After four consecutive losses, the Launceston Tornadoes are staring down the barrel of a troublesome double-header against two of the competition's powerhouses.
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In a scheduling quirk, Friday night's game against the ladder-leading Geelong Supercats will be played at Geelong Arena before a return to Tasmania sees the Tornadoes hosting third-placed Knox in Ulverstone on Saturday.
Following a defeat to Hobart Huskies last weekend, coach Derrick Washington is upbeat heading into the impeding tough tasks.
"The key will be staying poised," Washington said.
"When we go against Geelong, it'll be our second time and we know we can compete with them. We just need to execute our game plan, play four quarters and hit our shots."
Hosting the Supercats in round nine, the home side went down by 14 points and three weeks later, they face the difficult task of stopping the renowned scoring ability of the Geelong side, who have four players averaging over 10 points per game.
The impending return of US import Brittany Hodges could bolster the Tornadoes' stocks for the weekend's double-header.
Prior to her hamstring injury that has ruled her out of competition since round 7, Hodges averaged 17.6 points and 12.2 rebounds per game this season and was electric for the Launceston side.
Washington believes focusing back towards the classic Tornadoes style of play will be able to get them on the right track this weekend.
"Our key is getting transition and making defensive stops in a row and capitalising off turnovers. That's our style of play and we will have to do those things against the top teams in the league."
Facing first time opponents Knox in Ulverstone, Sarah O'Neill returns to her home court and is in form.
"Sarah has been doing great for us, starting and giving us that 15-20 points a game and that energy we need when our import players aren't performing on the floor."
NBL1 Ladder
- Team P W L %
- Geelong 15 14 1 131
- Bendigo 14 13 1 116
- Knox 13 10 3 112
- Kilsyth 13 9 4 116
- Nunawading 13 9 4 109
- Ringwood 13 9 4 102
- Dandenong 14 9 5 113
- Eltham 14 7 7 97
- Alb'-Wodonga 13 6 7 97
- Melbourne 13 6 7 95
- Frankston 14 6 8 101
- Hobart 13 5 8 98
- Ballarat 13 5 8 96
- Waverley 12 3 9 93
- South Sabres 13 3 10 83
- Launceston 13 3 10 82
- Diamond Val' 14 2 12 83
- BA COE 15 2 13 83