A disappointing loss against Japan last night, one we probably should have won. Still, Japan are ranked higher than us, and have built a good team for a small user base, so I can't begrudge them this win. We'll get em back when it matters ;)
The game in five
1. This game really shows that the look inside dominance is still alive and well. I think based on ratings we were probably the better team, but when the teams are relatively even matched, when one team goes LI and the other doesn't, well no prizes for guessing who is probably going to win.
2. Our offense was hideous early. At half time we had two players shooting 50% or better. Both who had hit 1 shot from 2 attempts. Degas (1-8) and Walker (0-5) had awful first halves.
3. Our offense was slightly improved in the third. Degas (4-8) had a better quarter (as soon as I bagged him out in chat, he started hitting shots. I've lost count of the amount of times this has happened) and Scoggins (4-7) started to look dangerous. At the end of the third we were still within striking distance at just 6 points behind.
4. Our offense again looked dangerous at the beginning of the fourth, despite Scoggins fouling out. However our defense killed any momentum we may have had - as we allowed dunks on 6 or Japan's first 7 possessions in the quarter (let me tell you, a certain NT manager was pulling his hair out...)
5. Poor FT shooting is inexcusable. While Japan's FT shooting was atrocious and kept us in it, ours wasn't much better. While 16-26 doesn't sound terrible, it felt like whenever we had a chance to get a run on, a couple of missed FTs would kill our momentum.
Darby Walters medal
3. Dylan Scoggins - While Anderson scored more points, Scoggins was more damaging while the game was on the line in the 3rd. Sadly, him fouling out killed any chance we had of winning, as Schnieder just couldn't keep up the rate Scoggins was setting.
2. Leigh Reiffel - His 3-10 shooting wasn't great, and I would like to see more from here. However, his ability to facilitate the offense from the SF was very handed, as he handed out 7 assists, and also grabbed a couple of offense boards. If he could improve his scoring efficiency, he could become a star for us.
1. Keith Anderson - Gave us a slim chance with a 5-6 shooting last quarter. However, if he had pulled his finger out of his arse earlier, rather than going 2-6 in the first three quarters, we might have won the game. Gets 1 vote for his 1 decent quarter.
Leaderboard
6- Dylan Scoggins
5 - Leigh Reiffel
3 - Scott Schneider; Brent Degas; Darren Lonergan
2 - Vladimir Shishaev
1 - Jone Bogan
0 - Keith Anderson
Rudolph Radford medal
(With them playing a blank LCD lineup, this one is bloody hard to pick votes for!)
3. Leigh Reiffel - Gets full votes because I had their SF combo pegged as one that could get away from us. While they didn't play poorly, Reiffel did a good job in restricting their shots. Also did a decent job on the boards.
2. Lionel Walker - SG was about the only position that didn't shoot 50% + for them. So hooray, votes for Walker.
1. Dylan Scoggins - Gets votes for being smart enough to play hack-a-Kishita, given the bloke couldn't hit the side of a barn from the FT line. Though it did result in him being fouled out. Tradeoffs...
Leaderboard
4. Lionel Walker
3. Darren Lonergan; Leigh Reiffel
2. Scott Schnieder
1. Brent Degas; Vladimir Shishaev; Keith Anderson ; Dylan Scoggins
Jackson Mansfield medal leaderboard
With no real standouts this week, a solid (but unspectacular) game from Reiffel sees him snare 5 votes, and take the outright lead. With 6 votes on offer, however, there are 6 players who could take the lead from him next week with a spectacular performance against China.
8. Leigh Reiffel
7. Dylan Scoggins
6. Darren Lonergan
5. Scott Schnieder
4. Brent Degas; Lionel Walker
3. Vladimir Shishaev
1. Jone Bogan; Keith An