U22 European Championships
Adana, Turkey
02 - 11 July 2008

Belgium 62 - Great Britain 53

GB Juniors played their opening game against Belgium earlier today (4^th July) and lost in overtime.

GB had a flying start and went into a 10–2 lead early in the first quarter but could not continue our early scoring form. Then, 7 points from their main player, No. 15, Lorenzo, including a 3, cut the lead & we finished the quarter 12-11 up.

A change of tactics to a press and the second quarter went much the same way with us dominating. We scored well and played great defence, forcing turnovers and rushed shots.

We ended that quarter 16-5 and went in at the half 28-16.

The emphasis in the third quarter was to maintain our defensive pressure and continue to look for good shooting opportunities.

Unfortunately, defensively we gave up easy baskets to No. 15 and some incredible shooting by No. 8 Dimitri brought the Belgians within touching distance. We also lost our shooting touch & the score that quarter was 8-13.

We went into the third quarter with a 7 point lead.

The Belgians went on a run with Nos. 8 and 15, hitting  three 3’s in the quarter with No.8 hitting one from about 5 feet outside the line just before the shot clock buzzer. With a 2 point lead and 1min 40secs on the clock, the game was in our hands. Towards the end, we missed an easy shot, played statues for a second and by that time No.15 had stolen away and scored a lay up to tie the score. We had the last possession with 17secs on the clock and again, missed a good scoring opportunity.

The quarter ended 11-18.

Into overtime and the Belgians scored to take the lead for the first time in the game. Another 3 from No. 15 effectively sealed the game with our shooting form becoming more inconsistent.

We ended the overtime period 6-15.

Final score 53 – 62

Pre-game, we identified the biggest threats as being Nos. 8 and 15 and the need to get to these players early to stop them shooting or at least shoot under pressure. We worked the game plan well in the first half but some poor defence and decision making allowed those two players far too many shots. The aim was to keep them to under 40 points – No. 15 scored 26 (9 in overtime) and No. 8 scored 28 – 54 between them.

Simon Brown was by far our best player scoring 22 points, including two 3’s, one in overtime to keep us in the game. He played the majority of the game and was the driving force in the team. He was also instrumental in collecting numerous fouls against him and had 3 Belgian players on 4 fouls each going into the last quarter including No 15. Some smart play by him and reluctant calls by the referees allowed all their players to stay on the floor and maintain their momentum.

Only Simon and Kyle went to the line for free-throws – Kyle 1 from 4 & Simon, after hitting his first 4 was 6 from 18.

Kyle scored 15 and Lee 12, Nat 2, Tom 2

We play the hosts, Turkey in the next round. They defeated Italy in their first game in double overtime in front of a very boisterous and intimidating crowd of between 750 - 1000 people. We are expecting similar tomorrow.

Haj Bhania - GB Head Coach