[15 JAN 10] CRUSADER NEWS

 Leicester Warriors Match Preview

Coventry Crusaders vs. Leicester Warriors

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

When: Saturday 16^th January 2010

Tip Off: 7:30pm

Competition: EBL Division One

By Adam Manning

CRUSADERS guard Stephen Danso believes Coventry need to be more knowledgeable and “recognise the type of team we’re playing against” before heading into games, starting this Saturday evening against third placed Leicester Warriors.

Crusaders also go into the game with the news that centre Will Bastin has left the club due to work commitments, after Head Coach Scott Neely announced it to his players at Thursday’s training session.

Newly promoted Leicester Warriors make their first appearance at the Sports Centre on Saturday after experiencing a rich vein of form, winning six out of their nine games overall despite them suffering back to back losses just recently for the first time this season.

Yet Danso believes that Warriors will pose a similar challenge to that of last week’s opponents Leeds, with the stats backing the 19 year old guard’s prediction that Leicester will carry a similar offensive nature around the basket to their newly promoted counter parts.

The EBL stats show that Leicester has the top two point scorer in the league with Mindaugas Janiska, making 67 per cent of his attempts, while last week’s opponents Leeds have Adrian Fenyn, who put 40 past crusaders last weekend, shooting just behind with 65 per cent. Neither side has a high percentage three point player.

“They’re one of the few teams that we haven’t played yet, but from what I’ve heard they’re not a great three point shooting team either” said Danso when asked if there was any comparisons between the two newly promoted sides.

“I’ve heard they play very physical and have got some big guys that a couple of our players know. But as Scott says it’s not about what they have or what they do, it’s about what we do and what we bring to the game and how we approach it” he added.

Neely’s men come into the game off the back a 32 point loss in Yorkshire last weekend. Yet Danso believes the score line would have been a lot closer if they’d have adopted attention to detail.

“I don’t think the score line reflected the performance” he insisted. “I think we could have played a lot better, they had good inside players and had Adrian Fenyn who scored 40 points. He was 6’5, pretty strong with good moves”.

“They didn’t shoot well from the outside but I think, as the coach was saying; we got beat a lot of the times on defence, closing out players on the perimeter and running at them, and then they just throw a pass. Towards the end the score line blew up but I don’t think it represented how the game went”.

As for what the side could take from the game, Danso indicated that improving upon tactical awareness will benefit the team in the games to come.

“We need to recognise the type of team we’re playing against, because they weren’t a great three point shooting team. So instead of closing out and running all the way at them and letting them go past us, we should have stopped and maybe let them shoot. If anything give them the shot instead of the drive because they weren’t shooting a high percentage, so it’s about knowing the team you’re playing against: what are their strengths and what are their weaknesses”.

Crusaders team expected to face Leicester Warriors:

4 Joe Francombe (guard); 5 John Olinger (c) (guard); 9 Dan Taylor (guard/forward);

10 Simon Payne (guard/forward); 11 Stephen Danso (guard); 

12 Dave Edden (forward); 13 Ryann Samuel (forward); 14 Kane Hudson (guard);

15 Ben Timms (centre/forward).

 

Leicester team to face Crusaders: 5 Mikey Martin; 6 Emile Hopkins;

7 Mark Spatcher; 8 Sloane Francis; 9 Carl Pearson; 10 Mindaugas Janiska;

11 Tom Fowler; 12 Ramiah O’Neill; 13 Nathanael Weaver; 14 Joe Reynoso;

15 Tyler Kathan

 

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