BuzzerBeater Forums

Colombia vs England

Well, that was tense. For most of the game there was only a few points in it, possibly the tightest game I've been involved in. It was only in the last few minutes that we managed to gain a lead, which we managed to hold on to, to claim the win.

I knew going in it was going to be tough, Colombia's ranking says it all. Their record in the consolation is misleading. I had looked at their schedule and saw they had only lower ranked teams left after us, so I knew they'd certainly be trying today. That, coupled with their home advantage made it an easy decision to normal. I felt the loss of enthusiasm was worth it if it meant we remain undefeated.

Once again it was a team performance that got us the win. While we had no one to match Orjuela's shooting for Colombia, that's not really what we do. Gascoigne top scored with 16, Simpson and Bucky contributed 9 rebounds each, and Palit really showed his worth to the team with 6 assists and a very good performance in general. Also worth a mention is Big Mac MacAusland, who managed two steals in the late part of the fourth quarter which helped us gain the lead. Outstanding play by the big man.

Very good game shape again this week, which helped us to a very satisfying win away to a top 20 team.

England vs UAE

Possibly the most interesting thing about tonight's game is that it took place at The Marsh, home of season 8's EBBL champions, the Hackney Marshes. Obviously the place has seen better days, I wasn't at all sure the roof was going to last, but we all survived.

The UAE have won only one game up to now, despite a favourable draw against similarly ranked teams, so it's quite right that expectations would be high for this one. As seems typical both offences were doing well early, I was actually slightly disappointed by our D at that point, but we soon gained the upper hand. 41 points in the first quarter is undeniably excellent.
The UAE played pretty well in the second quarter, despite their starters playing a lot more minutes than ours. I felt they'd tire but they kept going.

We were a little more on top through the second half, and increased the lead, running out winners by 44 points. A healthy win but probably not enough to help us in the standings.

Nine players managed points in double figures but for once we did have a player who clearly top scored. Alan Sharpling with 21 points on his 99th senior appearance. He was also our top rated player. His Tallfella teammate Gregor Simpson was top rebounder with 10. Connor Marshall, with probably his best performance of the season, had 6 assists and 3 steals. As always of course the whole team contributed, including those who played less than 20 minutes.

Almost four weeks since anyone else was present in the thread so there's a risk I'm talking to myself but since I enjoy my own company that's probably ok.

Brazil vs England

A number of shocks today, including some for me. Alan Sharpling, one of our true stars, wasn't among the players who made the trip to Brazil. I expect him to be back in next week, performing at his usual high level.
Another shock came at the end of the game when I found out two things. Brazil tried harder in the game than us. While I thought this was a possibility pregame, from the way the game went I didn't really expect it. And their defensive tactics were a shock. Not sure of the thinking behind going FCP. We don't really turn the ball over much and our flow is usually good so FCP would seem like the wrong thing to do. Certainly I don't think it helped them at all.
One other surprising thing that you might not be able to gauge from the gameW report, but would be clear if you'd seen the game, is the fact that Connor Marshall played 33 of the first 36 minutes of the game. This is because I experimented with putting a starting and backup SF in among the blanks in the lineup. (Thanks to Joe for the tip.) I'm not sure how wise an experiment is away to a top 20 nation but it worked.

We started the game very well, we led early and looked quite comfortable. However Brazil kept coming back and were on top for a lot of the first quarter, though we did end it a point up.
The second quarter should have given me a hint that Brazil were playing FCP as we scored a massive 43 points. We looked about as strong as we ever have in that quarter, very impressive stuff for a difficult away game.
The third quarter was a little quieter, but we looked well in control. This continued through the fourth, with Connor Marshall actually sitting on the bench we were so comfortable. Of course, his deputy was Luke Innes, so its not like there was a huge drop in quality there.
We ended the game comfortable winners by 123-97.

Of course, Brazil were weakened by their efforts in the repechage earlier in the season so we can't strut round Brazil like we own the place. However, we did just beat another top 20 team on the road, and we looked very good in doing so. Their game shape was much better this week than it had been the previous weeks, so I do feel this is a good result, not just by our standards, but by anyone's.

A little more now about the experiment with Marshall. Having looked at Brazil's team, and their previous games, I felt whoever they played at SF simply wouldn't be able to cope with Marshall in his best shape. Equally, Innes as his backup made us very strong at that position. I think the game report proves the experiment was worth it.

As always it was a strong team performance. In every game we play, everyone contributes. In this game though, unlike a lot of the others, we did have a dominant performer. Connor Marshall led us in points, rebounds, assists and blocks. Definitely his best of the season.

On now to our final game in this stage, a home game against Macedonia, who, like us, are unbeaten this season. Our game shape has been excellent all season. I've always managed to field 12 fit players, so praise due to all the managers for that. We do need it to continue though, this is the crucial part of the season now, there are no more easy games.

Bonjour!

In regard of the standing, it's possible for England to finish second. It's important to be ahead Spain to have a chance to win the tournament (that should be your goal). Nederland should keep the first spot but they can be eliminated before the final (they are not so strong). Good luck!

Thanks!

I completely agree about the need to finish above Spain. We both have difficult fixtures, our PD is very close, so its certainly achievable.

I don't really want to say we're aiming at winning the tournament, but of course the aim is, and always should be, to go as far as we can.

Awesome job mate! Great report and a fantastic result

I haven't been giving any pre-match briefings this season but one is called for today.

Notable events today are Alan Sharpling's 100th senior cap. That's a record that won't be easy to get near.

Also, at the other end of the scale is Robert Osman's first senior cap. I snuck him into the building away from the rest of the players so that none of the Macedonia staff would know I'd added a player to the squad. You may not have heard of him but he was someone I expected to be seeing in the squad possibly next season, but issues with certain players has led to an opening now. Osman plays for D3 team Moomins, whose coach, Astragoth, will be a familiar name to most.

Spain lost their match earlier with the Ukraine, so that's one team above us who've tripped up. Hopefully we won't do the same.

I think its fair to say we got away with one today. MacAusland and Gascoigne, two of our best players were sitting out this week, and a few other members of the squad could have joined them.

This left me with a dilemma, knowing we needed to win today to have any chance of progressing as far as we'd like, whether to normal or take it easy. At home, it would in any other week have been an easy choice, but this week, although I decided to take it easy fairly quickly, I was thinking about changing that, even up to the last minute. Going normal was the conservative, safe choice, but I felt the risk was worth it. To be honest, I've spent most of the last hour wishing I'd normalled, but we can forget that now.

The game started well for us. We took an early lead and looked surprisingly strong. Defensively we were playing very well. I suspect it was more to do with our guards stopping their passing than our inside defence.

Macedonia came back in the second and during the third they were dominant, looking like they'd score every time they got the ball to their inside men. I knew ID would be our weakness, indeed, that's why I predicted inside, I felt Macedonia would see it that way too. By the time the third was over, we were behind, and things didn't look at all good.

The start of the fourth didn't improve things. We were hanging on grimly, and gradually we managed to claw our way back into the game. Luke Innes particularly seemed to be popping up everywhere something good was happening.

The last few minutes were particularly difficult/absolutely fantasic (delete as appropriate) to watch. We held the lead. Macedonia held the lead. Neither of us held the lead. It was tight, it was exciting, it was nerve shredding.

With 30 seconds to go Don Holm grabbed a rebound at 91-91. Innes passed the ball to Simpson, Simpson goes up and MISSES. Unthinkable. But surely there was skullduggery? Yes, a foul, and Simpson has the chance to give us the lead. 14 seconds to go, Simpson nervelessly hits both free shots. We lead. The crowd is deafening as Macedonia attempt to move the ball and push the game into OT.

2 seconds to go, Macedonia shoot, Marshall defends well, and they miss. But no, they grab an offensive rebound and with no time on the clock they shoot again, it looks a certain score, there'll be overtime. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Sharpling, with possibly the best timed foul in English history, manages to impede the shooter. Macedonia have two free shots to ruin everyone's night. Obviously still shaking from Sharpling's bruising foul, Frckov missed the first shot, giving us the win. I think his ear drums may have burst before he could shoot again, he may even have thrown the ball away, I have no idea, I wasn't even looking any more.

As I think we all knew he would after a week off, Sharpling dominated proceedings. 20 pts and a very good all round performance. Simpson led rebounding with 12, Bobby Bucky managed a creditable 10. Luke Innes was our leading passer with 5 assists, not at all bad for a forward. On his debut Robert Osman did all we could expect him to do, including his first points for England.

On to the next stage now. We'll see the fixtures soon enough so I don't think I'll be trying to work out in advance who we've got. I'm happy enough to be seeded quite high, possibly the highest seeding England have ever had.