Every week, ESPN's Megan Hustwaite brings together the stories that have caught her eye across the WNBL.
Megs' Notebook
Bendigo Unrivaled for Martin
US basketball star Kate Martin will land in Australia this week to join Bendigo and focus on the traditional form of the game after withdrawing from the lucrative 3x3 Unrivaled season.
The 26-year-old guard, who built a decorated college career with Iowa, was waived by eventual champion Golden State Valkyries before the WNBA season began then went on to join Los Angeles and Chicago Sky.
She is Bendigo's sole import and has been recruited to replace the pregnant Abbey Wehrung.
Martin spoke exclusively to ESPN on Tuesday and said she will arrive in Melbourne on Friday with her debut game yet to be pencilled in.
She played for Breeze in the revolutionary Unrivaled league earlier this year and late last month it was reported her and the team had parted ways.
"(I want) to get five-on-five playing experience and just with where I'm at in my career right now and the way this year in the WNBA went for me was a little up and down," Martin said.
"I honestly didn't play a lot of five-on-five games so that was something I was really looking for this off-season and so this opportunity presenting itself was just perfect.
"When I'm over in Australia, I want to work on getting back to loving basketball, having fun, enjoying the experience and the moment and sharpening my skillset of knocking down shots, working on my defence, making the right reads and just continuing to be the basketball player I am in the 5-on-5 setting."
From Jackie Young to Jordin Canada and Veronica Burton, Americans have returned to the WNBA in recent years and broken out, achieved individual accolades and team success. Martin hopes to be the next in a growing line.
"Seeing those players go to WNBL then have amazing seasons in the WNBA gives me a lot of confidence and is obviously part of the reason that I'm doing it," she explains.
"VB (Veronica Burton) is definitely a big inspiration in that aspect. She has nothing but amazing things to say about Bendigo, the fans, the team, the people, the coaches, everything and that gives me a lot of excitement to get out there."
Borlase is Back
Isobel Borlase will meet her Bendigo teammates at Melbourne Airport on Wednesday morning as the Spirit welcome back a big piece of their puzzle.
The 22-year-old reigning WNBL MVP has enjoyed a spell back home in Adelaide, featuring her Dad's - former SANFL champion Daryl - 60th birthday, after a great rookie season and WNBA finals campaign with runner up Atlanta Dream.
Following Tuesday night's loss to Perth, the Spirit went 0-5 to start the season in Borlase's absence.
So, what improvements will the basketball world notice in Borlase after her first WNBA experience?
"That I don't get back cut as much," Borlase laughed.
"I hope my defence can be more reliable and then offensively just finding different ways to finish around the ring and distributing the ball a bit better when the defence comes.
"Obviously with my three-point shot I want to try and get that as efficient as possible. That's something that's really going to help me in the WNBA, being efficient as I can, so the WNBL's a good spot to start with - getting the shots up and then trying to refine.
"And then just build on what I did last season. I'm not expecting it to go the exact same way, a lot has happened, so I'm not going to expect the exact same outcomes but just try to put in the work so I'm ready on game days."
Aja's Adelaide a work in progress
The Lightning have two wins on the trot but there's still plenty of work to do according to coach Aja Parham-Ammar.
Adelaide lost to Perth, Sydney and Townsville before beating Southside in Melbourne then registered their first home win last weekend over Tasmania.
"It's a rollercoaster of a season and we weren't ready for the start of it if I'm being honest with you," Parham-Ammar said.
"We're coming together, figuring some things out collectively, how to message, how to play together, what strengths and weaknesses we've got to make sure we're aware of with each individual player.
"We put a good little game together (against Tassie) but still have a lot of building to do. We're still in the lab."
The offence, which conjured 100 points in Round 4, pleased the coach the most.
"It looked a lot more connected, we've been working on that heavily because we do have very talented offensive players and we're capable of scoring. We just have to get people in the right comfort spots and places and understanding how each other play a bit more and that's coming with time, repetition and practice together.
"We got stops when we needed to, we need to just keep getting better but it's beautiful to be able to win and know we can still get better."
Adelaide is home to Geelong in Round 5.
OPALS WATCH - The Opals who shone in Round 4
Steph Reid (Jewels) 25 points, 4 assists, 3 steals vs Adelaide
Jade Melbourne (Spirit) 24 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals vs Canberra and 21 points, 12 assists, 2 steals vs Perth
Courtney Woods (Fire) 22 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals vs Geelong
Zitina Aokuso (Lightning) 20 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists vs Tasmania
Alex Fowler (Fire) 13 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 1 assist vs Geelong
Issie Bourne (Flames) 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal vs Southside
Abbey Ellis (Fire) 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists vs Geelong
Amy Atwell (Caps) 12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal vs Bendigo
WNBL Round 5
Thursday November 12: Tasmania home to Southside, 7pm AEDT
Friday November 13: Geelong home to Perth, 7pm AEDT
Saturday November 14: Bendigo home to Sydney, 3pm AEDT
Sunday November 15: Southside home to Perth, 1pm AEDT
Sunday November 15: UC Capitals home to Townsville, 3pm AEDT
Tuesday November 17: Adelaide home to Geelong, 7pm AEDT