CT v Southside Bullets 23/07/11

First Half:

We were stuck in traffic (again) on the way to the match and so missed the first 5 minutes.  The score was standing at 6 -4 to Cheadle when we arrived just in time to see Southside Bullets make 6 points in two minutes to take the lead.

SB were hungry for the ball, picking up one rebound after another and driving through the Cheadle defense. CT looked sleepy and lazy in comparison, waiting for the ball to come their way and standing back from the action.

With just 5 minutes of the first half left SB were ahead 14 -6 and looking very confident. Then CT got the wake-up call from Coach Andy, and took control of the game. Good marking kept SB's dangerous #10 and #14 out of the game. Initimidating moves in defence made the SB players look harmless. Cheadle were in attack mode and starting with a basket form Matt F they showed up all the holes in the SB defensive game. The final 2 minutes of the half, with Joe driving hard to score  3 baskets in quick succession left SB reeling

Half time score:14 all

Second Half:

Although Southside came out looking ready for a fight Cheadle quickly showed their superior team skills and organisation with a combination of aggressive defence and swift attack. When SB did get shot at the basket CT got the rebound, then got the ball out of the pack and drove it up the court.

Although in control of the game CT players were a bit too eager to score, taking their shots too early in the effort to get Cheadle into the lead. But Joe kept his cool and made another 3 excellent baskets to extend his unbroken run to 12 points and put Cheadle 6 points ahead.

Sol managed to pull off a nice long-shot in the 13th minute. After that  SB did start to fight back. But Cheadle carried on picking up the rebounds and using intimidating man-to-man defence. Soon Southside began to look desperate, making a lot of wild shots. Only when Cheadle relaxed in the last minute of play could SB #14 score the final basket.

Final Score: CT - 22; SB -17

Stats:
CT: Joe - 16; Karl, Matt A, Sol - 2 each.
SB: #10 - 7; #14 - 6; #4, #9 - 2 each.

Pros and Cons:

If any game showed the benefit of playing as a team it was this one. To begin with everyone was hanging back and waiting for a chance of scoring to come their way. Result - dissapointment! When players start doing the not very glamourous defensive business of looking for rebounds and man-to-man marking the score starts building.

Kudos to Joe, of course, for a great run! And to Karl, Matt F and Sol for their baskets too. But if the other side always has the ball that's not going to happen.

This game wouldn't have been won without some good high interceptions  from Dan, without Harry holding onto the ball until he was thrown over, without Tom watching over #10 and picking up rebounds, without some smart set-up passes from Matt A and without Josh hurling himself physically out of the court to stop SB getting to the ball. It's all about the teamwork.

Biggest Groan: Tom setting the ball spinning around the hoop, and unfortunately off on the other side.

Strangest manoeuvre: Matt F performing a bouncing pass behind his back while sitting on the floor. It could be a whole new sport.

Man of the match: Sorry Joe but you take second place. For getting the team up and playing as a team in the middle of the first half (when half of them looked as if they'd just woken up and the other half as if they wanted to go to bed) the prize has to go to Andy. Great Coach! I'm pretty sure the team all agree with me on that at least.

New Fixtures

23rd July              2:20 pm   Southside Bullets     court 2

3rd September   1:30 pm    NR Stealers              court 2

10th September 4:50 pm    Thameside Tigers    court 1

CT v Rebel Razors 16/07/11 "Cheadle Cut Down to Size"

First half:
The match started badly when RR's #40 drove into the Cheadle defence, was awarded a penalty and scored a point. At first it looked as if this might have just been a lucky play as CT held off a fast, co-ordinated attack from the younger players, but four minutes later #40 made another 2 easy penalty shots.... then a basket .... then another!

And #40 wasn't the only RR player who could score. Though Cheadle got back into the game after time-out, and even scored a few baskets, they didn't seem to have an answer to the RR very simple game plan "get the ball, and attack".

Half-time score: 19-6 to Rebel Razors.


Second Half
Although CT shaped up defensively at the beginning of the half, RR #40 could still find his way through - usually by a direct route.

5 minutes in, Dan took a fall and for a while it looked as if CT would be playing with 4 men. Though he limped back on the Cheadle defence was weakened; without substitutes the players were tiring and demoralised.  Meanwhile RR made a lot of substitutions from their large squad giving all their players a chance to score until Josh scored the consolation-prize of final basket in the last few seconds of the game.

Final Score: 40 -8  to Rebel Razors.

Stats: 
CT: Josh - 4; Karl, Tom 2 each
RR: #40 - 19; #0 (unmarked player, plumpish fair -haired lad) - 6; #42 - 5; #24 - 3; #45, #35, #32 - 2 each; #41 - 1.


Pros and Cons:

First, well done to Josh, Karl, Harry, Dan and Tom for lasting the time against a horde of RR players (and especially to Dan for coming back after injury). But then we've dealt it out to other teams so we can't complain.

Having said that, I don't think these 5 players gelled too well as a team, particularly in attack. When they got the ball they soon lost it. RR were particularly good at intercepting passes, and CT were passing too much and driving too little.

It was going to be a hard game for Cheadle from the beginning with half the squad away, and RR were a better team than expected. But RR do look beatable if you take #40 out of the picture. As they may well be in the final we need to think of ways to keep #40 out of the game!

Cheadle Thunder v Thameside Lightning 9/7/2011 "Storm in a Tea-Cup"

First Half:

I arrived a minute late to see the first basket go to Thameside's burly #52. Not a good start for CT. 

 

Joe and Matt A pulled the team ahead soon after, but Cheadle gave a lacklustre performance for the following 10 minutes. The CT players seemed to hang back,  waiting for the chances to turn up and reluctant to tackle. 

 

TL, on the other hand looked aggressive and played an aggressive game. Luckily for Cheadle they didn't have the skills to turn that aggression into baskets.

With only 5 minutes to go, and with TL tiring, Cheadle finally got back into the game with scores from Joe, Karl and Dan.

Half Time Score: CT - 12; TL - 4

Second Half:

TL came out at the beginning of the half just as aggressive as they were in the first, and CT's response for the first 9 minutes was as weak as in the first half. Again, Cheadle players just didn't seem to want to tackle, or even to get close to their opponents. The ball went up and down the court. Nobody scored. 

 

The match did perk up a bit in the last 10 minutes. TL could not keep up the pace they'd set and looked fed-up at making so little progress. In response, Cheadle attacked with more confidence. In a more open game TL took their chances and made a few baskets, but Josh, Karl and Joe all helped to make the final score look like respectable if not brilliant win for CT.

Final Score: CT-26; TL-11.

Stats:

CT: Joe - 10; Karl - 8; Josh - 4; Matt F, Dan - 2 each.

TL: #52 -4; #53, #50 - 2; #45 - 1. (Yes, the score doesn't add up again, I've missed a basket somewhere)

Pros and Cons:

Not sure why, but CT played a very cautious, defensive game in response to a lot of aggression from TL. The Cheadle defence worked well enough, and TL found it hard to score. But they weren't going to give the ball away either, and Cheadle weren't trying hard enough to take it from them.

TL looked a lot scarier than they were (we only had 2 men off injured after all and neither of them were kicked or punched!). And TL didn't have the skills to match their aggression.  I can't help thinking that CT would have done better by meeting that aggression with a lot more attacking play.

Next time we should aim to take them to pieces. 

 

Highlights

Hard to find highlights in this match but good work from Joe and I think this was a personal best for Karl. And congrats to Dan for his out of the blue basket at the end of the first half.

CT v Southside Vipers 02/07/11 "Red Rag to a Bull"

First Half: The game got off to a flying start with two quick and easy baskets for CT from Joe. SV, one man down from the start, defended poorly against Cheadle's excellent passes and drives. 

 

When they did get the ball Vipers didn't keep it long - CT players were defending as aggressively as they attacked and SV looked increasingly frustrated as Dan used his height and long reach to block passes that would have been safe against anyone else.

 

This left plenty of chances for Cheadle to score with Joe and Matt A both racking up their scores to 8 points before half time.

Half Time Score: CT 22: SV 1 (I think!- see below*)

Second Half:

SV managed to defend for a whole 3 minutes at the start of the half until Joe made the first two points of the Cheadle second-half onslaught. 

 

Then Tom  took the lead in the attack, taking 6 baskets in all including an impressive run of 4 baskets from the 10 minute mark that left the Vipers floundering until they realised it might be a good idea to mark him. 

 

CT defense did fade away a bit in the last 5 minutes of the match, allowing the Vipers, who fought on until the final second, to take the last basket. 

 

Final Score: CT 46: SV 7

Stats:

CT: Tom -14; Joe, Matt F -12; Sol - 8; Matt A - 2.

SV: #7 - 3; #5 - 2.

*Anyone who can count can see that the scores don't add up to a final score of 46:7- I couldn't read my notes! Can anyone correct this?

Pros and Cons:

SV played only four men and started the game at a big disadvantage. But CT didn't take their opponents for granted - which must have been a temptation - and had them under pressure from the start.

Not much to criticise in CT's performance, although I noticed that Andy was warning the team not to crowd together in the key in defence. And at the very end of the match  Cheadle let up the pace; a bad habit to get into, sometimes that last basket will make the difference.

But overall this was a good match for Cheadle with all players really working as a team in attack and defence.

SV's #7 (fast) and #5 (aggressive) are their dangerous players, but the team didn't support them. As a team they were slow to defend and rarely picked up the rebound, making it easy for Cheadle to take advantag.

 

Highlights 

OK I'm biased, but it's got to be Tom (that's my son that is) going on the rampage in the second half. On the supporters bench we particularly liked his last basket - after missing two easy shots and catching the ball on the rebound, Tom finally managed to get it into the basket one handed, while being mobbed by the Vipers and from a crouch facing in the wrong direction. Always the joker!

Safety advice

Viper's kit was a really bright red. Next time, bring your sun-glasses.

Get well soon to Sean

Sean is out of action for a while with his hand in plaster after what sounds like a nasty accident and some surgery. Doctors have advised no sport for 4 weeks. I'm sure the whole team will sympathise with how bored he's feeling, and wish him a speedy recovery.