Stopping in-form Norwood the key for Willetton
Southlands Boulevarde Willetton Tigers coach Glenn Clarke believes stopping Australian Central East Perth Eagles star Sam Norwood will be crucial to his side's chances of winning Friday's women's State Basketball League Grand Final.
West Coast Waves forward Norwood has played a huge role in leading East Perth to its first Grand Final, putting herself in MVP contention with averages of 19 points and 10.4 rebounds per game this season.
The 21-year-old, who appeared in 22 games with the Waves during the last WNBL season, has been even more impressive during the playoffs, where she has averaged 23 points per game to help the Eagles overcome Kalamunda and Perry Lakes to reach the title decider.
Clarke said the Tigers would struggle to win their third-straight Grand Final if they let Norwood have the same impact against them.
"If we can keep her under 10 points for the game, I think that's a really good job by us. You're not going to stop her completely, but if we can limit her it will be a massive help," he said.
"We need to starve her of the ball. We need to get a lot of outside pressure on her and hopefully that'll force turnovers.
"But if we can stop her from getting the ball, that's one of our biggest jobs taken care of.
"If you can stop Norwood and also put a lot of pressure on the ball-handler, it upsets them. Hopefully we can do that, which will allow us to score a lot more in transition."
But the Eagles, who have won 13 of their past 14 games, also have strong scoring power from the likes of Kate Fielding and Nicole Jorre St Jorre, which coach Anthony Fletcher hoped would be enough to get them over the line.
"We're the underdog because they've won it twice in a row. They've got several Waves players and we've only got one," he said.
"But anything can happen in a Grand Final and obviously form is on our side too.
"We're not just negating one player, we've got to negate five or six, which is obviously a challenge, but I'm confident in what we can do."
The Grand Final tips off at 7.30pm at the WA Basketball Centre, with tickets still available through Ticketmaster.
Article by Jacob Kagi
Photo by Darren Speedie (Vision Inspired Photography)
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