In their second match of the weekend, the Wenty Leagues WheelKings dominated the Mortgage Choice Adelaide Thunder. The previous day's loss to the Razorbacks was forgotten as the WheelKings took charge from the opening tip.

At the end of the first quarter, Wenty had jumped to a 24-2 advantage. They weren't shooting particularly well (12 makes from 31 attempts) but they pulled in an amazing 13 offensive rebounds leading to 10 second chance points. The WheelKings continued to shoot at an ordinary clip (36%) in the second term but Adelaide could do nothing to beat the home team's full court pressure defence. A 42-8 half-time lead almost had the chubby lady coming out singing.

Coach Hewson experimented with a variety of line-ups in the second half and all 9 players got significant minutes. Adelaide was able to get some offence happening against the WheelKings' irregular line-ups but still trailed 68-22 after three quarters.

There were several keys to the win but none more important than the complete reversal from the Razorbacks game that this time saw the WheelKings control the rebounding 64-30. Also, pressure defence restricted the Thunder to 25% shooting accuracy and forced 25 turnovers. The defence was clean too, putting Adelaide at the line just once in the match.

For the WheelKings, Koen Jansens had a triple-double of 36 points / 14 rebounds / 11 assists. Jeremy Van Asperen also stamped his authority on the match with 32/19/6. Jonathon Simon was another to fill up the stat sheet with 12/13/6 and Craig Cannane had a tidy 8/7/6 in just 18 minutes.

Led by former Australian representatives Tim Maloney, Daryl Taylor and Darren Schutz, Adelaide really had no answers for Wenty's advantage in size, skill and overall experience. It was their third loss of the weekend after going down to Wollongong on Friday and Saturday nights but in all fairness this is clearly a club in rebuilding mode.

The Thunder have a proud tradition, the winners of 6 NWBL championships in the late 80s and 90s, but financial circumstances saw them out of the league for 4 years until last season. That absence has put them in a position of having 7 of their 10 players listed as rookies or in their second year.

Coach Kylie Taylor has done the right thing in blooding the young and inexperienced players rather than running her 3 senior players for maximum minutes. Everyone on the team received plenty of court time over the weekend and hopefully it pays off as the season progresses. It would be great to see Adelaide once again become a force in the league.

 (photo courtesy of Noel Rowsell and Marion McNeill -  www.photoexcellence.com.au )