w/e25/11/07 “Luckily the double header gave us a chance to regroup and talk to players individually in the hotel that same night and the next morning,” said Kent coach Olesen, who put the over-night stay to good use. “We got a lot of issues worked out and it was a very different team that took the court on Sunday. In the defensive end we played as a unit, and a few tactical changes in the offensive end made the baskets come much easier. On defence we got it right away and offensively we really started clicking in the second half.” Crusaders were down by 14 at half time, but the game wasn’t decided until the last minute, as Crusaders kept clawing away at the Cardiff lead, and brought it down to 5 in the last minute. Coach Olesen thought Crusaders could have come away with the game, had it been a little longer: “As it’s been said, we didn’t loose that game, we just ran out of time”. Crusaders assistant coach Toby Chant was pleased with the effort put in on Sunday “We showed what we can do with sustained concentration and effort against one of the best teams in the league.” w/e28/10/07 Findley 3-Pointer Wins It!The Body & Mind Kent Crusaders beat the Plymouth Marjon Cannons Saturday on a Steve Findley three pointer with two seconds to go. The Crusaders mounted a fourious come-back, without starting point guard Damian Lyons, who were taken to hospital at half time with a concussion, as they were down 10 with just over two minutes to go. The game leaves Crusaders with two wins and two losses in this years Patrons Cup, and with the last group game against Cardiff still three weeks away, the Crusaders are still in the running for a semi final spot. The game looked as if it would be lost to Crusaders when Plymouth captain Hatchell hit a three to give Plymouth a 78-68 lead with two and a half minutes left in the game. The Crusader, however, didn’t seem to get the message. Mike Webber promptly went and drew a foul and hit one of two foul shots to bring the Crusaders within 9. After a good defensive stop, James Harris hit a three pointer to bring the Crusaders within 6 at the two minute mark, but Plymouth’s Gillbard quickly answered with a two to take the lead up to eight. Again Mike Webber drove to the basket, and again he drew the foul and made one of two foul shots, for the last of his career high 20 points. Now within the last minute, and Plymouth up seven, the game still didn’t seem within reach, but an interception by Crusaders led to Steve Findley making a fast break layup on which the referee decided that Plymouth’s Rodgers committed an unsportsmanlike foul to try and stop him. With the lead at five and Findley up for a bonus foul shot and the ball going back to Crusaders because of the intentional foul, the comeback suddenly seemed possible. However, while Findley hit the bonus shot to cut the lead to four, the ensuing possession saw Crusaders loose the ball with 45 seconds to go and still down four. Plymouth seemed rattled by the comeback, though, and were not able to put the game away as Kent again got the ball back, and Plymouth fouled Robbie Parker who could calmly sink his 23rd and 24th point of the game from the foul line. At this point, with 36 seconds to go, and Plymouth up 80-78 the visitors called a time out to calm things down. On the inbounds play Crusaders were able force 5 second count, as Plymouth were not able to inbound the ball in time, and Crusaders got the ball back. Crusaders were not able to capitalize on the Plymouth mistake, however, as Steve Findley misfired on a three from the corner, and again the game seemed lost to Crusaders as Robbie Parker sent Plymouth’s Peard to the foul line for two with 9 seconds on the clock. Luck again shone on Crusader, though, as Peard missed both shots, and Crusaders were able to charge up the court with the ball. Crusaders head coach Mads Olesen describes the ensuing seconds like this: “When I saw Steve Findley with the ball outside the three point line with a clear path to the basket, and us needing two points to tie the game and force overtime, I already started preparing for the extre five minutes. As he shot the three I’m sure I shouted ‘Nooo’, and as the ball was in the air, I managed to think about two or three running drills Steve would have to do on his own next practice. Taking a shot like that is not something a coach would ever recommend, but at the same time it shows extraordinary mental toughness to make that shot to win a game with two seconds to go”. Plymouth had one last chance at throwing the ball long for a last second shot, but again Steve Findley came up big with a steal, and was able to dribble out the clock before being mugged by his teammates. After the game Findley was pleased with the result, but thought the team could have played better: “It wans’t the best 40 minutes we’ve put together, but there were some key stops in the last three minutes that allowed us to get back in the game. A win like that at this early stage in the season can only give us more belief going forward”. At the start of the game it didn’t look like the finish would get exiting. Crusaders came out guns blazing, hitting four three pointers in the opening quarter to take the lead 28-22, behind an exellent Robbie Parker. The second quarter as marred by an incident where starting point guard Damian Lyons ran head first into a Plymouth players elbow and was left on the ground needing treatment. Crusaders physio Max Ganderton had to take Lyons to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a concussion, that might keep him out of next weekends league debut. After Lyon’ injury Crusaders lost a step on offense. Coach Olesen said: “While we have very good guards, Damian provides that steady hand on offense, that’s so important for us to run things as a team. We were able to get through it, but the incident just shows how important he is to us, as we weren’t able to run offence with the same stability for the rest of the game”. Lyons himself hopes to be back for next weeks game: “I’m desperate to be involved next week, but I still have to recieve the all clear form the doctor before I’m going to be allowed on the court”. In the third quarter Plymouth started pounding the ball inside close to the basket and capitalized on it as Crusaders were without big guys Dan Gerrad and Sam Bets, who were both out with injuries. Plymouth tied the game at 55-55 with five minutes left in the third before ending the period with a three point lead, as Crusaders only managed to score 15 points in the quarter. In the first six minutes of the fourth Plymouth went on a 14-7 run to set up the exiting finish to the game. After the game Crusaders coach Olesen was pleased with the result, but still thought his teams performance could have been better: “I thought we played a good first half but our concistency on both offense and defense needs to be better. We have a tendency to revert to one-on-one play when we’re under a little bit of pressure, when we really should look to play even more as a team”. Olesen still praised his players for their collective effort to come back into the game, and individual players for their efforts: “While Findley obviously won us the game, Mike Webber kept us in it with his tough play inside against bigger defenders, and his quickness gives his defenders fits. He got to the foul line 10 times and scored 20 points. Thats what I call stepping up big!” Olesen also praised Robbie Parkers performance: “Sometimes I think we forget how good a player Robbie is on both ends of the floor. His 24 points was huge, but he also makes such a big impact on defense, just being smart as he is.” For the second time this season 18 year old guard Rikki Broadmore was forced to play extended minutes because Damian Lyons could not take the court. Rikki perhaps summed up the game in the best way of all: “What a comeback, that’s what I call team performance and teamspirit!” w/e21/10/07 Crusaders Get First Patrons Cup WinThe Body and Mind Kent Crusaders registered their fist victory in this years Patron’s Cup overcoming Plymouth Raiders II 81 points to 67. After the game coach Mads Olesen highlighted team offence and winning the rebounding battle (50-31) as keys to the teams win, “It was great to get a win behind the things we have been working hard on: Defence and rebounding. We’ll look to build on this next week against Marjon Cannons.” Both team started the game well and neither side lead by more than four points in the opening quarter. Despite Julian Naci scoring 6 points in the quarter for the home team, in the biggest game of his Crusaders career to date (22 points, 9 rebounds), the scores were level at the end of the first period 18-18. Crusaders started the second quarter strongly behind some physical defence holding Plymouth to just 5 points in the opening 7 minutes. They went on a 19-5 run during this period with captain Pete Ayling forcing running in 8 fast break points. Robbie Parker also began to hit some tough shots, scoring 9 points in the quarter, to give his side a 14 point lead. However Plymouth rallied just before the half hitting back at the home side to cut the lead back. Robbie Parker stopped this run hitting a spectacular 3 pointer on the buzzer to send Crusaders into the break with a strong 16-point lead. Plymouth needed to start the second half well if they wanted to get back into the game, and they did going on a 14-4 run getting some easy scores inside the key. Crusaders called a timeout to try and stop the run, and they come out once again playing tough defence. Julian Naci also scores 6 quick points to restore the lead back to 16 points going into the final quarter. This lead proved to be too much for the away side, and with Naci scoring another 8 points in the fourth they couldn’t cut into Crusaders lead. The final score ended 81-67. Mads Olesen praised Naci’s performance at the end of the game “It was great to have another player step up and play big. Julian Naci played a big game, and it just shows that we have a lot of scoring options on this year’s team, which will make us more difficult to defend”. But he emphasised that it was a strong collective performance shown by the team’s 20 assists. Black Country University of Wolverhampton 61 – 50 University of Birmingham Patron’s Cup Pool Round 3 Having previously beaten NEWI Nets and having lost narrowly at vastly experienced Teesside, Wolves returned home to earn a hard fought victory over local rivals, Birmingham. Within 2 minutes the Wolves had established a 7 point lead which was squandered by the 4th minute with a series of turnovers and poor shooting. The end of the 1st quarter saw the Black Country Wolves narrowly leading 16-15. Dennis Preware was almost single handedly responsible for the Wolves scoring in the 2nd quarter and half-time arrived with Wolves leading 27-26. Eric Potts took over the scoring mantle in the 3rd period but more importantly agressive defence shackled the prolific Danny Williams and restricted Andy Blakeway’s inside threat. The final period was error strewn with the crowd picking up the on-court tension but the control finally exerted by Nick Fearon and some astute passing and shooting from Robin Hall saw the Wolves home. Dennis Preware and Eric Potts top-scored with 16 points each and have set up the Wolves for a decisive pool game with Northumbria, Sunday 28 October at Walsall Sports Centre, tip-off 13h00. Warriors Edge Out CrusadersDespite 33 points from Robbie Parker the Body and Mind Kent Crusaders went down to the Leicester Warriors last weekend by 2 points. In a game that went right down to the wire Crusaders 43% from the foul line (13/30) prooved to be the difference between the two teams. Head coah Mads Olesen said ” We knew that we were smaller than Leicester, and we would have to fight hard to even out the rebound difference. It's dissapointing that we go out and do exactly that by working extremely hard, only to be let down by missing 17 foul shots." Crusaders can take alot of positives from the game with several other players contributing. James Harris had 13 points with 75% from the 3 point line, Steve Findley collected 11 rebounds while Rikki Broadmoore handed out 11 assists. However Crusaders will need to spread the scoring load, relying to heavily on Robbie parker. Crusaders took an early lead in the frist quarter with some early scores from Parker and closed out the opening period with a 6 point lead (17-11). The home team carried this momentum into the second goin on a 12-5 run and finishing the half with a slender lead. Leicester rallied in the second half behind star player Steve McGlothin who finished with 14 rebounds and 19 points (66% floor shooting). Crusaders struggled to cope with his presence in the post coach Mads Olesen commented "We didn't do a good enough job of keeping the ball out of Steve McGlothins hands. His immediate defenders did well, but with a man of his size and experience you need to make sure the rest of his team does not get into a position where they can pass him the ball. We didn't do that consistently". McGlothin lead a 12-4 Leicester run to give them a 6 point lead going into the final quarter. The 4th quarter saw Crusaders pass up a number of opportunities to take the lead holding Leicester to only on basket in the first 4 minutes. But the home team missed 5 out of 6 foul shots and could only come within 3 points of the visitors. Crusaders tied the scores at 60 with 2 minutes to go in the game but despite 2 tough jump shots from Robbie Parker couldn’t gain the lead. The final score finished with Leicester winning 71-69. Black Country Uni. of Wolverhampton 90 – 76 NEWI Newts Last Saturday saw the return of National League basketball to the university campus in Walsall where, in front of a large and vociferous crowd the home team secured a comprehensive victory over NEWI in the opening pool game of the Patron’s Cup. The first period was an even contest and in the large the teams exchanged basket for basket. Dennis Preware and the ubiquitous Eric Potts found early shooting range, being admirably supported by the fast-breaking Fearon, Gittens and Hall. The Bears have no real height but this hardly showed as they dominated the boards with Dave Waite and Dwayne Anderson making numerous rebounds at either end of court. The second period largely mirrored the first with Kostas Psarris and Dave Siddal leading the scoring for NEWI but with scoring coming from a wide spread of the Bears’ players the seeds of victory for the home team were sown. (H-T: 38 – 34). The break proved of greater benefit to the home team and with the backing of an animated crowd the Bears dominated the period 32-15. Robin Hall and Nick. Fearon accumulated the bulk of the points and Adrian McLean shone with some impressive work in the key. In the final period and with victory secured Wolverhampton’s game dropped in intensity allowing NEWI, admirably led by the impressive Steve Flanagan to close the points’ gap. This period also saw the introduction of the Bears’ junior players Rhandawa and Dhalia who appeared in no way phased by senior basketball. Saturday 20 October the Bears entertain local rivals Birmingham University in a further pool game of the Patron’s Cup, tip-off 18h00 at Walsall Campus.
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