Pressure on inside is the key

Printsync South West Slammers women’s coach Nathan Grover believes forcing the Perry Lakes Hawks into uncomfortable inside looks could impact their offensive productivity at the Eaton Recreation Centre on Saturday night. “We will have to stop their inside presence,” he said. “They are big with Natalie Burton and Sarah Donovan. That presence also leads into offensive rebounding and second chance points opportunities. “I think that will probably be the focus for us this week, in terms of how we can limit those second chances and obviously turnovers. “But turnovers are related to timing, chemistry and they are unavoidable sometimes. However we have young players who have not quite got into the flow of it yet. “But we will have a crack.” Grover is hopeful that playing at home will offer a bigger complement of players to pick from. However with WABL-based players suiting up for up to three games in as many days, along with Perth-based players filling in when needed, the Slammers coach has done his best to enhance momentum on the floor. “We do not all train together,” Grover said. “We have players filling in for us that live up in Perth which do not come to training, which purely comes down to the numbers that we have got.” Scouting report (Perry Lakes Hawks) Form: The Hawks appear to be in the hunt for a finals berth and enter Saturday night’s clash with a three game winning streak. Having said this, only one of their three victories so far have come against a current top eight team. Natalie Burton has led the offence superbly so far, averaging a solid 13.6 points per game. League position: 7th; home record: 2-1; away record: 1-1; last round: defeated Willetton Tigers 61-43, defeated Mandurah Magic 58-53. Key stat: Despite shooting 23/69 (33 per cent) overall, the Hawks managed to score 19 points from turnovers in their win over the Magic.