Tab Baldwin Hi everyone. Well, this was a tough loss tonight. I want to think that we are still very much in preparation phase and results are more important than they were in Jones Cup but I am still frustrated that we lost. Like last night, we had the game in our hands and then let Japan get back into it and tonight, they won. We have got to learn to adapt our play to the situation we are in. We took some difficult shots, turned the ball over trying to make tough plays and made fouls that were not smart late in the game and these are things that a National Team should not do.
I'm sure that most of our players would not make these plays in their club teams but, with our limited preparation time, players are still trying to think, learn new systems and still play instinctively and this is resulting in some performances that lack the consistency that is one of the most important ingredients at this level.
I also have to credit Japan with a playing style that was very difficult tonight. They out worked us for most of the game and I felt our team worked very hard. I am more complimenting Japan than criticizing our players, however, we must match the effort and intensity especially when playing a team at their home. We were still the much better rebounding team but the numbers changed significantly: OR% - 37% down from an average of about 43% and Def Reb% - 75.7% down from around 80% and this is obviously what they targeted in order to win. They also played the transition game very well even though WE targeted this area.
I have to keep my focus on the World Champs and resist getting caught up in the WIN, WIN, WIN mentality but, just like you, I want this team to be successful every step of the way. I love the competition we are getting in Japan but the style differences aren't a great help to prepare for the WCs...the game situations are good though so there are plenty of positives.
Message of THOMAS BALDWIN (LEBANESE NATIONAL TEAM COACH) ON THE LEBANESE BASKETBALL GROUP ON FACEBOOK
Kristine FTW??
ReplyDeleteForest