It was a disappointing night for the Thunder on Saturday, as they lost in close run affair with the Brixton Topcats. A late rally even gave Worthing a three point lead in the final quarter, but some shoddy decision making and lacklusture passing proved to be their ultimate un-doing.
The Thunder started poorly missing a number of open threes and turning the ball over. Courtney Small missed three (yes, three!) fast break dunks that could have been easily finished off as lay-ups. Worthing seemed to struggle to work the ball inside, and would often settle for outside shots, eventually connecting on just 5 from their 27 attempts from downtown.
A couple of strange refereeing decisions including a technical foul, and an apparent unsportsmanlike foul on James Brame, increased both the Thunder's frustration and Brixton's lead. Thunder seemed to be their own worst enemies, often throwing a sloppy pass or jacking up a tough shot, just as they were beginning to go on a run, which would inevitably lead to a fast break from the Topcats.
Things were looking bad in the third quarter, with Courtney Small in foul trouble and Francesco Amato on the bench, the Topcats stretched their lead to double figures. But Thunder finally got their act together in the fourth and despite still needlessly throwing the ball away on a few occasions, they managed to give themselves a 73-70 lead. In the last minute or so the Thunder slipped back into their old ways, turning the ball over, and taking ill-advised shots (including a bizarre panicked, long-range three from James Brame when the Thunder were down 2. It was as if the shot clock was at the last second and he thought he just had to throw the shot up). In the end the Topcats didn't win the match; the Thunder lost it.
Brixton played as expected; like a typical London team. The defense was constantly pressurising the ball-handlers, and Worthing's lack of a natural point guard became apparent. The Topcats ran double-teams and traps and forced the Thunder into a final tally of 18 turnovers.
The Topcats were led by a triangle offence; the aggressive drives of 6'4'' forward Sam Toluwase, the slashing and shooting of Arturo Noha-Pascual, and the inside presence of big Tom Adorian. These three combined for 66 of the Topcats 79 points, with Toluwase leading the way on 26.
Worthing were once again reliant on their main six, and it was slightly worrying that Courtney Small, and his 18-point performance, laced though it was with errors, was by far Thunder's most effective player.
Young Liam Mitchell once again impressed, although his defence was occasionally prone to over-aggressiveness, perhaps in an attempt to match the rough style of play employed by the South Londoners.
Captain James Brame, riled by some poor refereeing decisions, had a quiet and inconsequential night.
Greek big-mam Frankie Amato, is as strong as an ox and matched up well with Adorian, who scored the majority of his points with Amato sat on the bench. The Thunder didn't get the ball inside enough, were you feel Amato could have scored well.
American guard Chris Talley is yet to impress me in either of his performances I've seen. He can certainly shoot the ball (even though he was badly off today) but he's not a playmaker and can't create his own shot. In my humble opinion he doesn't give enough that an import guard should be looking to do.
Super-athletic Marcus Tullis had some nice blocks, and seemed to have a decent touch inside. Unfortunately my praise for him ends here. He never imposed himself on the game, despite being by far the most athletic big on the court. Too many of his points came from put-back layups. He attempted high risk moves and flashly passes constantly, even when he had failed to pull off previous ones. He forced a couple of threes beyond his range. It's still early in the season, but he needs to step up his game quickly and start playing to his strengths.
Okolie Ugbana and Dominic Baker played a small role, but were largely ineffectual.
It might be too early to judge, but I feel that Thunder need a couple more competant players who can give solid minutes, including a genuine point guard and a big. Either that, or the Americans need to start taking over the game in a way that only Canadian/Brit Courtney Small appears to be capable of so far.
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