Death, Taxes And Liz Cambage Domination

Southside Flyers 94

Melbourne Boomers 79

After finalising their roster for 2020 season, Southside Flyers head coach Cheryl Chambers should have walked into her offices, punched in her time card, scrawled one play on yellow legal pad and booked a holiday that starts the following day and lasts until the start of the season. Arriving to the stadium for game one with a confronting sunglasses tan and leaving a dense smell of daiquiri wherever she goes, she could have uncrinkled her yellow legal pad plans, presented it to the team and kicked her feet up for the remainder of the tournament. The plan? Let. Liz. Cook. Get Liz Cambage the ball, look interesting in receiving the ball back as a distraction and stretch those arms out for high-fives on her way to the free throw line. Practice time will henceforth be reallocated to making room on shelving for trophies and acceptance speech preparation. Few things are guaranteed in life but Liz Cambage looking like she's playing against small feeble children is one.

Without this sounding too much like an ode to Ms. Cambage, her presence on the court is generational. Her strength and touch inside is exceptional and her hustle to work to her spots in the post is outstanding. When she took her first jump shot by taking a dribble, getting to a comfortable spot and shooting in one motion, that was a signal this game is over, if she's hitting outside shots you can call the game early. People that have never watch the sport in their lives could view this game and know instantly who the best player on the court is. That's her level of dominance. The Flyers do play very well around her, entry passes all afternoon were precise and well timed, even with some first half turnovers coming from them, it wasn't until the ball was already there. With the talent that surrounds Cambage it seems like a tall task for any team to knock off the Flyers this year.

The Melbourne Boomers had a weird afternoon. Never out of the game, but never looking like they were going to claw in front and stay there either. They played Cambage pretty well for most of the game, they got some turnovers swooping in after the post entry pass and sent her to the free throw line to earn her points, but when she's hitting the shots she was it's hard to not out get your head down. Ezi Magbegor had a quiet 20 point performance and no one else made much noise in the points column. Ash Karaitiana hit a couple of threes that looked like they could move the needle with some momentum, but the Basketball Gods did frown upon the Boomers on this sabbath afternoon affair. Sacrifices will need to be presented at Flinders Street Station for a different result in a finals rematch.

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- Potential weird stat line of the year sighting by Leilani Mitchell: 3 points, 0 rebounds, 11 assists. Masterful.