31 from Evaldas Zabas was not enough to save a depleted team losing the first game of their season; a trophy match away at Plymouth. Missing 2 starters (not to mention the 3 potential Americans who are still yet to be offcially mentioned), Worthing put up a spirited performance keeping it close and even having the lead for portions of the 4th quarter. When Zabas fouled out late in the game, however, the Radiers had a little too much, and some strong play from England international Taner Adu saw them through.
I wasn't at the game, but the statistics reveal that veteran Shoreham-born guard James Brame played out of his skin, scoring 14 points on 6/9 shooting, he also added 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a phonomenal 5 steals.
Zabas was the primary scorer for Thunder, and shot very well from inside the ark, going 10/14, but was less than impressive from 3-point-land, hitting just 2/12. Nevertheless, it was a huge performance for the young Lithuanian, but in the end it was not enough.
Big-man Shaun Durant had a mixed game, scoring 17 points and adding 11 rebounds, but his production could not be called efficient, especially for a centre, going 6 from 14 from the field; not awful, but room for improvement, and it was a similar story for Mansour Mbye who clearly took up the challenge of starting, and added 12 points, again on unimpressive shooting.
The low point for the game was Pepe Zafirov, starting in place of the abscent John Nottley. Zafirov appears to be out of his depth at BBL level, shooting just 1/8 including all 5 three point shots missed, and also fouling out.
Young Sussex guard Dominic Baker (who I have played against, yay) and former streetballer and London stalwart Gareth Laws were non-factors, although they played bravely out of position, and doing unusual jobs.
It was a brave performance, and special credit must go to stand-in head coach Alan Sweetman-Hicks, long-time Thunder assistant coach who certainly got the best out of Brame, and rallied the team close to an upset over a team who have been training together for much longer than the Thunder.
Raiders appear to be weak this year, and without a genuine point they will struggle to beat most teams. I would say that a full Thunder team would probably have beaten them on the day, as, aside from Lehmon Colbert, their new Americans appeared ineffectual.
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