Round six schedule

Saturday 9th May
Colourplus Waikato / Bay of Plenty Magic v Central Pulse
Mystery Creek Events Centre, Hamilton. 2.00pm*

Sunday 10th May
NSW Swifts v Adelaide Thunderbirds
Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre, Sydney. 2.30pm

Monday 11th May
LG Mystics vs Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel
The Trusts Stadium, Auckland. 7.00pm

Monday 11th May
Queensland Firebirds v West Coast Fever
Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane. 7.00pm

BYE:
Melbourne Vixens
Mercury Energy Tactix

* Please note all times are local area times.



Colourplus Waikato / Bay of Plenty Magic v Central Pulse

· The Magic and Pulse met twice in the 2008 championship, in Rounds 5 and 12. The Magic won both matches, 54-37 and 46-41, respectively.
· This round is the first time the teams have met each other in the 2009 ANZ Championship.
· The Magic have won 4 matches this season, while the Pulse are yet to win a game.
· The Pulse’s closest game was in last week against the LG Mystics, where the game was drawn at full time at 50 a piece, after extra time the Pulse lost by 1 goal, 61-60 to the Mystics.
· After 5 rounds of the 2009 season, Irene van Dyk is the top shooter for the Magic, also holding the top shot in the shooting ranks at 94% to date this season. This after 2 rounds of 100% shooting.
· Paula Griffin is top shooter for the Pulse, shooting at 79.2% overall this season.
· The Pulse have the second highest attempts at goals behind the Fever.
· The Magic and Pulse have the highest intercept rates this season. Casey Williams for the Magic leads the intercepts with 20 so for 2009, and Althea Byfield for the Pulse is second on 13.


NSW Swifts v Adelaide Thunderbirds

· The two teams last met in round two in Adelaide, Thunderbirds beat Swifts by one goal, 48-47.
· The teams met twice in 2008 with Swifts victorious on both occasions.
· Thunderbirds have never beaten the Swifts in Sydney.
· Both teams are coming off a loss and an away game. Thunderbirds lost to Vixens in Melbourne and the Swifts lost to Fever in Perth.
· Thunderbirds consistent goal keeper Geva Mentor did not play last week instead replaced by Bianca Reddy.
· Swifts went into extra time last week. They lost the match to Fever by one in Perth.
· Swifts led by seven at one point in the final quarter only for Fever to comeback and level the scores pushing the game into extra time
· Both Thunderbirds shooters, Natalie Medhurst and Kate Beveridge, shot at under 80 % against the Vixens, shooting at 71% and 78% respectively.
· Swifts goal attack Susan Pratley is the most accurate Australian shooter this year, shooting at 87.4%.
· Swifts have not lost a game at home this year.

LG Mystics v Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel

· Round 6 is the first time the Mystics and Steel have met in the 2009 Championship.
· The teams met twice in 2008, in Rounds 5 and 12, the Mystics winning both matches, 50-48 and 47-41, respectively.
· The Steel are coming into this match after a bye in Round 5.
· The Mystics come into this round after their match against the Central Pulse where the game went into extra time, the Mystics winning by 1 goal, 61-60.
· Catherine Latu is the top shooter for the Mystics after 5 Rounds this season, she sits second on the table, behind Irene van Dyk at 89.8%.
· The Mystics have had 4 shooters take the court this year and all are shooting above 70%.
· Daneka Wipiiti is the top shooter for the Steel, sitting in the top 10 shooters overall this season so far at 82.4%.
· The Steel’s other prominent shooter, Donna Wilkins has am overall shooting percentage of 71.1%.


Queensland Firebirds v West Coast Fever

· Fever and Firebirds met twice last year with Firebirds victorious on both occasions. The Queenslanders won 48-46 in Brisbane in round one and 65-46 in Perth in round five.
· Fever and Firebirds have not met this year.
· Last week Fever defeated Swifts in extra time by one goal.
· Fever’s dramatic win included a seven goal fight back in the final quarter to level the scores at full time
· Fever’s victory last week means have won three games in a row, after winning two games last year.
· Firebirds are coming of a bye last week.
· Goal shooter Caitlin Bassett scored 54 of Fever’s 67 goals last week shooting at 86%.
· Caitlin Bassett has scored the most goals over the five rounds of the competition, shooting 204 goals.
· After four games (Firebirds had a bye last week) Firebirds goal shooter Romelda Aiken has scored 163 goals from 201 attempts.
· Aiken and Bassett share the competitions highest goal average of 40.8 goals per game.
· In the Firebirds last clash against Magic in round four in Brisbane, they won 53-42 with Aiken shooting 42 of the 53 goals.
· Firebirds used an unchanged line-up against Magic.


A CLOSER LOOK INSIDE THE CIRCLE;

Having the sweetest shot in the world won’t always win you games, as the ANZ Championship is demonstrating.

Irene van Dyk’s jaw-dropping accuracy under the hoop has obviously helped Colourplus Waikato / Bay of Plenty Magic to second spot on the leader board. But the only unbeaten team in the competition so far, Melbourne Vixens, are outside the pace-setters in the shooting statistics.

Take a look at NSW Swifts: sitting in sixth place on the points table, they have put up the most goals in the competition, with 324 attempts, and their success rate of 86 percent puts them second overall for accuracy, behind Magic. Both of their frontline shooters, Catherine Cox and Susan Pratley, are in the top 10 for shooter accuracy. And yet Vixens, unbeaten after five rounds, sit in the middle of most of the shooting stats lists. Key shooters Caitlin Thwaites and Sharelle McMahon are just outside the top 10 shooters for accuracy (both on 81%).

But as former ANZ Championship and New Zealand coach Yvonne Willering points out, where the Vixens have succeeded is through excellent defence and rebounds in the shooting circle.

“The Vixens are very strong on rebounds, especially Caitlin Thwaites – but if you score off a rebound, it counts as two attempts in the statistics. The Vixens have real strength throughout the court defensively too,” Willering says.

Vixens’ circle defence of Australian Diamonds Bianca Chatfield and Julie Corletto have constantly shut down rival shooters - last week, Corletto restricted Thunderbirds goal attack Natalie Medhurst to 10 goals.

“Even if you’re shooters are at the top of the list, you’ll find those teams who are doing well are quite high up there in terms of defensive efforts,” Willering says.

For the second season running, van Dyk continues to lead the perfection stakes, shooting two 100 percent games in rounds two and three, and so far scoring 173 from 184 shots – that’s 94 percent accuracy. On average, the Silver Fern super-shooter scores 34 goals every game.

It was the Queensland Firebirds’ defence, led by Laura Geitz, who broke van Dyk’s perfect run, restricting her to only 32 attempts in the Firebirds’ upset victory. van Dyk still managed to score from 30 of those shots.

van Dyk’s least successful performance – 84 percent in – was in the first round up against her old domestic nemesis and Ferns team-mate Vilimaina Davu for the Mystics.

Mystics’ Cathrine Latu, sometimes criticised for not putting up shots, is the second-most accurate shooter in the competition this far, hovering just below 90 percent with 114 from 127 attempts. Pratley is the most effective goal attack, right up there with 115 from 132 (87 percent), with her partner Cox on 85 percent.

“You’ve got to look at where the shots are being taken from,” Willering says. “Catherine Cox’s shots are all from way out, but Cathrine Latu tends to shoot right underneath the basket.

“The Australian theory is once you have the ball in the circle, you look straight to the post. With New Zealand teams, we can put our shooters into brackets – whether they are three, four or five-foot shooters.”

Other than van Dyk, only two other players have had perfect shooting games so far – LG Mystics import Pamela Cookey shot 10 from 10 against the Swifts, while the Vixens’ Australian under-21 player Ashlee Howard converted all four of her attempts when she came on for an injured McMahon against the Thunderbirds.

Some teams are relying heavily on one shooter to carry them through. West Coast Fevers’ goal shoot Caitlin Bassett is the most prolific shooter so far – with 244 shots at goal (scoring 204 of those) - and she averages just over 40 goals a match. Her 54 goals in Monday night’s overtime thriller with Swifts was the highest individual score of the championship.

Romelda Aiken, in the Queensland Firebirds, also averages 40 goals a game. Silver Fern Paula Griffin, shooting for the Central Pulse, is the next highest in terms of volume, having put up 221 shots (just ahead of van Dyk), and she scores around 35 goals every time she takes the court.

“Even if you have the best shooter in the competition on your side, she needs to work in tandem with your goal attack – it’s all about combination,” says Willering. “Some teams like the Vixens have maintained their combination from last season and built on it.
“If you rely on one shooter, they only need to have an off-day or get injured and you’re in trouble.”

In round six this weekend, Griffin will have her work cut out for her up against her Fern team-mate Casey Williams when Pulse travel to Hamilton to meet Magic.

The other Kiwi-versus-Kiwi match-up sees Mystics host Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel, both teams having won two games so far.

Across the Tasman, Swifts will be looking to avenge their one-goal second-round loss to Thunderbirds when they have the home advantage. Firebirds, refreshed from a bye, meet a fervent Fever side for the first time this season in Brisbane on Monday night.
Vixens and Tactix have the byes.