The Adelaide Lightning will play their first home game of the WNBL27 season tomorrow night, hosting reigning champions the Townsville Fire at the SA State Basketball Centre.
After opening the season on the road against the Sydney Flames, the Lightning return to Adelaide looking to deliver in front of their home crowd and build momentum against one of the league’s benchmark teams.
Head Coach Aja Parham-Ammar said the group has taken clear learnings from its opening outing and is focused on turning promising moments into a complete performance.
“We’ll watch video, have conversations, build more continuity on offence and sharpen the details defensively. It’s about taking it one possession at a time and making sure it all comes together for us.”
Parham-Ammar acknowledged the challenge posed by Townsville who are entering the contest with early-season confidence.
“Townsville is the defending champion and they expect to win. They’ll come in confident, so I expect a dogfight,” she said.
“I expect our girls to respond and compete. There’s no better time to have this sort of test. We’ve done the work, now it’s about believing in the work we’ve done, building trust in each other and staying the course.”
The home opener also carries added significance with captain Steph Talbot back in Adelaide and set to lead a young Lightning group. Talbot returns to the WNBL after a busy stretch that included the FIBA Women’s World Cup and a WNBA campaign with the Las Vegas Aces.
“It’s good to be home,” Talbot said. “We have a really exciting group. We’re young, but they work hard and they want to learn, and I’m really excited to get on court with them.”
Talbot said her experience will be important as the new-look Lightning continue to grow together.
“They have a lot of good scorers and did a lot of good things, but there are some breakdowns we need to fix,” she said.
“My experience and leadership on court will help with poise in the tougher times, and I can also help at the defensive end.”
The Lightning captain is eager to play in front of the Adelaide crowd at the SA State Basketball Centre, following the strong atmosphere generated at the venue last season.
“I’m so excited to be back in Adelaide playing at the State Basketball Centre,” Talbot said. “The move here was unreal, the atmosphere is awesome, and I can’t wait to get out in front of all the fans and see them all again.”
With a shared leadership group helping integrate several new faces, Talbot believes connection will be central to Adelaide’s development.
“As a leader, I have my strengths and weaknesses, and I’ll lean on the others to do what I don’t do well, while they lean on me for what I do well,” she said.
“It’s definitely a joint effort. We have a lot of new faces, so these first couple of weeks are big for making connections on and off the court so we can move forward as one.”
Talbot made no secret of her ambition for the season ahead.
“That’s the main goal, that’s why I wanted to come back and play with this team. I want to win a championship in Adelaide,” she said.
“I think we have all the pieces we need. We’re young and we’ve got a lot to learn, but the talent is there. We just have to put it together.”
The Adelaide Lightning take on the Townsville Fire on Tuesday 20 October at the State Basketball Centre tipping off from 6.30pm AECT.
