2011/12
Season Wessex Division 2
Solid team performance lead to an easy win in the end and a result Strikers needed.
It was a Nick S. show. He dominated both defense and offense, had 18 boards (11 def. / 7 offensive) which clearly made the highlight of the afternoon. Neil played well with 24pts scored, Chris had a solid game with 15pts scored after a long playing absense, similar with Paul who had 10pts scored and 8 rebounds. Steve had 11 boards and another solid performance. Good performances by Dan, Jon and Doug.
Well done to the whole team.
Scorers:
Nick S 24, Neil 24, Chris 15, Paul 10
Quarters: 23-15, 23-11, 16-25, 24-9
Strikers had a reasonable game but let themselves down on defence, allowing Farnborough at least 20 second chance points and that killed the game. Strikers lost every quarter. It was a big blow to lose Andre to an injury by half time.
On the plus
side, Caspar had a great game scoring 25 points. Steve had another strong game.
Nick failed to convert a handful of shots that could easily have fallen
another day but took 11 boards and made 2 good blocks. Jason, Bors, Andre and Nick M supported
well.
Scorers:
Caspar 25, Jason & Steve 8 each, Nick S & Nick M 7 each, Andre 2, Bors
1
Quarter
Scores: 12-13, 14-21, 15-24, 17-18
Strikers start
2012 with a fantastic come back victory.
First quarter started well with Strikers firing on offence and they
trailed by just 2 going in 22-20 down.
Second quarter was tougher and Windsor ran out 19-8 to take a
comfortable 41-28 half time lead. Strikers
hit back hard in 3rd quarter, taking it 21-31 and went into the 4th
quarter 62-59 down. 4th
quarter was nip and tuck. Strikers won
it in the end with a great bit of play in the final few minutes, Neil making the
first of 2 free throws to lead by 1 and then rimmed the second free throw and
Nick M. took the rebound, holding on to the ball for the final few seconds.
This was a
strong team performance. In previous
games we have gone behind and heads have gone down. Not this time. Neil,
Caspar, Jason, Andre, Nick M and Steve combined to create a strong presence and
were supported well by Earl, Tony, Nick S, Doug and Justas.
The only
wrinkle in the game was the questionable ejection of Jason. Seems a bit of play acting from our
opponents led to the refs deciding to eject both players involved.
Neil top
scored with 34 and was well supported by Caspar , 12 points, Steve 11 points,
Andre 10 points and Nick M 8 points.
Most
memorable moment from the game was Andre’s exuberant celebration after downing
a 3 late in the 4th quarter.
Karl Taylor Cup Round
2
Strikers 37 – 72 Basingstoke Bobcats Always likely to be a difficult game against a team who were in Div 1
last season, but Strikers were poor and deserved to lose. Turnovers hit a season high 30. Shooting was
terrible with Strikers going 13 from 63 (20%!). On top of all this, attitude
was pretty poor and repeated arguing with refs drew a technical and we were
lucky not to be handed more. 2 foul
outs by early in the 4th quarter didn’t help either. Bors and Neil played well. Steve
went 6 from 6 from the line. Scorers: Ned 14, Steve 6, Nick S 5, Earl 4, Tony & Nick M 3 each,
Bors 2 Quarter Scores: 11-14, 10-28, 5-17, 11-13 Big thanks to Martin for doing the table – really appreciated. Thanks also to Josh for doing the stats –
lets hope we see him back on the court again soon. Chasers 107 – 57 Strikers A heavy defeat in the end for Strikers, but the team played some
excellent basketball at times and the players never stopped trying. Strikers can also be proud of scoring the
most points against the Chasers this season so far. First quarter Strikers easily matched a Chasers side that are one
of the favourites for promotion this season.
The first quarter ended 22-20 to Chasers. Second quarter Chasers ran a pressing offence and forced Strikers
into errors. Strikers continued to play
good offence though and finished the half 52-36 down. In the second half Chasers were relentless and stretched away,
taking the 3rd 25-10 and the 4th 30-11. Nick S had a commanding game racking up 23 points and taking 11
rebounds, including 5 offensive rebounds.
There really was very little Chasers could do to stop Nick once he got
the ball under the net. Caspar played
with confidence and put up 10 points.
Jon contributed effectively with 6 points and 4 boards. Steve, Nick M and Andre took 17 rebounds
between them and really worked well on defence. Earl played with spirit and ran the ball hard collecting 5 points
along the way. Bors hussled the whole
game taking 2 steals. Tony made 2 good
assists. Despite the score, this was a game in which Strikers showed some real
development and is very much something for us to take forward and build
on. Scorers: Nick S 23, Caspar 10, Jon 6, Earl 5, Steve 5, Nick M &
Andre 3 each, Bors 2 Quarter Scores: 22-20, 30-16, 25-10, 30-11 Aztec Experience 37 – 52 Strikers (Karl Taylor Cup Rd 1) Strikers
controlled this game from start to finish.
A good performance all round and a game that everyone enjoyed. Strikers still need to work hard on offence
to score more points (not helped by a court that played more like an ice rink!)
but the defence was once again solid.
Strikers started the game confidently and comfortably outscored their
opponents 14-8. Second quarter Strikers
were a little frustrated on offence only scoring 12 but the defence was
stifling restricted and Aztec were restricted to just 4 points. Third quarter was more even and after a
brief Aztec rally, Strikers closed out the quarter 14-11. Strikers cruised home in the final quarter
losing it 12-14, but playing nice fast break and working well around an Aztec
man to man defence. Caspar was
warmly welcomed to the Strikers team and did what we knew he could, putting up
22 points. Andre also returned to the
team after a break and brought some real presence to the Strikers side at both
ends of the court taking 11 rebounds.
Earl fizzed around the court and racked up assist after assist, finally
finishing with a Strikers record 6 and contributing 9 points. Nick S put up a solid 10 points and took
down 9 rebounds (and will score more once we stop the travelling). Nick M impressed everyone with his coast to
coast score late in the game! Steve was
solid on Defence with 7 boards. Tony
played with a lot of energy and with a bit more composure could have scored a
bucket load. Jon played good hussling
defence when giving the guards a break taking 2 steals. Dan made 2 good assists and hussled for 2
steals. Scorers:
Caspar 22, Nick S 10, Earl 9, Nick M 3, Andre, Steve, Jon & Tony 2 each. Quarter
Scores: 8-14, 4-12, 11-14, 14-12 A low scoring game reflected the frustration of another loss for
Strikers against opponents they knew they could have beaten. Strikers worked well overall on defence, limiting
Camberley to just 52 points, only 4 more than they scored against the Chasers a
week before. However, on offence, it
was a different story. Strikers
registered a poor 15 from 58 from the field and 5 from 16 from the line. A woeful 22 turnovers did not help. Camberley played a perimeter offence from
the start and worked the ball into open positions taking the first quarter
13-5. Strikers played well in the
second quarter with the defence limiting Camberley to just 11 points, but
offence could only manage 10. Third
quarter, Strikers fell behind further losing it 18-11. The final quarter saw the Strikers play
their best basketball of the game. A
stifling defence in the opening 5 minutes saw Strikers pull it back to an 8
point deficit, but that was as close as it got and the fourth quarter ended
even 10-10. Nick S
worked hard to top score with 12 and take 13 rebounds. Earl had a Jekyll and Hyde performance
scoring 10 but was guilty of 6 turnovers.
Paul got some good minutes and took 10 boards and contributed with 5
points. Nick M also scored 5. Steve took 5 rebounds, but was frustrated on
offence. Chris made his presence felt
as usual but was also frustrated with just 4 points for his efforts. Jon and Dan didn’t really get into the game
on offence, but defended well. Scorers:
Nick S 12, Earl 10, Nick M 5, Paul 5, Chris 4
Quarter
Scores: 13-5, 11-10, 11-18, 10-10 This
was a poor team performance from the Strikers against a side who we should have
been able to compete with. Strikers had a full bench for the first time
this season. Both sides started slowly with Strikers down just 6-4 in the
first 5 mins of the 1st quarter. However, from then on, Amigos hit a
string of unchallenged shots from range whilst Strikers misfired on offence and
a stunned Strikers side ended the quarter 25-7 down. In the 2nd quarter,
Strikers were more successful in closing down and stopping the shots from
range, but Amigos adjusted and had much more success inside. Strikers
continued to misfire on offence and the 2nd quarter ended 46-18. Strikers
started the second half with greater purpose and whilst the team continued to
find it difficult to gel, the quarter ended 61-33, with Strikers matching
Amigos 15-15 in the quarter. The less said about the 4th quarter the
better as Strikers moved to a man to man offence and allowed Amigos to rack up
30 points and were only able to answer with 15 of our own. Paul,
Earl and Tony made their debuts in this difficult game. Earl played with
energy and scored 6 points. Paul competed well scoring 4 and taking 6
rebounds. Tony had limited court time but showed signs of being a good
option in the guard position. Bors made a welcome return to the side and
added some poise, scoring 4 on the fast break and bothering Amigos for 2
steals. Neil scored 14 but became frustrated as shot after shot rimmed
out - it was just one of those days. Nick M played well throughout,
scoring 9. Steve scored 7 and took 6 boards, a good contribution. Strikers
have a lot to work on before the next game on 30 October - full attendance at
training over the next 2 weeks will be necessary to avoid a repeat of what was
overall a very poor effort. Scorers:
Neil 14, Nick M 9, Steve 7, Earl 6, Bors 4, Nick S 4, Paul 4. Quarter
Scores: 25-7, 21-11, 15-15, 30-15. A spirited Strikers side made up of just 6 players went
down in a close game which could have gone either way. The
first quarter saw Strikers keep the score board ticking over, playing with
confidence and poise to close the quarter 20-14 up. Fouls were a problem
though with Nick S in trouble with 3 fouls and Steve picking up two.
The wheels came off a bit for Strikers in the second quarter. Nick S
picked up an early 4th foul which reduced his ability to influence the
game. Windsor hit 13 unanswered points before Strikers woke up and
rallied to finish the half 25-31 down. Strikers played their best
basketball of the season in the 3rd quarter, taking it 23-11 and going into the
final quarter having turned a 6 point deficit into a 6 point lead.
However, Strikers then had to play the whole of the final quarter with no bench
after Nick S fouled out. Although they continued to fight for every ball,
Strikers just could not compete with opponents who had travelled with a full
bench. Windsor came out strongly in the 4th quarter and after a 14-1 run,
looked to be on their way to a comfortable win. Strikers though rallied
again bringing it back to a 4 point game. However, that was as close
as it got and with 4 minutes remaining Windsor put their foot down, eventually
pulling away to a 12 point win. Neil
once again played superbly, racking up 28 points, taking 4 steals and going 11
from 14 from the line. Steve had his best game in a Strikers shirt,
contributing 13 points and 5 rebounds, including 9 from 12 free throws.
Nick M was a solid influence on the game putting up 9 points
and taking 7 boards. Jon contributed with 4 points and hussled for 4
steals, finishing the game literally on his knees! Nick S managed 7
boards despite limited court time due to foul trouble. Dan again got
open and was unlucky not to score, but can be pleased that he led the team in
offensive rebounds (2). This
was always going to be a tougher test, but despite only having 6 players on the
day, and having played pretty much the whole of the second half
with no bench, Strikers can be confident that with some anticipated new
players arriving and other players returning from injury, more wins will come. Q1:
20-14, Q2: 5-17, Q3: 23-11, Q4: 7-25 Scorers:
Neil 28, Steve 13, Nick M 9, Jon 4, Nick S 1 New
season, new division, new look Strikers side, and a win to start the
season off on the right foot. The low
scoring game reflected the ring rust very much present for both sides after the
summer break. After a scoreless first 4 minutes, Farnborough got into
their stride and quickly racked up an 8-2 lead. Strikers then rallied and
strong offence was matched by strong defence as the quarter finished 10-6 to
the home side. 2nd and 3rd quarters were nip and tuck with neither side
taking more than a 2 point lead, but with Strikers chipping away Farnborough’s
lead each quarter. Still a lot of
misfiring for Strikers on offence, but the defence was working well throughout
with Strikers reading their opponents plays very well and Farnborough
increasingly running out of ideas. The final quarter saw Strikers take
control and a 5 point lead going into the final minute proved enough and
Strikers held out for their first win in Div 2. Two
players made their debuts for Strikers. Neil Kelly, at point guard, ran
the game and racked up an impressive 29 points. Neil was always available
on the fast break and was fed well by the rest of the squad, and went 100% from
3 point range and from the free throw line. Neil looks set to make a big
impression on Div 2 and the rest of the team will be looking to step up to
support his contribution. Nick
Sammut also made his debut and his presence was felt under the basket at both
ends of the court, contributing 6 points and taking 8 rebounds as well as
making 3 blocks. If Nick continues to play like this, he'll make the
centre position his own! Chris Hatto caused Farnborough trouble all night
leading the team with 10 rebounds. Steve Blackburn played hard and to
good effect at both ends of the court. Dan McPherson got open from range
and defended well. Coach Nick Mandafounis' experience both on the court
and from the side line was ever present. Jon Brogden played good defence
at the top of the key and helped link up on offence. Thanks
to Thibaud for coming along to do the stats even though he is unavailable to
play through injury. Much appreciated. Quarter
scores: Q1 10-6, Q2 9-10, Q3 15-16 Q4 10-13 Scorers:
Neil 29, Nick S 6, Chris 4, Nick M 4, Steve 2 Camberley Blue Jays 52 – 36 Strikers
Woodley Amigos 91 - 48 Strikers
Strikers 55 - 67 Windsor Warriors 2
Farnborough Shadows 44 - 45 Strikers