ACCORDING to the sporting.news web site, in 2020 there were three National Basketball Association (NBA) franchises that had three picks in the draft. What does this have to do with the Women National Basketball League’s (WNBL) Glutagence Glow Boosters?
Nothing, but the three teams—Golden State Warriors, Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks—if the season were to end today, the Hornets and the Knicks would barely make it to the playoffs at No. 6 and No. 7 and will have to compete in a play-in tournament while the Warriors wouldn’t make the playoffs but they’d qualify for the play-in tournament among the last three teams of the top nine teams in each conference.
Again, what does this have to do with the Glutagence Glow Boosters, well, in this year’s WNBL draft, the first in league history, the Glow Boosters drafted three very good players—they picked first in each of the first three rounds of the 12-round draft.
The Knicks had two picks in the first round of the 2020 Draft and now, they’re in the thick of the playoff race with a chance to go even higher.
Will drafting three of the best players to ever play in Philippine women’s college basketball translate to a first-ever title for the franchise? In basketball, whether it’s a men or women professional league, anything can happen. A few breaks of the game here, a few calls going your way there, can mean the difference between the joy of victory and the agony of defeat.
It will be interesting to see how the Splash Sisters Khate Castillo and Camille Claro and fellow draft pick Fille Claudine Cainglet, with the team’s three protected players and several signees will develop chemistry without any practice time because of the pandemic.
The team will be lacking in size and length but will make up for it with speed and quickness on both ends of the court. Not just speed and quickness to get easy baskets but crisp passing together with ball and player movement. They’ll have to play zone most of the time to protect their frontcourt players especially against bigger and longer teams.
They’ll need to shoot a high percentage from the outside and rebound by committee because you can’t run without the ball. The lack of consistent strength and conditioning may be a factor the longer the season goes so the team may have to resort to playing half-court sets to conserve energy.
This is where the work of the trainers, the physical therapists and strength and conditioning coaches become vital and crucial.
We wish the Glutagence Glow Boosters and the other competing teams the best of luck. Our hope for them is an injury-free season and may they play their hearts out every game leaving everything on the court.