PO 1/4 - Riders 141 v 130 Phoenix

Halfway through those 10 minutes I guess we got the equivalent of a timeout with the end of quarter 3

Nix had just gone on a run of 12-2 ish at the end of the third

But they then went on another run of 11-1 ish at start of the 4th so whatever was said end of the third made little difference

Then Rob calls a timeout in the 4th with just under 6 mins left in the game

And we then finish the game with an 18-0 run!! Clearly Ben might want to have curtailed that with a timeout halfway through looking back.

Ben does call a timeout with 22 secs left. Nix have the ball 5 points behind. Rather than running the clock and having the last shot they mess up twice and we get another 3 points on our lead.

Until halfway through the third I thought Riders had looked very comfortable. We had a ten point lead and were in control.

We nearly blew it. Albeit Nix raised their own intensity tbf.

Last night showed more than ever how the game of basketball is so much about momentum

Good job we defended well (most of the game)

We only shot 4 from 24 3pts

I seem to remember Nix had a player ejected near the end for two unsportsmanlike fouls or something like that?

Or did I imagine it?

In that final 23s of madness someone did get called for an unsportsmanlike foul.....no idea who it was (Latinovic?) or what the outcome was.

Good that we won but it's by no means decisive. 4 from 24 three pointers made? We've seen that level of poor shooting too often this year. Defence has won us titles and been our bedrock for several years. But this inability to shoot the ball well in offence must be addressed next autumn. It's been our Achilles heel this season. Hopefully, this afternoon will show an improvement in that respect.

Good to see Riders 16 from 21 from the free throw line yesterday. That's often been an area where improvement was needed over the last few years. Still not top notch but it makes a difference.

Game summed up most of the riders season not particularly good but doing enough to win. Will need to step it up next week.

Felt for the nix obviously several injured players and put up a great effort.

JWH was excellent and Williams was too. Very good performances from Anderson and Washington as well. Three point shooting? Err...well...

Can we afford him or will he be heading to a European team? Definitely want him back.

1) No idea!! I would imagine injury and not the only one looking at the stats, Rolls Tyson only playing a few minutes which is a blow as he has played really well recently. looked like cramp affected Norl as well as Dii Jon. 

2) Presumably explaining to Rob exactly where he's going wrong.

However all this is worked out by watching from a caravan in the Cotswolds so I could possibly be wrong and the rest of the Nix Whatsbevvers are probably still in the pub.

Says everything I’m still shocked by the last 5:45 of the game. Juniors have more nouce. Even Mike and Kevin were shocked!