PORTUGAL 70-82 ENGLAND
The final game of the round robin saw England and Portugal battle it out. The game started with both teams scrapping to gain an early advantage but both defences on top early leaving the score at 17 each at the end of the quarter. The second quarter finally saw us get our offence working with Halflife and MacNeish both starting to dictate the pace of the game and creating scoring opportunities to gain an eleven point advantage to lead 43-32. The penultimate quarter played out in total contrast to the second as both teams really struggled to get the better of each others defences as a total of only 18 points were scored by both teams with Portugal scoring 11 to claw themselves back into the contest and dent England's chance of overturning the point differential. The final quarter saw both sides start to tire, meaning both defences started to weaken allowing both offences to convert their chances. George Storie topped the scoring charts for the first time this season with a brilliant all round performance, bagging 20 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.
Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of me, Morwood and the players, we were unable to qualify for the next round as Estonia beat Greece meaning no team went undefeated in the round robin stage in what was a highly competitive group. Overall, I think we've had a good season and once again, we're challenging for the top two spots of the group in Europe. It's been an absolute pleasure coaching the team this season and a special thanks to all managers for their efforts in making us qualify.
As for now, I will begin scouting the 19/20 year olds that may be on the team next season and dropping all players with potential of Superstar and lower. I look forward to next season and if anyone has any questions/queries, please feel free to message me.
One final thanks goes out to Morwood for his help throughout the season, the work he does behind the scenes is unbelievable and goes unrecognised and England are very lucky to you.