Week #10 recap - Game #13 vs Stirling Senators (119 – 91 loss)

Well a little late this week, what can I say…a long weekend and everything is nuts at work.

Well we had the ideal scenario of a single game on the weekend. I believe that when we have one game to focus on and throw everything at, we are at our best. With a younger lineup, it takes energy and intensity to be competitive. That is a little easier when there is just the one game to throw everything at.

However that wasn’t enough as the superior height and experience of the Senators came through. Carmie Olowoyo and Geordie Cullen, both players with NBL experience, really stepped up to the mark. Carmie hit 40 points and Geordie 32 points and 13 rebounds. The remaining Stirling players also contributed strongly, and Chris Dodd in particular had a solid triple double with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

One thing I was a little disappointed with was the fact Stirling kept their starters on throughout the fourth quarter. We were 25 points down with about 5 minutes to go and I put our bench out for a run. Stirling kept Carmie out until he fouled out, and Geordie until a few minutes left.

We played a strong game for half, and had a good run in the third but unfortunately dropped off across the third and fourth quarters. The players played hard, and there were some pleasing signs but the bottom line is it’s tough to overcome the height deficiencies.

Good parts:

• The usual defensive intensity (forcing 22 turnovers and 13 steals) and ‘only’ being outrebounded by 10
• A terrific game in foul limited minutes by Andrew McLennan (16pts, 10rbd, 7stls in 27:55min)
• Another strong game from John Taylor, with 22pts (60%fg), 7rbd, 4ast, 5stl

Bad parts:

• Allowing an opposition team to shoot 48% from the floor
• Free throws, free throws, free throws…64% this time (18/28)
• 36% shooting from the field…20 turnovers…and some very poor shot selection

Not the most detailed summary but the best I can muster at this point. We have the weekend from hell coming up now, with Friday night at Morley against the Lakeside Lightning and Saturday at Perry Lakes against the Hawks. I believe Lakeside have a few players out, but the handy addition of Liam Rush has helped them maintain a formidable lineup. I’m not sure how the Hawks are travelling player wise, but I expect them to be at full strength.