GUARDS STEP UP GRANDE FOR CANADA IN ECUADOR
(44691)Canada 117 Ecuador 84
We must have Ecuadorian spies in our midst, as they were able to somehow guess both GDP correctly. No matter, our guards were up for the challenge anyway. The 5 for 24 from the 3 point line might not look flattering, but make no mistake Pavliuk(25 pts) and Koszakov(19 and 5 assists) were ready to leave their mark.
The beginning looked a bit rough with Ecuador ahead, but after early first quarter jitters, the men were able to rally and end up winning all 4 quarters. It was a total team effort with the bench chipping in as well.
HTC calls his guy Basil Ritchie the "silent killer" and he definitely lived up to that name, while coming off the bench to surprise the Ecuadorians with 14 points and 8 rebounds. Manzel's mate Paul Falconer also showed exceptional marksmanship off the bench shooting 5-9 with 12 points.
Even though the other team was able to have some success with their "look inside" offense, starters Stephen Hall(+17, 9 rebs, 4 assists) and Benito Martin Avila (+19, 12pts and 9 rebounds) had very solid first games. Avila was especially good in spurts, showing off his skills because his current owner has put him up for sale
(35218290).
There is still much more basketball to be played and we have much work to do still. Let's hope the old guys who were left off the opening night roster, are able to correct their conditioning for coming weeks. Our rebounding(59-34) was very good, as were our assists(27) and steals(9). WE need to clean up the turnovers a bit(13), but 8 of those came from our big men.
TOP STARS:1)I. Pavliuk - Hit all the shots when they were needed. Enough said! (3 points)
2)Basil Ritchie - He answered the call off the bench, especially in the second half. (2 points)
3)Y. Koszakov - The other half of the dynamic guard duo still chipped in 19 key point. (1 point)
Next up: Next Monday at 5pm against Bolivia. They are a bad team but their coach has good credentials. Let's get some good game shape this week and roll with it!