Capitals sell out, but superstar benched after 45-hour trip to get to game

The Capitals return from a two-week hiatus when they host the Bendigo Spirit at a sold-out Tuggeranong Basketball Stadium on Thursday night.

But Melbourne will sit out after the Capitals co-captain returned from Olympic Games qualifiers in Brazil, with a series of airport layovers stretching the travel time to almost two full days.

Melbourne is on the cusp of a maiden Olympic call-up after helping the Opals to book their ticket to the Paris Games and seeing her suit up for Canberra would be a major coup for a team running out of chances to avoid back-to-back wooden spoons.

"She is still in the air somewhere. As I was having a little look at it, it's over 40 hours of travel to get back," Capitals coach Kristen Veal said on Wednesday.

"We kind of knew it was going to be tight. The Opals land [on Wednesday night]. Considering the minutes she played in the last two games and the travel, we'll play it by ear over the next 24 hours."

The Thursday night clash doubles as Bendigo veteran Kelly Wilson's 450^th WNBL game, but the Capitals will be desperate to spoil the party for a player who once helped Canberra to a championship.

Melbourne would ordinarily play a key role in those plans having led the Capitals in points and assists per game during the best year of her career.

"What [Melbourne] has done for the team this year is really kind of be that scoring focus, obviously still throwing dimes and trying to bring her teammates in, but really that kind of 'put the team of my back' and try to get them across the line with points and making plays," Veal said.

"We spoke about it before coming into the Opals, that next evolution of point guarding, whether it's decision-making, whether it's bringing the teammates into the game and finding the talent on the court to make the scores which is not only going to help the team perform better, but also balance out her workload as well so she can actually make it through seasons.

"In Brazil, I thought she did an exceptional job of that, so we're looking to carry that forward through the next three games."

But with Melbourne missing out on Thursday, the onus is on her teammates to step up in the hope of snapping a five-game losing streak and climbing off the bottom of the ladder - Canberra sit two wins behind Adelaide but have a game in hand - with three matches left in their season.

"We lost our way a little bit after those losses and we found it again in Townsville," Veal said. "That is something that has to be there every practice, every game. That never changes whether we win, lose or draw, have eight players or 15 players. We really want to get back to that Caps basketball."