Spotlight – Under radar Wolfpack firing on all cylinders

The Joondalup Wolves are coming off a championship in 2020, have lost only three times in 2021 and beat the top placed team, and might have put together the most dominant performance this whole NBL1 West season – yet coach Charles Nix feels they are still largely going unrecognised.

Nix took over as coach of the Lady Wolfpack back in 2019 and after a strong start to the season, things did go off the rails a little in the back end of the campaign largely through the loss of key players and they were bundled out unceremoniously in the first round.

However, while COVID-19 meant a usual season wasn’t possible in 2020 and the West Coast Classic was in place instead, the Wolves proved the standout team of the shortened season and Nix was able to lead a team to his first championship at this level.

Now the Wolves have been able to largely keep that similar group together for the inaugural NBL1 West season with those with WNBL experience Kayla Steindl, Nes'eya Williams and Georgia Denehey back on board.

They retained the experience of Amber Land, Alix Hayward and even Chelsea Belcher as well while adding Tia Ucich and since the season got underway, experienced back court pair Rebecca Benson and Jasmine Martin.

That meant that having the talent to work with wasn’t going to be an issue, but he still had to get the best out of the group as a unit and he absolutely did that during a 15-3 regular season.

They only missed out on top spot to the Willetton Tigers by percentage despite beating them a couple of weeks out from the end of the season in a cracking overtime contest at HBF Arena.

That saw Joondalup earn hosting rights to last Friday's qualifying final against a team he knew well, the Perth Redbacks who he coached to the semi finals back in the 2018 SBL season.

The end result was perhaps the best performance for an entire game that any team has delivered this NBL1 West season. The defensive performance from the Wolves was particularly stifling and impressive while offensively they put on a well-rounded show to win 90-48.

That takes them to a preliminary final back on their home floor at HBF Arena this Saturday night against either the East Perth Eagles or Warwick Senators with a spot in the Grand Final on the line next Friday night.

Nix couldn’t be prouder of his team but knows they are yet guaranteed nothing beyond Saturday.

"I'm really proud of the group and of what we've done, but we understand all that we've done right is to give ourselves the opportunity to play one more game," Nix said.

"If we come out and we execute, and play the way we can then we'll earn the right to play in a Grand Final. But at this stage we can't look past this Saturday night because that's all we are promised."

Anyone who witnessed the performance right from the start of last Friday night's eventual 42-point qualifying final win against the Redbacks couldn’t have been anything but hugely impressed.

It all started at the defensive end with the Wolves allowed to play physical yet legal defence which took the Redbacks out of their comfort zone, and took them out of their game both in terms of running offence and bringing the ball up the floor.

The end result was the Wolves holding the Redbacks to 48 points in 40 minutes on shooting 16/55 from the field at 29 per cent on top of forcing them into 26 turnovers and only six assists.

As impressive a defensive performance as it was, the offence flowed smoothly for the Wolfpack too shooting 43.5 per cent from the field and 33.3 per cent three on top of pulling in 23 more rebounds overall with 19 assists and 17 steals.

Despite how impressive a performance it was, coach Nix feels the Wolves can still play better.

"I still think we've got some improvement in us. I think we played that well for longer than we have all year which is a real positive thing for this time of the year. But I do think we do have a little bit more in us at the same time," he said.

"We did have some breakdowns at times particularly on Mak Dyer and we let her get off at times when we preferably wouldn’t want to. It was probably our best performance of the season, though, having said all of that."

The defensive performance from Joondalup was just so stifling that the Redbacks couldn’t get into a flow at any point of the game, and it's that sort of defence that Nix wants to base everything his team does on.

"We just wanted to play disciplined and discipline means making sure you stay in front, you stay down, you make sure your hands are out and that you put yourselves in good positions to rebound the ball," Nix said.

"That really helped us defensively and the top teams like a Willetton are also very physical so we need to prepare ourselves for that if we are lucky enough to get the chance to play them later in the playoffs."

Walking away from Friday's game and it was the Wolves' defence that was at the forefront of what you were blown away by, but it was a smoothly run offensive display too with the Wolfpack fully utilising their impressive depth.

Nes'eya Williams finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, five steals, four assists and two blocked shots on 8/13 shooting from the field.

Kayla Steindl also put up 17 points, eight rebounds and three steals with Rebecca Benson contributing 13 points, five boards and two steals, Chelsea Belcher 10 points and four rebounds, Jasmine Martin 10 points, and Amber Land nine points.

Having so many options is exactly what Nix hopes them tough to defend.

"We want to be predictable to ourselves and we understand that ball movement is really good for us so we like to shift the ball and we want to make defences work at that end," Nix said.

"I feel like what we are trying to do offensively is predictable to us but it's harder to scout for the opposition because you just aren’t sure where the shots will be coming from. 

"We want our players to be confident and we want our players to be shooting the ball, and we really encourage that. We are fortunate that we've got a team that is very skilled but selfless at the same time."

The biggest plus of this Wolves team is that for a lot of the group this is their third year playing together and you can clearly see that chemistry they have built out on the court.

"I've always said that it takes time to build championship teams and we were fortunate enough to get one last year, circumstances could have contributed to that," Nix said. 

"The longer teams usually play together the more they understand each other and the most important thing is that they become more willing to sacrifice for each other. 

"We're at that point right now and we know that Kayla Steindl will be leaving after this season and she's our captain, and our leader and we want to do well for her. People are willing to sacrifice for each other on this team and I guess that's what time builds."

While Nix and the Wolves eagerly await who they will play in Saturday night's preliminary final, he doesn’t expect it to change too much whether it's the East Perth Eagles or Warwick Senators.

"For us this week we are a team who works a lot on our defence and on our defensive principles to understand our different action. So as long as we understand how to defend certain individual actions, it doesn’t matter what they are running and we'll be able to do defend it," Nix said.

"So it's not so much about who we are playing this Saturday night, it's more about the individual personnel who we need to adjust for to defend when we find out who it is. But we don't change too much depending on who we play."

NBL1 WEST WOMEN'S DIVISION 2021

FINALS WEEK 1
FRIDAY – QUALIFYING FINAL
Joondalup Wolves 90 defeated Perth Redbacks 48

FRIDAY – ELIMINATION FINAL
Rockingham Flames 75 lost to Cockburn Cougars 81

SATURDAY – ELIMINATION FINAL
Warwick Senators 97 defeated Mandurah Magic 64

SATURDAY – QUALIFYING FINAL
Willetton Tigers 77 defeated East Perth Eagles 73

FINALS WEEK 2
FRIDAY – SEMI FINALS
Perth Redbacks v Cockburn Cougars – Belmont Oasis 7pm
East Perth Eagles v Warwick Senators – Herb Graham Recreation Centre 7pm

SATURDAY – PRELIMINARY FINALS
Willetton Tigers v Redbacks/Cougars – Willetton Basketball Stadium 5pm
Joondalup Wolves v Eagles/Senators – HBF Arena Joondalup 7pm

FINALS WEEK 3
FRIDAY – GRAND FINAL
Tigers/Redbacks/Cougars v Wolves/Eagles/Senators – Bendat Basketball Centre 7pm