Week #5 recap - Game #6 vs Cockburn Cougars (106 - 86 loss)

We continue to build our season, learning as we progress. I put this game down to that process. It was a solid game overall, with 2 major holes.

Firstly, we had a major slump in the second quarter. It is terribly clichéd, but against any team you cannot afford to dig yourself a 17 point half time hole (well over 20 points at one stage in the quarter) and expect to just turn it on and get out of it.

Secondly when we implemented a game plan to get back into the game in the second half, despite some promising effort and cutting the lead back to 8 points, we did not stick to the plan well enough to take the game. In fact we went so far away from the plan, that as the game wore on it barely resembled anything we would normally do.

Of course it was disappointing for all to have Jon Moon out, having rolled his ankle during training on Wednesday night. Ty Alabakis returned to the team after a 6 week absence with a broken collarbone and being forced into heavy minutes in his first game back he performed well considering.

Some positives from the game:

• Whilst not having the best shooting night of his career (11pts on 4/13fga), Andrew McLennan found other ways to benefit the team with a strong 16rbd, 5ast, 5stl performance
• Time Kruge continues to understand his role with the team, find his form and understand the referees and comes out with a solid double double (17pts, 15rbds)
• With our increased focus and hustle, we managed to outrebound another team which was unheard of us last year (51 – 48)

Some areas for further improvement:

• Our first half field goal percentage was reflective of our slump, and not of our recent efficiency and understanding of our game style (29%)
• Our 28 turnovers, leading to our average of 24 turnovers per game…good for third worst in the league. In particular Tim Kruge struggling with the local interpretation of travelling on the low block (we are working on this)
• Our understanding of the various sets and purposes of them, to enable us to implement them when required in a game without confusion

We called an early training session and held a team meeting last night to discuss our performance to date and work on some individual goals. As corny as it is, a team is only the sum of its parts and until we start taking accountability for our own performance and improving our effort areas, we wont beat the stronger teams and set our path for the finals. I am pleased with the honesty and accurate self assessment that we managed, and the support the entire team showed for each other. The outcomes are solid and I think we will be putting some much improved efforts forward in the coming weeks.

Looking ahead we face Lakeside Lightning, Perth Redbacks, then the Bunbury Slammers, Geraldton Buccaneers double followed by Rockingham Flames, Perry Lakes Hawks double. This Friday’s game against the Lightning is a great opportunity for us to play against a perennial finalist with a strong lineup and with the adjustments we have made we will give a strong performance.