Opals keen to return to basketball 'mecca' Newcastle

Caretaker coach Cheryl Chambers said the Opals would "absolutely" love to come back to a basketball "mecca".

A boisterous crowd of over 2500 couldn't quite get the Opals over the line, losing 69-67 to Japan in game three of their international series at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre on Tuesday night.

"If we could get you guys to all come down to Sydney in September that would be awesome," said Blicavs, who led the way for Australia with 15 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists.

The World Cup, featuring the 12 best teams in the globe, will be played exclusively in Sydney, tipping off on September 22.

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The Opals will travel to the US in July for a training camp that will include games against Canada and Puerto Rico.

Chambers anticipates there will be other international games in the lead up to the World Cup, where the Opals are ranked No.3.

"Hopefully there will be lots of friendlies leading into the World Cup so everyone can get a taste of it," Chambers said. "Absolutely we would love to play up here again. The crowd was fantastic. It is obviously a basketball mecca. There has been some great players from here - Jenni Screen, Suzy Batkovic and Katie-Rae Ebzery."

Apart from Blicavs, captain Cayla George and guard Tess Magden, it was a youthful Opals squad that pushed Japan to the limit.

Anneli Maley (11 points and seven rebounds) shone in Newcastle, while Jade Melbourne, Maddison Rocci and Shyla Heal all stood tall at various stages.

Sami Whitcomb and Bec Allen and a host of other WNBA players will come into the squad for the World Cup.

But Chambers was encouraged by the progression of the WNBL-based players against a Japanese side featuring seven players from the team which won silver at the Tokyo Olympics.

The Opals won the first game 72-66, before two tight losses, 56-55 in Sydney on Sunday and Tuesday's decider.

"No excuses, but we have had three training sessions together. Japan do that in a day sometimes," Chambers said. "They are really well drilled. We got better in a lot of those areas over the three games."

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