It's a few days past the huge 98-96 win over Taiwan and all of Canada is still a buzz. With the crafty Taiwan manager not revealing there roster until the final hours before tipoff Canadian scouts weren't able to get any real insight about the team before the game. At gametime the roster and starters were revealed and it seemed obvious that Taiwan would be playing the same type of Look Inside offense as Team Canada. Taiwan had 3 listed Centers take the court at tipoff time.
Glenn Richards had the toughest matchup versus the 7'2", 143k salary, Cai Wing Chun. It was a battle inside all game. Richards was quite effective on offense where his 10-17 shooting led to 21 points, which led all of Canada. While he only had 5 total rebounds for the entire game he boxed Chun out and off of the glass. Taiwan only produced 6 ORs and 35 total, compared to Canada's 13 ORs and 51 total rebounds. He also recorded his final 2 points with 5 seconds to go, off a pass from Germain Demers, that he dunked right in the grill of Chun. Chun recieved the ball in the final seconds to try to send the game into overtime. G. Rich was all over him and forced him to clank his inside shot off the iron.
Germain Demers was able to pickup a double double. His 17 point 17 rebound game was a true gem. He had 6 big time dunks off a few passes and some he just did all himself. His final few points and rebounds coming during the last few minutes of the game were just huge and helped Canada hold on for the win.
Govardhan Mohan was just a blur during the game. Matched up against PG Wang Poh Fan, Mohan sometimes just took the entire offense in his own hands when things seemed stale. Mohan was able to get to the rim a number of times and finished with some sweet layups and a dunk. He recorded all of his 15 points in the first 3 quarters. He finished with 7 assists with only 1 turnover.
Taiwan had 3 listed Centers take the court at tipoff time. As the players exchanged hand shakes David Chretien seemed a bit confused as who his defensive assignment would be. Coming up towards him was Center Ding Yiu Wing. Listed at 6'10", the all-time great at a 70k salary, Ding Yiu Wing came up to the 6'2" Chretien looking down smiling at him and even chuckling with his other teammates. You could see DC's expression change from concern to agitation and possibly even disdain. The first quarter started with Ding Yiu Wing throwing down a dunk on DC. He then tried an inside shot against DC which missed. A couple of minutes later Ding Yiu Wing pulls up for a jump shot just outside the free throw line. DC ran up and jumped, way up, to contest the shot. With all of DC's forward momentum going right into contesting the jump shot, his elbow actually "grazed" Wing's chin, sending the big man to the floor. The refs called it a clean foul though. Apparently Wing hadn't bothered to start the game with his mouth piece. He lost a chicklit and the rest of the minutes in the game because of it. He won't be smiling anytime soon.
David Chretien's intensity seemed to energize the entire team. He was matched up against SG L. Yuh Sheng for the remainder of his minutes and fouled him rather than allowing any easy buckets. He had 3 fouls in the first quarter and had 5 fouls with 7 minutes to go in the first half. Inspite of this he didn't foul out until 8 minutes left in the game. L. Yuh Sheng shot 7-14 from the free throw line. DC finished with 9 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists.
Last edited by Mr. Burns at 1/20/2011 4:51:56 PM