Sun 1st Nov - Lions v Eagles 2:30pm
Nov 2, 2020 19:13:44 GMT
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Post by saintpat on Nov 2, 2020 19:13:44 GMT
Well, not the start Lions would have wanted, simply not enough 'team' from Lions. The team does not equal the sum of its parts, or even particularly close.
Without doubt Mullens & Ward-Hibbert will improve Lions but there should be enough within the rest of the squad to win games. Perhaps the whole team have believed the hype surrounding them & think they only need to turn up to win.
Despite Lions depth of big men, easily the most effective inside players were all Eagles players & that is a worry. Lions need Bristol for his defensive presence but he's not getting enough points. The new big man looks slightly off his game at present, without doubt MBA would have filled the existing void & would probably have made this loss a victory.
Liggins is an exceptional defender but he needs others to pull their weight. Ware couldn't cope with Fletcher & without Bristol we didn't have any effective defensive presence inside.
Offensively there were some moments of excellent play but it was sporadic & without Justin on court we look short of composure.
Against Sharks, Ware continually drove to the basket with no back up from his team mates, I suggested on Twitter that this was a little 'brain dead' (which I'm not sure he was particularly enamoured with), against Eagles he rarely (never) seemed to create a quick break & drive inside, there has to be a balance achieved within this regard. It wasn't until the last quarter that Justin & Ware played together & I think this could be the most effective line-up for Lions, although with Byron fit, it would mean Williams would be coming off the bench but clearly something needs to change.
Recently Eagles have promised a lot in early season games before they faded, that looks less likely this season. Although squad depth could be an issue they do look more team orientated, all the players look like they're happy for their team mates to score & less worried about their own stats.
Lions can put things right & Vince is more than capable of doing that but he has a pressure on him now that he hasn't had before & I do wonder if that will have an effect on him. I certainly can't see him leaving Lions but perhaps another coach may be foisted on him if the results and performances don't improve quickly.
As for the commentators, Nigel is an excellent co-commentator, probably the best in the league. The other guy seems to have learnt from the Mike Shaft school of 'Shout about everything, even if it doesn't come off', that might be just about acceptable as the court commentator/announcer but it isn't on TV/live stream. Dan Routledge manages to sound excited without shouting, it's something that needs to be learnt. The stuff in-between the shouting was quite decent.
I did love when the commentator was talking about Chris Taiwah, he said he was an MK product and was spotted on an outside court, to which Nigel replied (& he would definitely know how he came to be an MK junior) "yep, something like that", it was a tremendous put-down.
Without doubt Mullens & Ward-Hibbert will improve Lions but there should be enough within the rest of the squad to win games. Perhaps the whole team have believed the hype surrounding them & think they only need to turn up to win.
Despite Lions depth of big men, easily the most effective inside players were all Eagles players & that is a worry. Lions need Bristol for his defensive presence but he's not getting enough points. The new big man looks slightly off his game at present, without doubt MBA would have filled the existing void & would probably have made this loss a victory.
Liggins is an exceptional defender but he needs others to pull their weight. Ware couldn't cope with Fletcher & without Bristol we didn't have any effective defensive presence inside.
Offensively there were some moments of excellent play but it was sporadic & without Justin on court we look short of composure.
Against Sharks, Ware continually drove to the basket with no back up from his team mates, I suggested on Twitter that this was a little 'brain dead' (which I'm not sure he was particularly enamoured with), against Eagles he rarely (never) seemed to create a quick break & drive inside, there has to be a balance achieved within this regard. It wasn't until the last quarter that Justin & Ware played together & I think this could be the most effective line-up for Lions, although with Byron fit, it would mean Williams would be coming off the bench but clearly something needs to change.
Recently Eagles have promised a lot in early season games before they faded, that looks less likely this season. Although squad depth could be an issue they do look more team orientated, all the players look like they're happy for their team mates to score & less worried about their own stats.
Lions can put things right & Vince is more than capable of doing that but he has a pressure on him now that he hasn't had before & I do wonder if that will have an effect on him. I certainly can't see him leaving Lions but perhaps another coach may be foisted on him if the results and performances don't improve quickly.
As for the commentators, Nigel is an excellent co-commentator, probably the best in the league. The other guy seems to have learnt from the Mike Shaft school of 'Shout about everything, even if it doesn't come off', that might be just about acceptable as the court commentator/announcer but it isn't on TV/live stream. Dan Routledge manages to sound excited without shouting, it's something that needs to be learnt. The stuff in-between the shouting was quite decent.
I did love when the commentator was talking about Chris Taiwah, he said he was an MK product and was spotted on an outside court, to which Nigel replied (& he would definitely know how he came to be an MK junior) "yep, something like that", it was a tremendous put-down.
