Continued from the previous post
The mood in the Aussie Chat room was extremely positive, if we could keep the Duke on the court, the masterstroke of playing motion, might just get the Aussies the win and into next seasons World Cup
Half a minute into the 3rd and catastrophe, the Duke got called for his 5th foul and Vescathco hit the 2 free throws, but Tic Tac quickly restored the 4 point buffer with a fadeaway.
The clash between the underdone underage in foul trouble Duke and Vescathco was looking pivitol to the contest but it was a couple of fouls from the Hessian Bag, which allowed the Pilipinas to hit the lead courtesy of free throws, 5 minutes into the 3rd.
Serana (12 rebounds, 16 points) and Vescathco (14 rebounds and 17 points) were becoming dominant as the 3rd quarter progressed and within a space of 5 minutes the Pilipinas had stretched their lead to 12 points, before a last minute 3 from Tic Tac and a jumper from Bath Water closed the gap to 8 points at 3 quarter time. Aussies down 49 to 57
The 4th quarter started with the Duke drawing a 4th foul on Vescathco and then sinking the 2 free throws to reduce the margin to 6 points.
Got to be said that the Aussie coach seemed a little bit hyperactive with all the positional moves in the 4th and it was difficult to tell whether this confused the Pilipinas as much as it unbalanced the Aussies.
Ted certainly lifted and was grabbing boards from everywhere in the last and a Bath Water lay up 6 minutes into the last brought the margin back to 3 points, before the Pilipinas steadied with 2 quick baskets
The Hessian Bag was everywhere with a baseline jumper, free throws and a 3 pointer all dropping, and the Aussies were within 2 points, before the Pilipinas again steadied to have a 5 point lead with 2 and a half minutes left.
Free throws to Guieb were quickly offset by a 2 pointer from Bath Water and with 90 seconds left the margin was 4 points.
In the last minute the Pilipinas hit their free throws and we missed ours and tension in the chat room got a bit out of hand with one Northern Neighbour seeking to rub our collective Aussie noses in our impending elimination.
Final margin being a 12 point loss, 72 to 84.
The Aussies based on match ratings had won the SG, SF and PF positions but had hit only 18 of 35 free throw attempts as compared to our opponents 28 from 34.
Sadly the Pilipinas played a man on man defence rather than their expected 2 3 zone.
Tic Tac ranked a 15 at SF, Ted did splendidly with a 16 ranking at PF and the Duke showed a lot of maturity to play out the game with 5 fouls and despite a solid showing (15.5 rating) he was beaten by Vescathco on the night who ranked 17.
Evonnes Son 4 assists and a game rating of 15 was solid as was the Bald Guy with a 15.5 and the 20yo Sappy also had a good game with a 15 rating
A valiant loss but also a game of could have beens.
If we’d been better from the free throw line?
If the Duke had of had better game shape?
If our gaurds had given off more assists?
If the coach had of left Tic Tac and the Duke on longer in the last?
What if I hadnt of suggested motion?
If we’d played IS instead of motion?
If Tic Tac had given up the beer as well as the spirits?
We’ll never know the answer to all these questions but we all should be proud of the players and the Managers who were all part of the U21s season 24 team.
Long live the Wombat King
Last edited by Sid Vicious at 9/13/2013 6:33:51 PM