After such a poor showing last week, the Seahawks have had 7 days of reflection and soul searching. A good session on Monday with video analysis of the Razors game, we highlighted basic mistakes to work on, and training has concentrated on working the ball on offence and working the feet on defence. And last night it showed.
The Seahawks again faced a strong, championship contending side in the Bandits, who had the reigning league MVP in their line up, and although the score line was much the same as the previous games, the intent and execution was greatly improved. The offence started really well, moving the ball and getting good looks at the basket and open drives, but a few basic turnovers on entry passes meant we couldn't finish off moves, topped off with missed shots that were just rattling out. At the first time-out it was 8-20 with us having missed at least 3 open layups and finishes that would have had us at a much smaller deficit. Where we lacked defensively was on size and strength, with big #9 Gorman and #21 Westlake doing the damage underneath. The first ended 11-26.
The second was much the same, missed opportunities that even the refs were commenting on, but on the defensive end, the big guys were quickly learning about aggression under the basket in this adult league. Where we had previously let them walk the ball in, and give away the baseline too easily, we were making them work much harder for their shots, and showing we weren't just going to roll over. Clearly the Bandits were strong inside but backed it up with good sharp shooting, which we struggled to contain, but given a lesser side would have been good defence. It was 23 - 54 at the half.
The second half was much the same, but this time the Seahawks continued to work, rather than rolling over. Manuel found a bit of range on his 3 pointers, hitting 3 over the game, but this time the decision to shoot was controlled and considered. We worked the ball until we found the open player, and weren't forcing shots. Vito was using his speed with a new confidence, and making great drives, either getting to the basket, or drawing players and getting a good kick pass to the wings or cutting players. However, we still struggled to put the ball in the basket with open lay ups! We were running the ball better, using our speed and youth as an advantage again, with some good transition basketball, [which could have been better to create more chances, but that will come]. We finished the game using the court time to get confidence for Sundays match ups when we face up against players our own age, where we should be looking to win. It ended 40-114.
Tuesday, we face a much different side in Southbourne SwampDonkeys. Although we are without a few key players due to half term, we will really be looking for a win to get our season started.
[Scorers: A. Li 10, M Carrillo 9, V Cheng 7, T Wu 5, O Wood 4, Y. Aimaganbetov 2, B Petrov 2, N Wickens 2]
[MVP: Bandits,
M Gorman 27pts]