambage. The 26-year-old was arguably the most dominant player at the Rio Olympics, leading the Opals in scoring and rebounding in all but one game. Her 23.5 points per game were the best of any player in Rio, yet the Opals suffered their earliest exit since first qualifying for an Olympics in 1984.

Cambage is one of just five members of that Rio Olympics team in the squad for the Commonwealth Games, the Opals undergoing a renovation in the wake of the retirement of Penny Taylor and Erin Phillips. With the Opals expected to steamroll their Commonwealth opposition — starting with tonight’s opening game against Mozambique in Townsville — the Gold Coast Games are about much more than just striving for gold. The tournament is valuable, and rare, time that Brondello will get to spend with the group ahead of September’s Women’s Basketball World Cup in Spain.

Brondello will head back to the US straight after the Commonwealth Games ahead of the upcoming WNBA season, and will leave the Opals in the hands of her assistants. “The opportunity I’m getting to coach the team right now, it helps every bit of time we get to spend together, it’s preparation well spent,” Brondello said. “The more games we play, the better we get.

“While we’re here to win gold at the Commonwealth Games, it also aids us in our preparation in our planning for the world cup.”

Meanwhile, Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis is not letting the fact his squad has been decimated by injury and unavailability dampen his mood. Already denied the nation’s top level basketball talent due to NBA and European club commitments, Lemanis was forced into another late reshuffle on the eve of the Games. Mitch Creek’s decision to take up on offer to play in Germany cost Lemanis his most consistent player, while Matt Hodgson’s knee injury has left the Boomers with just one true big man heading into tonight’s opening game against Canada in Cairns.

Still Lemanis remains upbeat, which may say more about a Commonwealth opponents Australia’s men should prove too good for.

“They’re just a wonderful group of guys to work with,” Lemanis said. “This is my first time experiencing a competition like this on home soil, so I’m looking forward to the experience.

“There is a core group that has gone through the World Cup qualification process, and we won the Asia Cup in July last year. Every time we get together with this group it’s just so refreshing with the attitude of doing what’s in the best interests of the team.”

AAP