Perth Lynx import Laeticia Amihere’s coach Ryan Petrik thinks she’s the best defensive player in the WNBL

Perth Lynx coach Ryan Petrik has described import centre Laeticia Amihere as a unicorn and the league’s best defensive player, which means sorting out her foul issues will transform the way the team plays. Amihere dominated Thursday night’s 87-63 win over Canberra with 15 points, 16 rebounds, four steals and one block after changing her tactics due to fouling out three times this season. Petrik said her influence on games when able to play freely was profound. “She’s pretty important to to us. As we saw last week in Sydney, once she fouled out, that’s game over. It was pretty black and white,” he said. “She gives us another guard essentially on the court. We think she’s the best defensive player in the comp so she can anchor that end for us but ignite the fast break which is very 2024. She gives us a lot of different things offensively. “We play without a traditional point-guard but essentially our centre can play point-guard She’s a bit of a unicorn at that end of the court so staying on the court so staying on the court is really important for how we play.” The Lynx experienced similar foul challenges last year when Canadian centre Emily Potter joined the club. Potter couldn’t hide her frustrations at the way the game was being officiated, but once she altered her style of play, she had a massive influence on the team’s rise to the grand final. Petrik said helping import centres to adjust to the WNBL’s officiating was one of the most difficult jobs for every coach. “It was the same thing last year. It’s the same every year. The same thing happened when I was an assistant under Andy (Stewart). We had the same issues and every other coach in the league does as well,” he said. “The league is umpired differently to other places in the world and it takes time to adapt to. It’s weird because it feels like the guards are allowed to play rugby here as much as they want but the bigs can’t go near anyone. We’re slowly starting to adapt to it.”