[13 OCT 09] CRUSADER NEWS

 Head Coach - 'View From The Bench'

By Adam Manning

Coventry manager Scott Neely was happy with his side’s progress against Taunton Tigers at the weekend, but says his side need to learn from their costly mistakes quickly.

“From what we put out on court, the energy we put out, and how the guys were working together, I was really happy with that” enthused Neely.

The Crusaders took the lead eight times in an absorbing match and failed to hold on to a six point lead with fifty seconds left in over time, which left the head coach rueing some of his side’s possession of the ball.

Reflecting upon the game, he said: “It’s about taking advantage when we get the momentum, when we get the defensive stop to take advantage at the other end, and not take a shot that is maybe giving the ball back. If you make it, great, but if we’re not making them work defensively then we’re not taking the best advantage. By taking the quick early shot, that then feeds right into getting momentum back for them and so it swings back and forth”.

Neely will also be hoping that his side’s youngsters learn from the pressurised atmosphere of grinding a result out in time for the start of the league campaign, a factor he believes determined tonight’s result.

“Towards the end we had three 19 year old guys out on the court, and this is the English First Division, so sometimes they haven’t been in those situations. They have maybe in junior ball, but this is different. So, if we don’t have a few of these turnovers here and there, then we win the match”.

Stephen Danso turned on the style during his home debut, top scoring with 28 points, and scoring more than the entire Taunton side in the third quarter.

“Stephen has been great” said Neely. Who feels like he has found a prolific danger man.

“Last week was the first time I’ve seen him play in a match, and to see what he brought, and then I was wondering, “how can I, as a coach, get him into those positions where mentally he’s going to be on track?”. As we work through different executions offensively, how we can slot him into the mix, to see him attacking the basket and playing some good defence, so I’m really happy with how he’s been playing”.

The boss also stressed that the matches played in the early stages of the season will benefit the team when the league season begins in just over two weeks time.

“We’re building towards the league start. I don’t look at it as “well, the league starts and if we don’t win a match then we need to change everything”. We’re setting foundations in right now”.

Those foundations are expected to take a step further to completion this week when Neely revealed that he’s hoping to add an eleventh member to his squad.

“We’re looking to add somebody this week, so we’ll see how we can slot him in, and see what he brings to the table” .

                               

  Main Menu | News | Head Coach - Match Reaction   13 OCT 2009