Geelong coach Chris Lucas says United must learn to play through physicality better after fourth quarter fadeout against Bendigo Spirit

Missed lay-ups and poor conversion at the charity stripe plagued Geelong United in Wednesday’s loss to Bendigo, but another area had coach Chris Lucas’ more immediate attention.

Geelong players huddle during their round 14 WNBL loss to Bendigo. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

Geelong United coach Chris Lucas admits he is more concerned about his players ability to adapt to physicality than any current yips around missed lay-ups and poor foul-line conversion.

Geelong fell 60-81 to ladder-leaders Bendigo Spirit on Wednesday night, a fourth quarter capitulation blowing out the final margin as United managed to put up just five points to Spirit’s 17 in the final 10 minutes.

With Geelong dropping past games to the Spirit by 18 and 22 points with similar fade-outs this season, Lucas revealed his disappointed in his team’s final quarter performance after drawing within one midway through the third term.

“We got sped up and that’s something we’re trying to work on, improve on,” Lucas said.

“If you look at half time, we’re struggling to put 40 minutes together but for 25 minutes we’re right there.

“The scores are 50-51 five minutes into the third, and then we miss a butt-naked lay up and then there is six point swing.

“Our inability to put 40 minutes together is challenging but against the top team in the league, I think we’re getting a lot of a learning into the group.”

Geelong United’s Jaz Shelley handles the ball against Marianna Tolo. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

Geelong’s early defensive pressure – Jaz Shelley setting the tone with a strong first-half job on Opal Sami Whitcomb – gave United a narrow edge in the first term, 18-17, though a Micah Simpson three-point buzzer beater for Bendigo took some wind out of their sails.

Simpson’s three kickstarted the ladder leaders long-range game – which is the best in the league – the Spirit raining down a number of three-balls to hit the lead by half time – going 9-19 from behind the line in the first half to Geelong’s 1-8.

But it was a number of missed lay-ups from Geelong, and a 52 per cent conversion at the foul line, which hurt the home side the most throughout the night.

“It’s a lack of focus because it’s been an issue for us all year, not just tonight,” Lucas declared of his team’s free-throw shooting.

“50 per cent from the foul line at this level is not okay, we had 40+ per cent from the foul line last weekend and that’s happened consistently.

“Even in the first quarter, I’m picturing three or four shots we should make and we just don’t finish as well as we’d like.”

United import Haley Jones was an anomaly on Wednesday, pulling in 23 points and 10 rebounds and shooting at a team-high 58 per cent from the field.

Geelong head coach Chris Lucas. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

But despite a lack of game-day execution from some, Lucas couldn’t question his players’ intent throughout the week to improve their shot-making abilities.

“That’s the frustrating part, these girls, they come in on days off and shoot everyday, so I can’t (fault them) … the foul shots are really a focus thing but we shoot the ball, we practice … they’ll book in for extra work,” Lucas said.

“I’m not even concerned about that, I think we just need to be able to play through physicality better and once we learn how to able to adapt to that, the girls are staying in Geelong in the off-season, they will improve.”

Hannah Hank of Geelong United and Veronica Burton of the Spirit collide. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

Drawing within one point midway through the third with back-to back threes from Gemma Potter and Alex Sharp, Geelong failed to match Bendigo’s increased pressure late in the game, the Spirit better equipped to wield their own physicality on offence – led by Whitcomb – to skip away with a big win in the final 15 minutes.

Despite Bendigo sweeping their series with Geelong 3-0 with double-digit margins, Shelley insisted there was clear signs of improvement from United to push the Spirit for longer in each of their encounters.

“The half we played, and the way we were able to guard them and keep them in front of us is a credit our team and how hard we’ve been working,” Shelley said.

“It’s a confidence-booster in relation to, we know we can do it, and now we just have to be able to execute for 40 minutes, like Chris said.”

Preview: Why United won’t give up in ‘tough’ finals quest

Geelong United coach Chris Lucas has declared the WNBL’s top three a level above, but is confident his team will continue to play hard and compete in the face of a “tough” run to play finals.

United welcome Bendigo Spirit to Geelong Arena tonight, in what is their second fixture against the ladder-leaders in three games.

A 22-point defeat to the Spirit on January 19 was followed by a 19-point loss to top-three Townsville on Saturday night, with United dropping its five matches against the two clubs by 18 points or more this season.

Geelong’s Jaz Shelley handles the ball against Casey Samuels during their round 12 loss to Bendigo. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

They’ll also play top-two Perth Lynx for a third time next month, with their round 11 three-point loss to the Lynx the closest Lucas’ side has gotten to upsetting one of the clear title contenders.

Lucas said there was “no doubt” those three clubs were a level above, with six wins separating the Fire in third and Sydney Flames, UC Capitals and Geelong fighting for fourth.
“If you look at the results … all the teams below, 20-30 point (defeats) against those teams most games, then you look at Perth (on Saturday against Sydney), they have a 39-10 quarter in the third quarter which is huge for women’s basketball.

“We’re a brand new team, brand new franchise, we’ve got some terrific pieces … a lot of girls in the team are first year players, they’re going to be up and down and I think we’re pretty happy with where we’re at to be quite honest.

“Would we like to win some more games? Of course we would.”

Geelong’s United’s Alex Sharp (right) tries to contain Bendigo’s Kelly Wilson in round 12 at the Arena. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

Geelong realistically need to be beat Bendigo or Perth, and secure wins over Canberra and Adelaide, in their final four games if they’re to sneak into the top four.

“It’s going to be tough, Canberra are in the box seat, they’ve got to play Sydney twice,” Lucas said.

“But look, we’re not out of it, we’ll keep playing, we’ve got Bendigo … it doesn’t get any easier.”

Lucas said his side was in it for three quarters against the Fire on Saturday, though a lack of disciple in a few areas let them down in the end.

“They’re top three for a reason, we’re losing by that margin to the top three teams but we’re competing as well,” he said.

“We don’t embarrass ourselves but we play hard and we compete.”

Guard Monique Conti, who returned from a four-game injury lay-off against the Fire, insisted the team would always bring effort.

“We can play some really exciting basketball, that’s shown in the last few games we’ve played,” she said.

“We know we can match it … they kind of beat us in experience out there but regardless of that we go out, we compete, we fight and show a lot of character and I think considering how young we are, we’ve got some girls who can really step up.”

Geelong United players Monique Conti, Dani Raber, Haley Jones and Gemma Potter showcase the club’s pride jumper. Picture: Monika Berry.

Pride is ‘bigger than basketball’

United has taken it upon themselves to establish its own Pride round, as it gets ready to don rainbow guernseys against Bendigo tonight.

The WNBL, unlike the NBL and some other sports codes, is yet to have a dedicated Pride round, with a group of Geelong players the ones to spearhead the initiative at a club-level, similar to what some other clubs and players in the league have down in the past to celebrate pride.

Guard Gemma Potter, who played an important role in getting the round up at Geelong, shared a picture of the singlets in an Instagram story on Sunday with the caption, “bigger than basketball”, after telling this masthead last week she hoped it would be embraced by the league.

• Geelong United tip off against Bendigo Spirit 7pm Wednesday at Geelong Arena. Watch live on Foxtel/Kayo Sports.
  

Originally published as Geelong coach Chris Lucas says United must learn to play through physicality better after fourth quarter fadeout against Bendigo Spirit