Sydney Uni Flames 74 Japan 70
Wednesday 10 December 2003
What an entertaining game to watch! It was a game of two halves - the first half saw Japan bamboozle Sydney with the Asian style of play and they were nailing nearly every shot they took. The second half was an entirely different story with Japan's perimeter offence drying up and Sydney gradually asserting itself. Japan led 51-40 at the half and led by as much as 14-15 early in the third quarter before Sydney clawed their way back to be down 61-58 at the last change as Japan started missing all their jumpshots. The first couple of minutes in the final quarter were scoreless but in the tense finish, Sydney went inside and executed while Japan couldn't respond and continued to brick jumpshots. Sydney also played some good D in the fourth quarter and ran out four point victors.
For those who aren't familiar with the Asian style of play, it involves quick passing around the perimeter, quick cuts to the basket often resulting in backdoor cuts and shooting jumpshots whenever they had room to. It is enjoyable to watch especially when they're hitting their perimeter shots.
Of course the main problem is that Japan is a one-trick pony. They were on fire in the first half but went ice cold in the second. Despite this, they didn't really try to change up their game. Maybe they should have tried more dribble penetration or something else besides jacking up a lot of threes. Then again, it's probably true that they are incapable of doing anything else. They really need one or two quality players above 6 foot who can do something else besides shoot 15-20 footers.
Just a few more notes about Japan:
* They play very physical D. They'll push, shove and bump their defensive assignment - quite noticeably at times and I think the refs let them get away with quite a bit.
* Do they teach boxing out in Japan? I only saw evidence of it in the last quarter. Sydney were grabbing a lot of rebounds with ease.
* Some of the Japanese players have the good, old "shooting from the chest" action or have a weird release on their jumpshots. This meant that some of them needed some room to be able to get off their shot but they were often quite accurate when they got them off (in the first half anyways).
* I know I said this earlier but I found it amazing that the Japanese took the jumpshot whenever they had ANY room. I guess that's the purpose of the quick, short passes around the perimeter - confuse the opponent and when there's an opportunity, shoot it!
* They brought their own floor wiper with them!
As for Sydney, no doubt they were confused by the Japanese style of play when they first saw it. They weren't reading the Japanese offence very well and Japan was just carving them up, inside and outside. However they adjusted during the game, weathered the Japanese first half blitz and figured out how to beat the Japanese in the second half. From my perspective, the key to beating Japan is to attack the basket and post up your bigger players. The Japanese D is good at denying entry pass opportunities and at closing off driving opportunities but bigger and stronger teams should go inside anyway because they will be rewarded. Japan were fouling Sydney a lot on drives from the Flames players. Also do not make un-necessary passes - the Japanese are good at getting in the passing lanes and forcing turnovers.
Belinda Snell was the star of the game again with 27 points. She was unstoppable in the first half, scoring 20 and Japan couldn't keep her off the boards either. Briana Hennessy and Michelle Musselwhite had good games with some strong moves inside against the small Japanese lineup and Narelle Lindsay had a good game at the point, including hitting the baseline three pointer which gave the Flames the lead (for good).
Funniest moment of the game - Belinda Snell's attempt to persuade the referee that she deserved two free throws after being fouled inside. She made the two free throws gesture at the ref but the ref gave her an amused look and pointed to the baseline (which was the right call).
Oh and I thought the game was at 7:30 but it was instead at 7:00! Luckily I only missed four minutes of the game as I normally turn up a bit early to games.
Comments
where were you sitting? :p
Posted by: auspost58 | Thursday 11 December 2003