[09 OCT 09] CRUSADER NEWS

 Taunton Tigers

Match Preview

Coventry Crusaders v Taunton Tigers

Venue: Coventry Sports Centre , Fairfax Street, Coventry, CV1 5RY.

When: Saturday October 10^th

Tip Off: 7:30pm

Competition: Mens National Trophy

 

By Adam Manning

The Crusaders face a team at the Sports Centre on Saturday with contrastive form to themselves, and Coventry captain John Olinger believes the key to ending Taunton’s 100% record, and a set of what he describes as “deceiving” Crusader losses, is to “communicate better defensively”.

 

The home side are looking for their first win of the season at the fourth attempt against a side which achieved back to back National Trophy home wins against Crusaders and Bristol Academy Flyers last weekend, with a comfortable 82-26 National Cup home victory to Bristol Storm preceding it.

 

Yet Olinger, who is two weeks into a ten month stay in England, believes that the team hasn’t been far off achieving a winning display, and is encouraged at the signs of character and attitude shown from the team who have only all been properly training together as a unit for two weeks.

 

“We could have very easily won all three games” said the community coach, who was referring to the Trophy games with Bristol and Taunton, along with the Cup tie at Birmingham Mets.

 

“We were in all the games by the fourth quarter and in the second game we went to over time. So the record’s a bit deceiving, I don’t feel like we’ve played great, but we played hard and we played together and that’s at least kept us in the games so it’s  not like we’re getting blown out or it’s some lob sided loss”.

 

“As we continue to get more time together and add a few different pieces, that’ll help solidify the type of team we are, and this weekend gives us an opportunity to do that”.

 

As for tonight’s opponents, Olinger along with his team mates will know what to expect when they pitch at the Sports Centre at 7:30pm on Saturday.

 

“Taunton does a lot of things really well, frustratingly well” he said.

 

“They executed their game plan really well last week, they played good defence and they ran some good offensive sets so we just have to play better than we did this week and we have to do a better job at stopping the stuff that they run on offence. They got a tonne of easy shots and that’s just going to make the game really difficult giving opportunities close to the basket”.

 

Indeed, in the past three games Coventry have found themselves in the fourth quarter with close mathematical opportunities to win each game, and is something that Olinger says the team’s coaching staff and players alike are looking to address.

 

 “Scott’s been talking to us about consistency, especially as we’re small and so can’t give up offensive rebounds to teams and let them get three of four shots. You won’t win games doing that”.

 

Top scoring Olinger who already has 85 points to his name this season believes this consistency can only be achieved when every team member’s performing at the same optimum level.

 

“I think a lot of it is about collective effort, and what I mean when I say consistency is every time you block out, all five guys have to go and get the rebound”.

 

 “It’s all about defence for us; offence will take care of itself. We didn‘t communicate very well on Saturday, it was a close game 2^nd quarter and then they went on a 15-0 run and that kind of ended up being the difference in the game. If we’d have held them off there it would have been a different game”.

 

Despite their win over Crusaders last Saturday, Taunton head coach Tom Kambouris was critical of his side’s offence and ball retention as the Crusaders fought on in the match, and will therefore be looking for a performance from his side in their first competitive away fixture of the season.

 

“You have to hand it to Coventry, they never relented," he said last Saturday. 

"They really hurt us with their pressure towards the end and made some big shots to keep them in the game.

 

"Although we got the win, for us this was a step back. From now on we hope to achieve better execution as we continue our campaign. Twenty-one turnovers are a big red flag for us. If we do not take care of the ball, we will struggle."

 

The Tigers come to the Sports Centre with a full squad, while the Crusaders will be showcasing two new signings Stephen Danso, who put 18 through the basket at Taunton last week, and Ryann Samuel to take the total squad numbers up to ten.

Scott Neely hopes to bring in a couple of more faces in time for the first league tip off against Bristol on the 31^st October.

 

Tickets for Saturday’s game are £6 for adults, £4 for children, OAPs and students with a valid student card.

Coventry, Warwick or Birmingham students with a discount Splat card obtain entry for £3.

 

Crusaders team to play Taunton: Joe Francombe (guard); John Olinger (guard/captain);

Tim Donaldson (point guard); Will Bastin (guard); Dan Taylor (guard); Simon Payne (guard);

Stephen Danso (guard); Dave Edden (forward); Ryann Samuel (forward); Kane Hudson (guard).

Saturday’s Game…

Saturday night sees the Crusaders’ penultimate game of the National Trophy group games. Coventry has played both group opponents Bristol and Taunton once already, with tonight’s home game with Taunton and an away game at Bristol remaining.

Should Crusaders finish either 1^st or 2^nd in the group, they will go on to face either London Mets, London Leopards or current National Trophy champions Reading Rockets in the Quarter Finals.

Although Coventry has never won the 29 year old competition since basketball came to the City in 1992, they were runners up in the 1995/96 when they lost out 51-64 to Crystal Palace at the Sheffield Arena.

Saturday’s Opponent:

Taunton Tigers Basketball Club has existed for over two decades and is based in the western county of Somerset, and play their home games at the 500 seater Wellsprings Leisure Centre.

They place a strong philosophy of drafting local players in to play in their first team, with their website claiming that the “senior men’s team is made up of 100% local players that have come through the Tigers junior teams and academies”.

They gained promotion to EBL Division One for the 2007/8 season after finishing third in Division Two.

During their first season in Division One they held their own, finishing one place above Crusaders in 8^th place to snatch a play off place, before finishing in the final twelfth position last year with just two league wins out of a possible eighteen.

Tigers are under new leadership this year in the form of American Tom Kambouris, after former head coach Ronnie Heath resigned ironically after the last time the two sides met back in February following eleven straight league defeats.

Recent Form:

So far this season Coventry have played three and lost three, losing to Bristol Academy Flyers and Taunton in the National Trophy and Birmingham Mets in the National Cup, with an average scoring total of 62 per game, whilst conceding an average of 70.

Taunton come to the Sports Centre a 100% record for 09/10 still intact after playing three home games, kicking off with a convincing 82-26 National Cup win over Bristol Storm, before following up last Saturday’s win over Crusaders with a tight 68-67 triumph over Bristol Academy Flyers. Taunton have a scoring average of 77, conceding 55.

Head to Head…

Taunton edge  the past meetings 3-2, with Tigers doing the double in the 2007/8 season, whilst Coventry summoned revenge in style last year by coming from behind in both league games, before Taunton reigned supreme last Saturday to maintain their 100% record for the new season.

The last league meeting saw Coventry miraculously turn around a 20 point half time deficit to triumph 87-84 in over time, with American duo Travis Lay and John Olinger along with Marcin Twierdzinski all on top scoring form for a second half come back, contributing 58 points.

Past Results

07/08 EBL Div 1	Coventry	74-77	Taunton
07/08 EBL Div 1	Taunton	83-74	Coventry
08/09 EBL Div 1	Coventry	87-81	Taunton
08/09 EBL Div 1	Taunton	84-87	Coventry
09/10 NT	Taunton	81-72	Coventry

 

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