Wenty recorded an impressive 96-33 home win over Adelaide Thunder in Round 1. They meet again tonight (Friday) on Adelaide's home turf but it will be a very different WheelKings that make the trip west. They have just 7 players suiting up and are missing Koen Jansens (unavailable) and Jeremy Van Asperen (late withdrawal due to injured shoulder) who combined for 68 points in the first game.

Coach Hewson will be looking for several players to pick up their scoring if his team is to get the necessary second win over the Thunder. Even without Koen and Jeremy, the likely starting 5 combination is impressive. Craig Cannane, Jonathon Simon, Liesl Tesch, Bill Latham and JD (Jeremy Doyle) can all put the ball in the hole and with their combined height and speed will present plenty of match-up problems for Adelaide.

Coming off the bench will be Shannon Dallas and Kylie Gauci, both of whom can score and play lockdown defence. Wenty may not get as close to the ton as last time, and the improving Adelaide may put a bigger dent on the scoreboard, but expect Wenty to complete a 2-0 season sweep against the crow eaters.

Saturday's game against the Perth Wheelcats will be a whole different world of pain. Playing the back-to-back NWBL champions when they are at full strength, fresh, and on their home turf - well, it just might be tough to get the win [/understatement]. Basically, the WheelKings will fly into Perth a few hours before tip-off with just 7 players who averaged 35 minutes each in the game against Adelaide the night before. The Wheelcats have advantages in height, depth, Australian representatives, manic fans, familiarity with the refs, baby eating, etc. You will not be called a pessimist if you declare this a potential loss for Wenty.

If the WheelKings come back on the 'Red Eye' with a 1-1 result, they are still on track for a solid shot at the finals.

(triptych uses photos courtesy of Noel Rowsell)