WNBL: Canberra Capitals boss furious with winning basket decision

The WNBL has hinted a controversial basket in the grand final series would not have stood if examined by a video review system.

Nicole Seekamp throws the winning basket in a controversial finish to game two of the WNBL grand final series between the Adelaide Lightning and Canberra Capitals. Picture: AAP

The WNBL has hinted a controversial finish to game two of the league’s grand final series would have had a different result under a video review system. Canberra coach Paul Gorris said after his team’s 74-73 loss to Adelaide on Wednesday night that “everyone will see the truth” about a contentious shot which sent the series into a deciding third game.

The Capitals’ boss remains convinced Lightning star Nicole Seekamp released her matchwinning basket after the buzzer.

In a short statement released on Thursday, the WNBL said the call to allow the shot had to stand.

“Through the current broadcast technology the league does not have the capacity to implement an Instant Replay System and has not for the past two seasons,” the statement read.

“The league looks forward to another packed AIS Arena for game three.” It was a frantic final five seconds to the encounter as Adelaide’s Lauren Nicholson travelled before offloading the ball to Seekamp for the buzzer-beating shot.

The WNBL failed to address the missed call in its statement. Gorris was furious in his post-match press conference, calling the refereeing “flabbergasting”.

“Everybody just go back and watch the film. Everybody go back and watch the light (on the scoreboard) light up (with the ball still in Seekamp’s hands),” he said.

“I’m at a loss to know some of the calls and some of the situations that people were put under.”

Then when asked whether Nicholson should have been called for a double dribble or carrying violation in that frenetic last play, Gorris replied: “I think you just answered that yourself so there’s no reason to ask me.”

Gorris expressed his pride in his players — led by Kelsey Griffin (24 points, 23 rebounds) — who now prepare for the decider in the nation’s capital on Saturday.

“I’m proud of the girls being able to put in this performance under trying circumstances,” he said.

“There were some things that were just totally out of our control that changed the game.”

Lightning coach Chris Lucas hailed his side’s character and ability to step up when faced with adversity.

Whenever challenged this season, whether it be Nicholson’s broken nose in the semi-final against Melbourne, Kayla Alexander’s knee injury early or the news in November that the club faced extinction, the Lightning have responded resoundingly.

“This group all year has shown tremendous character,” Lucas said. “We’ve had a bit of adversity with some illness and injuries, as have all teams.

“Every time we’ve gone through that, we’ve just stepped up to the plate. I couldn’t be more proud of the group.”

The normally restrained Lucas jumped out of his seat when Seekamp slotted the sealer.

“I made a decision to take (centre) Kayla (Alexander) out and go small to get it down there as quickly as possible and run a step-up screen,” Lucas said. “We didn’t quite get the step-up screen, we got a couple of fumbles and it fell loose.

“She misses that and it’s not our win and we’re disappointed. It fell into her hands and she made it.”

Having snapped the red-hot Capitals’ 12-game winning streak, the Lightning, bidding for their first title since 2008, now have the task of repeating the dose in Canberra’s backyard in Game 3.

“We’ll walk into an extremely hostile environment but I can tell you one thing, we’ve learnt from last weekend (Game 1 loss),” Lucas said.

“If we get another 4000-5000 people there on the weekend that’s a pretty amazing grand final series for the women’s game.”

AAP