Strikers Match Reports 2009-2010

Apr 25: Farnborough Shadows 81 - 72 Woking Blackhawk Strikers

Apr 18: Heat U18 98 - 92 Woking Blackhawk Strikers

Mar 21: Chiltern Force 36 - 78 Woking Blackhawk Strikers

An efficient Strikers performance, with some hiccups injected from certain external factors, brought another valuable win vs. Chiltern Force. All players had equal minutes on the court ( give or take a few seconds ;-) ) and all performed at a very good level although the expectation is always higher, knowing the levels that the team can reach. Paul had 19pts 12 rebounds, Marc 10 rebounds 2 steals, Nick & Dom 8 rebounds, 4 steals each, Tate 14 pts, Steve 100% from the field & 2 steals, and Andrzej 12 solid points scored.

Well done to the whole team. Quarters: 2-15, 9-14, 10-25, 15-24.

MVP : Nick (25pts), Tate (23pts), Paul (22.8pts)

Mar 14: Woking Blackhawk Strikers 20 - 0 Slough Scorpions

Scorpions not being able to field a team on the day, forfeit the game by 20-0.

Mar 7: Woking Blackhawk Strikers 60 - 55 Aztec Cobras

The Strikers with a very promising start, went up by 9 pts, 18-9 at the end of 1st Quarter, with 4pts from Tate and 8pts from Hatto. The Cobras with a very physical defense and a couple of 3s reminded the Strikers, that they still meant business. Strikers won the quarter by a tight 16-15 ending up 34-24 at the half.

Usually the 3rd quarter is the achilles heel of the Strikers' team. And it was the same in this instance. Not the same effort in defense, plenty of turnovers and 4 x 3 pointers by the Cobras in the 3rd quarter, made the score 48-40 at the end of it. During the last quarter, the Cobras pulled the points difference to a single point and the match became a derby, as the last few seconds were ticking away. Andrzej and Paul scored critical few points towards the end to bring the game to conclusion and a tight win 60-55.

During the last quarter the Strikers had 4 out of 11 free throws scored, a definite area of improvement.

MVP: Hatto (23pts), Tate (14.2pts) and Marc (14pts)

Mar 2: Reading Arrows II 65 - 66 Woking Blackhawk Strikers

A very good recovery by the Strikers, from Sunday's defeat, with a very hard fought win against a tough Arrows team.

The Strikers needed a win with 10+ points and they worked very hard throughout the game for it. Solid defense in the first two quarters, show the Strikers being almost halfway to their target at the half, up by 5 points 28-33. During the second quarter the Strikers were up by 13 points, when the Arrows stiffling man-to-man defense and some elementary mistakes brought the points difference to 5 points. The second half was the same affair, strong rebounds offensively and defensively by the Strikers, 3 point shooting by the Arrows and some questionable, calls brought the teams to within single point difference. The Arrows team with a 3 pointer went ahead by a point with the game less than 20 seconds to end. But with a controlled offense by the Strikers and a shot by Andrjez in the dying seconds, clinced the game for the Strikers 65-66.

The Team: Bors (18pts), Hatto (12pts), Andrzej (10pts), Dom (8pts), Paul (6pts), Arek (6pts), Nick (6pts)

Feb 21: Woking Blackhawk Strikers 64 - 67 Farnborough Shadows

Not the result that Strikers were expecting to get out of a very close, physical game.

Very good performance by the whole team starting with a very strong defense, found the Strikers ahead in the first quarter by 8 points, 26-18. From there on, instead of putting the game away from the Shadows' reach, the team struggled to put the finishing touch to 19 offensive rebounds that otherwise would have finished any game !!

The 2nd and 3rd quarters were won by the Shadows, 13-20 and 11-18 respectively, leaving the Strikers entering the 4th quarter 6 points behind 50-56. In any other day that gap would have been overturn easily but as I mentioned, missing that finishing touch and some wrong choice of passing ended up losing the game by 3pts..

Arek had a last second 3 point attempt to tie the game and take it into extra-time but, that was not to be our day :)

Paul had a very good game with 17pts scored and 8 rebounds, Dom had a good game also with 11 rebounds, 3steals but, just 5pts scored.

MVP : Paul 32pts, Dom 16.8pts, Arek 16.5pts

Feb 21: Woking Blackhawk Strikers 83 - 31 SEAE

Strikers were without Dom, Arek, Tate and Andrzej for this game but, managed as the result shows to reach an easy win vs. SEAE.

Very good performance by the whole team with a strong defense, 29 defensive rebounds and 18 steals which provided a solid foundation for either quick breaks or controlled offenses. During the 1st quarter the Strikers let in only 5 points and just 4 points in the 3rd. Solid defense to build on for more difficult games ahead of us.

Hatto had another fantastic game, scoring 32pts (68% accuracy) followed by Bors with 21 pts (64%). Attention needs to be paid on turnovers that have started creeping in - 14 for this game.

MVP : Hatto 57.5pts, Bors 35.5pts, Nick 22.5pts

Feb 6: Lightwater Vipers 54 - 64 Woking Blackhawk Strikers

Without Bors and Dom and having Andrzej nursing an injury, Strikers knew that they were going to have a tough game in their hands, against the Vipers. An injection of effort by the whole team and the addition of Tate, Hatto and Josh helped this cause though. The game started in a slow pace with both teams cagey about their opponents , Vipers ending ahead inthe 1st quarter by 15-13. The 2nd quarter belonged to Hatto. He scored 11 out of the total 20pts that Strikers scored, during this quarter and with a very solid defense by the whole team, Strikers edged ahead by 9pts., 33-24 by the end of the half.

During the 3rd and 4th quarter, the Strikers maintained their effort, concentration and intensity in both offense and defense bringing another pink scoresheet to coach Mandafounis, 10 so far this season ! Final result 54-64 to Strikers

I need to also mention the introduction of Tate to the team who worked effortlessly up and down the court, scoring 15pts with 4 assists and 5 steals. Solid performance in both parts parts of the court, by Andrzej, who seemed to overcome his injury from the last game

MVP : Hatto 38.5pts, Andrzej 16pts, Tate 15.7pts

Jan 24: Woodley Harriers 66 - 72 Woking Blackhawk Strikers

Strikers finished successfully with 3 wins out of 3 games, in the last 6 days. A slow start at the beginning of the game, not a lot of movement and fluidity, found Strikers edging by a single point 17-18 at the end of the 1st quarter. With the late arrival from Bors, in the middle of the second quarter and with some very good and solid plays in the paint by Dom, Paul and Nick, the Strikers edged 28-37 in the first half. The 3rd quarter belongs to the whole team as the Strikers showed how good they can be when they put some effort in it. Up by 22pts at that time, 34-56 to the Strikers.

During the 4th quarter, the Strikers became very relaxed, didn't try as hard and let themselves down.. Some really good shooting from the opponents and some very interesting calls from the officials, saw the game reaching to the final 66-72 for the Strikers.

Dom had a very solid game with 14pts scored, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 4 blocks. He is already gelling with the team and he will be making the difference moving forwards. Well done on his professionalism in not getting involved in some of the "interesting calls" that I mentioned above.

Bors had almost a perfect game with 90% field shooting (9 out of 10) , 2 out of 3 free throws, 2 assists, 0 turnovers and 20 points scored !!! He will be called to start late every time from now on ;-)

MVP : Dom 36pts, Bors 30pts, Arek 27.2pts

Jan 21: SEAE 29 - 84 Woking Blackhawk Strikers

A very comfortable win that brought the Strikers team on top of the Wessex league. Following from the previous game, similar characteristics were engaged in the attitude of the players and with a very solid defense, good movements inside the SEAE's defensive key and some good outside shooting managed to bring the win, with a valuable +55pts difference, which will hopefully help in the latter parts of the season.

First team participation of our new addition to the team, Dom a 6'7'' center, was very welcome.

Arek lead the points scored with 24 followed by Bors with 18 and Andrzej with 17

No stats for this game due to absense of our resident statistician ...

Jan 18: Whitley Wizards 38 - 81 Woking Blackhawk Strikers

A superb all round performance by the whole team enabled Strikers to reach to this "easy" victory. Solid defense allowing in, only an average of 7 points per quarter (exception the second quarter where Strikers losened their grip) is very commendable achievement by all the team participated in this game. This stiffling defense, with Arek leading with 7 steals, winning the boards on every opportunity, with Andrzej & Paul leading that effort 11 & 9 rebounds respectively, enabled a lot of drives to easy lay-ups by all point guards.

Offensively a very high shooting percentage, lead by Arek & Nick with 71% and Bors with 68% provided solutions where needed.

Very good effort by the whole team with only 9 turnovers !

MVP: Bors 40pts, Arek 31.5pts & Nick 21pts

Dec 6: Woking Blackhawk Strikers 56 - 43 Lightwater Vipers

A solid defense from the beginning to the end of the game, was key to Strikers' team win. Andrzej lead with 14 rebounds followed by Marc with 12 and Nick with 11. The game was a very tight affair with the Strikers leading from the beginning but, with the Vipers on their heals always ready to pounce. The 1st quarter was tied at 12-12 but from there on, the Strikers's defense made the difference (48 total defensive rebounds in the game) providing Arek & Bors with "easy" access to the Viper's baskets through fast breaks. The 2nd quarter finished with the Strikers edging it by 28-20 with some solid shooting from Dan when needed. More of the same, in the 3rd quarter with the Strikers now leading by 16points at the end of it, 46-30. The first part of the 4th quarter saw the team taking their foot off the accelerator and general lack of concentration saw plenty of turnovers that pulled the opponents back to the game. The lead was too big to throw away but in the second part of the last quarter , the team played some sensible basket finishing up 13 points, 56-13.

Turnovers were an issue (28 !) but, on the positive aspect some very solid encouraging performances by Dan, Steve C. & B., & Jonathan which is evident game by game.

Well done to the whole team ! 

MVP: Bors 26.5pts , Marc 21pts & Andrzej 17.2pts. 

Nov 29: Woking Blackhawk Strikers 60 - 24 Chiltern Force

A totally different Strikers' team decided to turn up in this game compare to last Wednesday's game. The game started seeing Strikers outscoring Chiltern by 16-4 and 19-2 in the first two quarters respectively. A very lackluster perfomance by the whole team, with a lot of turnovers, easy lay-ups missed, not trying enough putting practice drills into execution, still saw the Strikers team finishing up the game with 36pts difference. 

MVP: Arek 28.5pts, Bors 26pts. 

Nov  25: Slough Scorpions 61 - 65 Woking Blackhawk Strikers 

A very good performance by the Strikers team, managed to put behind them last week's loss, and by establishing a solid defence all the way through the game, edged the Scorpions by 4 points taking this valuable away win. Strikers were ahead n the first quarter by 17-9 with some good shooting by Arek and solid in defense lead by Marc Stacey. 2nd quarter show the Scorpions pulling back to a 31-31 at the end of first half. During the first half team talk, we established where the Scorpion's attack was coming from and switched our defensing play to adapt to it. The results were not so great, maybe lack of training/understanding of where we needed to be on the court. Marc Stacey was very influential during that defence system though, but still Scorpions took the lead at the end of 3rd quarter by 6pts, 48-54. Coach Nick Mandafounis decided to change the defensive system once more, in the 4th quarter and within the first 3 minutes, Strikers wiped out the deficit and were ahead by 4 points which they never relinquished.

A solid team performance by all the team. Well Done !

MVP : Marc Stacey 21.5pts, Arek Burak 19.8pts. 
 

Nov 15: Woking Blackhawk Strikers 46 - 56 Reading Arrows

This was not the team performance that we have been used to by the Strikers, therefore we saw the first loss by a young Reading Arrows team.

Strikers started slow in the first quarter losing it by 6-13. Strikers although won the second quarter by 13-12 never found another gear to  overcome the Arrows. Too many second chances were given to the away team while defending, 19 turnovers and lack of offensive power were key to this outcome. 

Every cloud has a silver lining though. Very good performances by Arek (21pts) & Bors (12pts) giving them 31.5 and 22.5 MVP points respectively which is very encouraging and a foundation to build on. 

Oct 17: Woking Blackhawk Strikers 20 - 0 Whitley Wizards

Whitley Wizards forfeit the game by 20-0 by arriving late at WCS. 

Oct 11: Woking Blackhawk Strikers 56 - 26 Woodley Harriers

Another excellent team performance, with a very tight defense as its foundation, saw the Strikers going 2 wins out of 2 !

The game started with the Strikers controlling the boards under the baskets and running the fast breaks with Arek and Borse when possible. The Harriers didn't have an answer to this barrage of quick drives to the basket from both our players. The Strikers' defence was immense.

Strikers only let 7 points per quarter which must be some kind of a record !

Offensively the Strikers were very mobile with and without the ball which made it easier for all players to have plethora of choices for an easy hoop.

Arek's accuracy from all parts of the court counted for 24pts ( 2 x 3pointers ) out of the total 56pts. Bors with a lot of energy throughout the game, had 12 pts which is a great effort. Special thanks to Paul, Luke and Andy that contributed immensely to this stifling defence that was the foundation for this - eventually - easy win. Many thanks to Mark, Steve B., Jonathan & Dan that all offered a great alternative in both defence & offence when the team required it.

 

Sept 30: Aztec Cobras 36 - 41 Woking Blackhawk Strikers

First game of the season and off to a good start for the Strikers against a difficult opponent away.

The 1st quarter started very promising. Very good efforts with some good shooting and movement inside the key from Arek Burak, Andy Farmer, Andrej Swatkowski and Marc Stacey brought the Strikers in the lead by 15-8.

In the 2nd and 3rd quarters, the Strikers’ defense became a bit too relaxed which saw us losing the 2nd quarter by 9-3, pulling ourselves back in the 3rd ,to reach a 31-30 overall lead at the end of it. Great efforts from Steve Blackburn, Steve Chatwin, Jonathan Brogden and Dan McPherson, during these two periods.

The final quarter saw the Cobras pressing to gain the lead but some very decent defensive rebounds and blocks by both Andy Farmer and player/coach Nick Mandafounis managed to put a stop to that effort.
Offensively the team started to move quicker and managed to find free space towards easy baskets, for the final score of 41-36. Some more focus required on our free throw shooting where we only hit 6 out of our 18 attempts but an overall good performance. Great effort also from the Tyrkiel brothers, especially Adrian who had to step in, during the 4th quarter to replace Arek that had left with 5 fouls.

Andy was clear MVP with a massive 40.5 points followed by Nick with 18.8.

A big thanks to Keith that assisted with all valuable match stats collecting !