Tough Loss in Herford

Herford- SV70 90:87

The game in Herford came down to 8 seconds and the best player with the ball. We was not able to get the win, but another good step forward. Sadly, it came at the loss of team captain Thorben Paulsen. Who only played 9:32 second before suffering a knee injury that kept him out the entire game. He will visit a doctor soon to see how long he will be out, but it will be tough playing without him. The team wish him all the best. 

Slow starts continue to effect the guys. We have to start games better to ever have a chance at winning. I think our focus has to be more on defense at the start of games. Too many defensive breakdowns had us down 12-3 in the first 3 minutes of the ball game. We will never have a chance especially on the road against good teams unless we learn how to start games better. In the 2nd quarter we played zone and was able to slow Herford down some. Still mistake on defense cost us big time. We gave up too many open shots to Herford key guys. 

After half time, we still was able to slow Herford down. The bench guys really stepped up lead by Alessandro Spitale, who had his best game of the season. We played from behind the whole game and was always one stop on defense away from taking the lead. Positive is the fight the guys showed, even being down the whole game they kept fighting.

In the last two minutes of the game turnovers costed us at important times. We have to play smarter in key moments, this also will come with time.  The game came down to the last 8 seconds and Jeremy Lewis with the ball. Best situation you want as a coach, your best player with the ball for a chance at over time. This time we came up short, but I am confident he makes that shots 8 out of 10 tries. I have to do a better job as coach drawing up a better offense. We will get better, we need to have a good practice on Monday and play Salzkotten who just came off their first win. Injuries will give guys a chance at more playing time. Positive sign going forward, very excited about the future.

Scoring:

Lewis 31, Spitale 12, Braun 12 Fouhy 9, Kiknadze 8, Bampoulis 6, Paulsen 5, Stockey 4