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Post by LTFan on Nov 19, 2018 9:27:16 GMT
First time I've been able to get to the Copper Box this season. Lions went small for much of this game. Bristol had two fouls in the first quarter but they didn't go back to him, playing only 13:47 in total and finishing with 3 fouls. Tabb 28 minutes / 2 fouls, Guede 18 minutes / 2 fouls. So in the paint it was basically Peel or Larkai for a lot of the game, who got 2 offensive rebounds between them because they usually had to get back ready on defence whenever a shot went up. It felt like Lions rely on Spencer and Robinson getting their own shots from the perimeter or driving in, which of course they're very good at but you need some other options. Those two players had 46 points and only 10 assists between them. If this was the gameplan, it of course worked by virtue of Lions getting the W, but for the most part the scoreline was a lot closer than the 10-point lead it ended on. I’d love to think that these narrow victories are the result of a great plan… but in all honesty I think they’re a result of us just playing slightly better than our opponents on the day. And when the top of the league are playing the bottom of the league I’d expect something better than a narrow victory. We’re in the semi-finals, which is great… but I certainly wasn’t feeling that celebratory yesterday evening. I’m hoping for a much better performance in the next round. |
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Post by spaghettihoops on Nov 19, 2018 11:52:29 GMT
Is leaving your import centre on the bench for two thirds of the game with fouls to spare a gameplan or lack of faith in him?
Is going with Robinson, Spencer, Lockhart and Okoro on court together down the stretch with the game still on the line part of a gameplan? Okoro is not even a high percentage free throw shooter.
Strange decisions to me if I was basing it on putting your strongest team on the floor for the opposition to deal with, but then I've barely seen this team play together before.
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Post by interestedridersfan on Nov 19, 2018 12:44:08 GMT
Is leaving your import centre on the bench for two thirds of the game with fouls to spare a gameplan or lack of faith in him? Is going with Robinson, Spencer, Lockhart and Okoro on court together down the stretch with the game still on the line part of a gameplan? Okoro is not even a high percentage free throw shooter. Strange decisions to me if I was basing it on putting your strongest team on the floor for the opposition to deal with, but then I've barely seen this team play together before. Could Vince be punishing/sending a message to your centre for giving silly fouls away early and not letting him back on etc? |
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Post by notoriousbigz on Nov 19, 2018 13:07:39 GMT
Is leaving your import centre on the bench for two thirds of the game with fouls to spare a gameplan or lack of faith in him? Is going with Robinson, Spencer, Lockhart and Okoro on court together down the stretch with the game still on the line part of a gameplan? Okoro is not even a high percentage free throw shooter. Strange decisions to me if I was basing it on putting your strongest team on the floor for the opposition to deal with, but then I've barely seen this team play together before. There's going to be times during the season where that unit will have to tough it out against teams - so its no bad thing to put your faith in them down the stretch against a team where its not likely youre going to throw it away if you know what I mean.
Its not a bad tactic and one I know Tony G used in his days at Everton - builds confidence in the team knowing the coach trusts them as well.
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Post by LTFan on Nov 19, 2018 13:15:29 GMT
Is going with Robinson, Spencer, Lockhart and Okoro on court together down the stretch with the game still on the line part of a gameplan? Okoro is not even a high percentage free throw shooter. Don't forget Peel. Often extremely undervalued in my opinion. |
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Post by saintpat on Nov 19, 2018 14:31:34 GMT
I've had times this season where I definitely think we've got the wrong mix of players on court, however Vince could validly point out that we've won the game, so what the f do I know!
Bigz is spot on, these are the games where you want the bench players to see decent minutes so that if they're called upon in games against better teams they can feel confident the coach has faith in them to do a job. Okoro has proved crucial in the 2 games against Worcester and he has filled in well for Joe while he's still injured. Without doubt the more minutes he gets the more comfortable he looks on court.
I think Bristol may be one of those players who really turns it on when it matters, against Riders & Eagles I think we may see him playing major minutes and having a very positive effect, he certainly had his best game for Lions so far against Riders last time out.
WE are certainly proving to be a team of battlers this season, we don't give anything up easily which means even when we're poor offensively teams are still struggling to put distance between themselves and us. We have moments of excellent basketball interspersed with gritty fairly unpleasant basketball. It would be nice to see a game where our free-flowing quality basketball lasts for the the whole game but I'll take the basketball we're playing at the moment and notching up the wins. In the end I don't care how we get the wins as long as they continue!!
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