Kelsey Griffin's return to the starting five has added another weapon to the Canberra Capitals' arsenal as they toy with a "bully ball" game plan on the road to the playoffs.
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Griffin made her first start of the WNBL season in Canberra's 85-65 thumping of the Adelaide Lightning in Townsville on Friday night, posting 15 points and nine rebounds in a near 27-minute shift.
Now the league's one-time most valuable player will look to back it up when the Capitals face the Townsville Fire on their home court on Sunday.
Capitals coach Paul Goriss had eased Griffin back into the action in a frantic condensed season after she missed the opening tip with a back injury.
But the 33-year-old looms as a key member of the club's starting five on the road to the playoffs after making a major impact to help the Capitals back to the top of the standings.
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"I think it's just to show me I was wrong for the last nine games or whatever it was, probably a 'screw you coach, start me'," Goriss laughed.
"It was just getting to a point where she was very healthy in mind and body, and she had enough runs underneath her legs to be able to put her into that position.
"We were going to have to do it at some stage or another. In [Friday's] game, [assistant coach Kristen Veal] and I decided as a coaching group to go with a bigger starting line-up, just because of the bigger guards and the bigger line-up Adelaide had.
"Kelsey always brings lots of energy, that was on display. Definitely, it's now something we have to consider moving forward with that bigger line-up, or [whether] we stay with that smaller line-up."
Goriss says the decision will hinge on match-ups on a game by game basis as the Capitals look to close out the regular season with three more victories.
The Fire clash is followed by a game against the Perth Lynx on Thursday night, before Canberra faces Southside in their final match before the finals series.
"Bigger guards will post up our smaller guards, so we decided to go with a bigger line-up and take away any pressure of having those guards getting into foul trouble or getting beaten up on those early possessions," Goriss said.
"From a strategic standpoint, let's go a little bit bully ball and go big, and not allow teams to bully our little guards. It worked, we had great energy at the start.
"It's going to be a game to game proposition on how we match up and how we want to go with rolling into the finals."
WNBL
Round four: Sunday, December 6 - Townsville Fire v Canberra Capitals at Townsville Stadium, 6pm.