A hardworking performance from the Worthing Thunder wasn't enough for them to stave off victory, as the Guildford Heat took last nights BBL Trophy game 86-67. Lithanian guard Evaldas Zabas was once again the most important player for Thunder, he finished with 17 points.
The first quarter was fairly erratic, the teams traded baskets with Heat briefly pulling into a small lead. Some great defending from inside duo Shaun Durant and John Nottley kept Thunder close. Bulgarian Pepe Zafirov also impressed with a fine spin move down low.
In the second Thunder looked a much better team. It was here we saw the quality of little Lithuanian Evaldas Zabas who scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half. The Heat had no answer for him as Schneider, McLemore and even the usually reliable Julius Joseph all fell victim to his superior moves. Thunder pulled themselves ahead, and actually built a decent 7-point lead before a 3-pointer from Schneider ended the half.
After half-time things started to fall to pieces for the West Sussex outfit. As the Heat began guarding Zabas out of the match. With Zabas' creavity gone Worthing looked out of ideas. John Nottley consistantly settled for long range efforts, of which he missed a lot. Perhaps this was just an off shooting night for him, as he was open for those shots and I remember him as having a nice shooting touch.
Durant and Mbye especially were too often forcing things, and in the end it was just simple good defence and sensible offense that allowed Guildford to pull away. Zafirov was ejected not too long after and after that there was no way back for Thunder.
Worthing threatened to go on a run, but this was stifled by a very poor call of charging into what was both a moving screen and inside the key (NOTE: although to be fair I thought the referees were good in general, probably favouring Thunder in the first half). Tiredness appeared to affect the undermanned Thunder as the clock ran down they could not lift themselves.
A good win for the Heat and a frustrating result for the Thunder as once again limited numbers appeared to be the key to the loss.
Player Review
Thunder
Evaldas Zabas - in the first half he looked a level above anyone else on the court, with some fine driving moves he breezed past every defender. When he was off the court Thunder looked a bit lost. 8 out of 10
John Nottley - had a good double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds, but looked far more effective when he was aggressive. Too often settled for long shots. 7
Mansour Mbye - quite regularly disrupted Worthing's offence by jacking up an ill-advised shot or driving too early in the possession. Has an plenty of talent and strength, but needs to get his teammates more involved. Tried to be a go-to-guy but it didn't work. 5
Shaun Durant - really worked hard on the glass pulled down 10 rebouds. Had a decent couple of post-moves, but turned the ball over a few times looking for a foul that didn't happen. Defended well. 6
James Brame - dependable and consistant. Found himself playing point guard sometimes, while his talents would have been put to better use elsewhere. 6
Pepe Zafirov - came up with some big threes during Thunder's run in the second. Looked useful and intune with the offense but felt he would benefit more coming on as a back-up. Was ejected in the third. 6
Marlin Capers - veteran American who hasn't played professionally for a while. Looked a little rusty and noticably out-of-sync with the offence. Will do better once he's had more time with the team, I'm sure, but last night he was poor. 4
Dominic Baker - local born guard (NOTE: who I have played against. Yay) showed promise. Had one nice drive to the basket, and looked good when he played with confidence. 6
Guildford Heat
Martelle McLemore - solid performance from the American, although it was noticable that he never took over the game like BBL Americans from the past might have. Had 17 points. 8
Mike Martin - still very good into his 30's. Quietly racked up points and rebounds and worked hard for Heat defensively. 8
David Schneider - missed a few threes early on, but contributed big in Heat's third quarter revival. Wasn't quite as much of a point guard as I had thought. 6
Julius Joseph - dependable veteran, Heat rotated quite often and had a lot of depth. Felt he would have contributed more with a few more minutes. 7
Tomas Janusauskas - big Lithanian was a handful for Thunder's big men. Looks a good non-permit pick up for the Heat. 7
James Porter - the weakest of Heat's Americans, and one of the weaker players on the court. Missed an easy dunk. 4
Tayo Ogedengbe - looked good. Athletic, defended well, should be a dependable starter. 8
Dean Williams - another good veteran presence for the Heat. 6
Lekan Popoola - weakest player on the court, including the kids. Every defensive play he was beaten off the dribble or fouled. Have seen better from him though, so was just an off day. 3
Oscar Ociepa & Richard Green - got a couple minutes at the end, but didn't do anything. 5
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