FIJI CLEAN SWEEPS THE SERIES AGAINST WELLINGTON

                A small crowd of some 150 spectators came to watch the early morning start at 9.00am caused by proposed power cuts by FEA to all of Suva for Saturday and Sunday.  In game 2 which was subsequently abandoned due to a power failure on Thursday night last the Fiji team started slowly, however on Saturday the Wellington team were not treated so lightly and the starters for Fiji (Roden, Nainima, M Whippy, L Whippy and Tuilevuka) came out firing and within 3 minutes had built a comfortable lead.  The full court extended pressure defence of the Fijians caused the visitors several turnovers and coupled with their fast break offence, Fiji was in control from the start.  

               Wellington point guard Sezen Mercan tried valiantly to bridge the gap with some dazzling offensive skills and hard nosed defence and she was ably supported by her team mate in the back court, Soraya Jensen-Umaga.   Jensen-Umaga ended up with 10 points for the game which mostly came from excellent drives to the basket using her blistering speed and quick first step.  

              The Fiji coaching staff were a little baffled why the Wellington team did not use their inside players much more where they definitely had a size advantage.  Many of their bigger players preferred to play on the perimeter, therefore falling into the hands of their quicker opponents.  The Wellington team tried a variety of defences from a full court press to a box and 1.  Against the box and 1, Fiji Head Coach Michael Whippy had Valerie Nainima post up in the low post against the man to man defence and then she was screened to the outside with good screens by the perimeter players.   After several efforts that did not change things too much, the Wellington Coach, Voldi Simi, was forced to abandon this type of defence.
             
Ex-netball players, Matilia Waqanidrola and Lusi Robanakadavu did some excellent work in both offence and defence.  Robanakadavu's ability to read the play from the back of the defence thwarted several Wellington moves.  Waqanidrola contributed at both ends of the court and her work in rebounding on the offensive end paid dividends for her to end up with 12 points for the game.  The other main scorer for Fiji was Mikaelar Whippy with 17 points.  

              For Wellington Shiana-Rose Harris made 10 points along with Jensen-Umaga, however Melissa Latoa top scored for them with 15.  They were supported by Ava Filipo and Sherri Zee Burgess with 6 each.  The constant pressure of the Fiji defence caused the visitors to only shoot 24% from the field for the game.  In contrast the Fijians managed to score 43% from the field (and 43% from 3 point territory), however their free throw shooting percentage was dismal at just 48%.

             One surprising statistic from the game was the dominance of the smaller Fiji team in rebounding against their much taller opponents.  Fiji claimed 32 offensive rebounds to Wellington's 25 and 35 defensive rebounds to their 30 (a total of 67 rebounds to 55).

             Coach Michael Whippy was pleased with the performance of his squad and the series afforded him an opportunity to compare players for the 12 women team which he will select to travel to the Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Madrid in June.  It will be a tough decision for him, especially in selecting the locally based players based on their performances during this series. 

 The score by quarter was:  1st Quarter   2nd Quarter      3rd Quarter     4th Quarter       Final Score   

                          Wellington      20                 13                    17                    16             66
                          Fiji                 37                 23                    22                    18             100                             

 

           

 

 

 

 

 




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