Off the bench - Top Five Defenders

So here we go to the best defenders in the league. The girls you can call the glove, glad wrap, the sticky icky because you know they will be all over you. These girls are the tough nuts- they are not just the thugs that make life difficult. They come in forms and sizes from fleet footed mosquitoes to tall timber.

Our coach like every coach I imagine preaches defense and these are the girls that often play the longest and have the hardest job- stop the best scorer in the opposing team.

In a nutshell, the best 5 in my eyes.

1. Shani Amos- Fleet footed and quick as anything going around, Shani is the queen of the buzzing bees up the floor. Her foot speed is incredible as is her over all body balance which makes her arguably one of the best full court defenders. I know many a point guard that would expend all their energy bringing the ball up and have nothing left for the offense. One thing is guaranteed with Amos on, you will burn some serious calories trying to get around her, away from her or keeping her off the ball.

2. Casey Mihovilovich- Milo, the complete package can both score and defend. She’s headed for an MVP season this year and her defense is often overlooked because of her scoring ability. Her ability to read the passer’s eyes off the ball often results in picking the pass on wings and reversals and her anticipation on the ball is very good as well resulting in steals and strips on the ball.

3. Marita Payne- The tallest girl in the league is also very mobile for her size and the long arms of the law just won’t get any shorter. Marita is good for block after block after block guaranteed each game and opposition posts must be having nightmares on the Monday night before the weekend game of having Molten imprinted on their face or the back wall.

4. Jessica Van Schie- Another who gets away on smarts alone and ability to read the play off the ball. Gets a truck load of the steals every year just on anticipation and ability to read the next phase of the play. She is a poster girl for smarts and that all important ability to read the game and highlighting that those who aren’t quite blessed with Amos like speed and agility.

5. Rosie Tobin- For a girl that only plays half the game on average, she has a pretty good stat line averaging just under 7 defensive boards and coming in second in blocks in the league, doing enough to sneak in to the top 5. She has been a surprise package this year and is having an outstanding season. Many might think that I have jumped the one of the best defensive gun early on this call after only one year, but she is one for the future.

Not a bad group of players I say. Enough to give you headaches and definitely challenge your offensive repertoire. These are the girls that every coach loves to have in their team and the ones that you know are not afraid of the dirty work. There’s only thing to say about these girls if I was being marked by one of them... I’m going to call out my biggest team mate and ask them to wipe them out on a screen! And here’s hoping they get hit! Because chances are the sticky icky/glove/glad wrap will still be there!


The opinions, views and comments in this article are those of the individual and are not the opinions or views of the State Basketball League or Basketball WA.




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