[24 JAN 10] CRUSADER NEWS

 John Olinger Match Reaction

By Adam Manning 

CRUSADERS captain John Olinger spoke of how his side are reaping the rewards of adding much need height to the squad after “having some fun” during his top scoring tally of 33 in the 110-93 home victory over Tees Valley Mohawks.

Coventry executed their third straight home win last Saturday to move into the eighth and final play-off spot after scoring their biggest tally of the season, with three out of their four victories so far this term taking double-digit status.

Reflecting upon Saturday’s game which wasn’t short of three point field goals with seven to the captain’s name, Olinger said: “We shot the ball really well as a team, and I felt like we battled back and battled throughout the game a bit more, and it was nice to just work together a bit more and having a second game together with Matt Smith before we play Reading”.

“Tees Valley played hard and they made shots, but thankfully in the fourth quarter we were able to space the score out a little bit and get the victory”.

“I think a lot of guys had good performances tonight. If I’ve scored 33 that’s great, but even if I score five and we win, that’s what it’s all about. Tonight with the way Tees Valley were playing it I got some good looks knocking the ball down, so I was having some fun”.

One outstanding factor for Olinger in the team’s recent success, which now stands at four wins in six after a ten game barren spell, is two of head coach Scott Neely’s recent additions that he claims are “huge signings” for both the team and individual members.

On no less than three occasions against Mohawks was Crusaders’ Matt Smith able to instantaneously pop up on the offensive rebound to enable Crusaders to fully capitalise on three point attempts from Olinger himself and Stephen Danso. Not to mention impressive boxing out by Smith and 17-year-old centre Ben Timms, who also closed out the game for Crusaders through a two point lay up.

“We’ve gone through our growing pains where we’ve been struggling a lot because we were just one piece away from completion” explained the EBL Division One Free Throwing leader.

“We were just smaller than most teams, and the additions of Ben Timms first in November and then Matt Smith coming in January have been huge in terms of not only lifting the pressure off me, but guys like Dan Taylor and Dave Edden who had to mark the biggest guys on the other team”.

 “So in that sense we’ve been able to progress a lot because of the new guys and people are starting to fill into their roles, so I feel like we’re hitting our stride and so hopefully we’ll take advantage of some of these future opportunities to get better and work towards that play-off spot we spoke about” Olinger added.

Crusaders’ away form is in stark contrast to results at home, and Olinger believes the right attitude is the only thing that will see them change their ways.

“We’ve had some close ones on the road where we just pulled out” he said.

“To me it doesn’t make much difference whether we play home or away, although tonight it was wonderful to have a turn out crowd and have supporters who cheer when we play great, but when the game’s executed the court doesn’t matter, it matters what we bring”.

Crusaders’ next home game is on Saturday 6^th February at 7.30pm where Olinger & Co. will be looking to cause an upset against table toppers Derby Trailblazers.

                               

  Main Menu | News | John Olinger Match Reaction   24 JAN 2010