A really impressive win by the team. We were challenged in the third, but a win over the host nation gives us a really good chance of making the semis.
The game in five
1. Sadly, despite being named, Catic failed to play any minutes (don't blame me, blame the coach). This was probably due to Indonesia playing a PG at SF, and thus allowing our guards to soak up alot of minutes at SF.
2. The first half was a bit of an arm wrestle. However, our boys managed to come out on top of the arm wrestle, going into half time with a hard fought 7 point lead. Schnieder and Degas led our scorers with 8 points each, while Shishaev had 5 assists.
3. The third quarter was one of the more painful buzzerbeater quarters I have watched. 15-20 doesn't sound too bad, and we kept our lead going into the final quarter at least. What made it painful was that they grabbed 18 rebounds in the quarter. We grabbed 5. Yes, 5. It was as painful as it sounds. Stellar defense stopped us from getting smashed by the torrent of offensive boards.
4. The boys copped a rocket at three quarter time, and it worked. A 10-0 run by us to start the fourth quarter pretty much iced the game, and the boys hung on to record a well deserved 14 point win. Thad Hadley was massive in the early run, notching up 4 points and 2 assists in the first 2:30 of the quarter.
5. While our rebounding was deplorable, our defense was a real highlight. We kept Indonesia under 40% shooting - an amazing effort considering all the put back opportunities they had.
Darby Walters medal
Yet again, a solid team effort makes it difficult to give votes.
3. Darren Lonergan - A stock standard solid outing from the big man. Scored efficiently, grabbed some offensive boards, and had an assist as well. Really handy effort coming off the bench, and a +/- of +14 attests to his value tonight.
2. Keith Anderson - Liked his game, it felt like whenever he was on, something happened. only missed the 3 FGs on his way to scoring 13 points, and grabbed 3 offensive boards. Would have been a monty for the 3 votes if he hit his FTs - which isn't normally an issue for him.
1. Thad Hadley - His statline doesn't look impressive - just the 8 points and 2 assists. But most of those were in the run that won us the game, so he gets a vote.
Leaderboard
8 - Leigh Reiffel
6 - Dylan Scoggins; Vladimir Shishaev; Darren Lonergan
5 - Scott Schnieder
3 - Brent Degas; Lionel Walker
2 - Keith Anderson
1 - Jone Bogan; Thad Hadley
Rudolph Radford medal
3. Vladimir Shishaev - Shishy is starting to run away with this medal, with another commanding defensive performance. His opponent took the most shots for Indonesia, and scored 4 points. That's worthy of votes. His 3 defensive boards were about as many as our bigs to...
2. Scott Schnieder - He was partly responsible for the glut of offensive boards we gave up. But to hold the opposing Cs to a combined 3-11 shooting? That's voteworthy. (For those playing at home, yes Scoggins played alot of minutes at C to, and no I'm not giving votes to a centre who gets 1 defensive board for the game).
1. Emori Faletoese - I'm surprised he didn't play more really. Our defense seemed more assured when he was on, he grabbed 3 defensive rebounds (which isn't bad for his limited minutes), and also had a couple of steals.
Leaderboard
10. Vladimir Shishaev
6. Scott Schnieder
5. Lionel Walker
3. Darren Lonergan; Leigh Reiffel; Keith Anderson
2. Brent Degas
1. Dylan Scoggins; Emori Faletoese
Jackson Mansfield medal leaderboard
Catch Shishaev if you can...
16. Vladimir Shishaev
11. Leigh Reiffel; Scott Schnieder
9. Darren Lonergan
8. Lionel Walker
7. Dylan Scoggins
5. Brent Degas; Keith Anderson
1. Jone Bogan; Thad Hadley; Emori Faletoese
With Hadley and Faletoese breaking their duck, 11 of the original 12 man squad have now got votes. Querido is the odd man out.