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Tees United Lions 69-82 Ormesby Specsavers Tigers

The first quarter was basket for basket with Woolams effective for Tigers and Alemanno driving well for Lions in the first five minutes, after which Luke Thompson hit some big shots to give Lions a slender 2 point lead in the first quarter which increased to a 4 point lead at the half.

 

Tigers played a very slow offence throughout the game, taking advantage of the full 24 seconds during their half court game and when Lions were in their zonal defence, they could do little but watch the ball being passed around. When the Lions attempted the switch to man to man defence, it was unorganised and ineffective due to players including Alemanno and Thompson leaving their markers.

Tigers outscored Lions 20-13 in the third quarter to earn a 3 point lead and although Lions defence on Lee Mclaughlin was working to a degree, Harland, Woolams and the hard working Rob Brown hit 17, 20 and 20 respectively. Tigers tight defence halted a usually explosive team in the Lions and when big man, Carlos Alemanno fouled out early in the fourth on top of Richy Kierl getting injured the game seemed destined for a Tigers Victory.

 

In what was almost a repeat of the previous B team game, except for the result, the Lions produced a sluggish and below par performance with all players struggling to express themselves. Stu Davison entered the game and produced some good defence, but struggled on the offence with rushed shots. Burton enjoyed a decent game and Mike Wassell was solid in defence, as usual although his shot selection was poor at times.

 

The biggest disappointment of the game was the attitude of one of the Lions players in removing his top before the end of the game after being subbed. With a sulking expression each time he was substituted this only added insult to injury after such a loss.

Tigers hunger for the win was a valuable lesson to the Lions squad and the MVP was joint top scoring Rob Brown who put in a hard working, inspiring performance to secure the 3 points.

Lions were without Steve Butler and Andrew Marshall, both of whom would have made a difference, but still the performance with the players they had should have been a lot better. Thompson hit a team high 25 points for Lions but by his standards experienced a difficult game. Lions also lost their only big man in the fourth quarter, when Alemanno fouled out. Alemanno was called for a silly foul for a push during the third player which proved costly and will serve as an important reminder for all players to keep their heads in future games.

 

On a positive note, sometimes a bad loss early on in the season can serve as a timely kick up the backside and spur a team on to even greater things. With the club experiencing two really bad games in as many weeks, hopefully this will provide the desired effect.

Teams   Lions Tigers James Burton* Richard Keirl* Luke Thompson* Carlos Alemanno* Hayden Patterson Stu Davison Alex Moore Michael Wassell* David Whitney   Geoff Brown Michael Brown* David Tingle Rob Harland* Lee Woolams* Steve Cowell* Rob Brown* Lee McLoughlin Stuart Mckie   Game MVP: Rob Brown   Top Scorers Lions: Thompson 25, Burton 18, Alemanno 14   Vikings: Brown 20, Woolams 20, Harland 17, McLaughlin 15, Cowell 8

 

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