Worthing Thunder bagged their first win of these season as they truimphed in a thrilling overtime victory over the Essex Pirates 95-92.
Adam Williams was the difference maker for Thunder. He had 18 points, including arguably the game winning basket, and the Thunder looked much better with him on the floor. John Nottley also had a big game with 18 points and 9 rebounds, and Shaun Durant added a double-double of 13 points and 11 boards.
Essex returnee Taner Adu scored 31, almost carrying his team to victory.
Pirates had the right gameplan early on, really hassling Thunder so they could not get into any type of rhythm. Thunder sometimes stuggled to get the ball up the court and gave the ball away plenty of times. Worthing's lack of a genuine point guard was very apparent, but the return of Sherrad Prezzie-Blue should really help this team compete.
When Thunder were down 14 I thought they were out of it, but they showed fantastic character with a run that was inspired by the play of Adam Williams, who was my MVP for the night.
Pirates couldn't contain Durant and Nottley downlow, so it was a little frustrating that too often Thunder settled for drives or long shots. Mbye and Capers, in particular, missed quite a few shots (although they worked tirelessly defensively, and did make some big shots during Thunder's run in the third)
I felt a bit sorry for Essex by the end because they did work very hard, although in the end I always felt that Thunder's superior experience would pull them through. They really relied on Taner Adu. He was their go-to-guy whenever they needed points, and duly delivered especially in the first half.
Felt like they could do with a couple of genuine big guys as Sturt really looked dangerous from deep, but despite working hard, is not a natural big. The match was probably theirs for the taking in the third, and perhaps lacked a killer instinct.
It was a messy game, with lots of turnovers and sloppy play. Nevertheless, it was thrilling towards the end with the lead changing hands all the time in the final quarter and overtime. The refereeing was a bit odd, inconsistency seemed to be the key word. Questionable calls on travelling and fouls, admittedly I think a lot went in favour of Thunder.
Worthing Thunder
Adam Williams - sparked Thunder's comeback and was the key player for Thunder. He really came up big at the end, and I feel he was as important to Worthing as Adu was to Essex. 8 out of 10
John Nottley - did a good job inside again, was surprised to read the stats and see he had 18 points, he certainly scored them quietly. 7
Marlin Capers - also quiet, but scored steadily. Looked out of sorts in the first half and the energetic Pirates defense pushed him out of his comfort zone, but came back strong in the second half. 6
Mansour Mbye - missed a few open threes early on and seemed very wasteful in possession. To his credit he was very important in containing Essex in the final part of the match and hit some massive free throws. 6
Shaun Durant - great on the boards and scored efficiently inside. Felt he should have been fed the ball a little more than he was, but his double-double made him probably our 2nd best player on the night. 8
James Brame - did his best at the point but didn't look comfortable. He defended hard. 5
Pepe Zafirov - did okay as a backup for the big guys, but fouled out. 5
Gareth Laws - seemed a good veteran presence, but didn't see a lot of time. 6
Dominic Baker - thought he did a decent job with the time given to him and didn't look out of his depth. 6
Essex Pirates
Taner Adu - really was their most important player and if they had won he would have deserved credit for the victory. Seemed like he was being asked to do too much though, seemed to be relied on as the point guard and the go-to scorer. 8
Adrien Sturt - anchored Pirates defense inside, when he fouled out they couldn't stop the Thunder bigs. Has a nice shooting touch from deep and punished us a few times for leaving him open. 7
Jamell Anderson - young, athletic and enthuasiastic but really lacked killer instinct. Scored well, though, and played some good D. 7
Samuel Toluwase - undersized, but strong and aggressive, worked hard for his points. Fouled out. 5
Daniel Briglia - looked okay, but nothing special. Didn't appear to have any weapons. 5
Colin Sing - expected to see better from him. Didn't look very confident and passed up a few open shots. 4
Zach Gachette - has potential, but probably isn't ready for big minutes at BBL level. 5
Tom Woods - ineffectual. 5
Showing posts with label match report. Show all posts
Showing posts with label match report. Show all posts
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Thunder win a trophy game, then lose a championship game ... and Zabas.
Worthing Thunder, spurred by a fantastic peformance from Marlin Capers, logged their first win of the season as they triumphed 92-79 over the Plymouth Raiders. Capers had 28 points from an 11/17 shooting performance and was backed up by double-doubles from Durant and Nottley plus a great game and 21 points from Mansour Mbye.
This win came without star guard Evaldas Zabas who was suspiciously absent.
The next day, Thunder travelled north to Cheshire, where they lost to the Jets 74-67. It was a close game, with Thunder working hard to draw level in the final quarter, but in the end the deeper Jets had a little too much. Capers once again impressed, dropping 31 points, nearly half of Worthing's total. Another decent double-double performance from Nottley was useful, but Mbye was woeful, missing all 12 of his shots and turning over the ball 7 times.
Worthing also received the news that Evaldas Zabas had submitted a request to transfer to another BBL side. The side turned out to be the conquered Plymouth Raiders who have released England international Taner Adu.
This win came without star guard Evaldas Zabas who was suspiciously absent.
The next day, Thunder travelled north to Cheshire, where they lost to the Jets 74-67. It was a close game, with Thunder working hard to draw level in the final quarter, but in the end the deeper Jets had a little too much. Capers once again impressed, dropping 31 points, nearly half of Worthing's total. Another decent double-double performance from Nottley was useful, but Mbye was woeful, missing all 12 of his shots and turning over the ball 7 times.
Worthing also received the news that Evaldas Zabas had submitted a request to transfer to another BBL side. The side turned out to be the conquered Plymouth Raiders who have released England international Taner Adu.
Monday, 4 October 2010
Lightning strikes twice as Heat beat Thunder again
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
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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