Perth Lynx coach Ryan Petrik has urged star import Teonni Key not to lose sleep over WNBL officiating after she fouled out in just 13 minutes during Saturday night’s win over Townsville Fire.
Key joined a long line of Lynx import centres to experience frustration with the differences in officiating in Australia as the Lynx won 83-81 in the grand final re-match at the Perth High Performance Centre.
She had three fouls at half-time, then picked up her fourth just 57 seconds into the third period and spent the rest of the quarter on the bench. The American returned to the game midway through the final quarter but fouled out 71 seconds later.
Perth have experienced the same issues with previous import centres. Emily Potter fouled out twice in her first five games while Laeticia Amihere was called for five fouls on debut and again in game three. Petrik said Key had been hard done by.
“The first two or three TK copped, with a bias clearly, I thought were non-fouls or soft as butter. Therefore the instruction for us is don’t change a thing,” he said.
“I’ve seen imports foul out quickly before, and generally from wild swings and misses or wild fouls. Potter’s fouls were different. Like in fairness to the other players, I think a lot of those were genuine fouls.
“I want to go back and watch the tape, and the refs have got a really tough job. But I think the first two or three felt like ‘that’s a different sport’. If we’re calling that, it’s 80 fouls each. I would say she’ll learn and adapt. Don’t change anything. Just keep playing that way, and we think those fouls will eventually disappear.”
Key plays for Toronto in the WNBA and promised to reflect on her Lynx debut this week.
“I’ll go back, watch and see what I could do better. But, I’m just going to keep playing hard and adjust a little bit, so I can stay on the court and help the team,” she said.