Round 9 - U15AR Grading Match?
26/04/2008
DC Flamingos 11
LOSS to DC Firebirds 19
Ksenya J was absent and Danielle L (Q1) stepped in to help out for the late arrival of Ebony-Rose P.
A very close game that could have gone either way.
Players were asked to run hard and pass long to open up the play.
DC Flamingos dominated the first 5 minutes of the game but did not capitalise on opportunities. This was critical as the team had been set-up to be more attacking in the first quarter and then try and hold on for the rest of the game. It looked like it was going to work but the goals weren't scored and the opposition managed to grab the initiative late in the quarter for a 4 all score-line.
The rest of the game was very even with the score going 9-10, 13-15 and 14-17 by the quarter with DC Flamingos always just falling an extra goal behind in each of them.
The three-goal loss represents just a handful of ball handling errors mid-court. When the pressure was on to move the ball forward, quite a number of passes were thrown straight out of bounds or to the opposition from centre restarts. Each one is a potential 2 goal turn around and given the way the whole DC Flamingos team was playing could have easily produced a 3 goal win instead. It is the first time that the team has been in a position where scores were close and the game was there to be won.
The team is settling down with players being more and more confident where they are positioned. Defence under the ring is nicely balanced with a height and agility combination. It provides a good source of attack when the ball has been recovered and places more pressure on the opposition shooters to make good their attempts. Mid-court players are improving all the time with eagerness and loss of patience producing some untidiness (as in this game) but always in the interests of attacking play (which is a good thing). Attack under the ring is becoming multi-dimensional with many options being employed, rebounds generating second and third attempts, and generally scoring well (the weekly trend is more goals per game).
Players finding their place in the side with tremendous improvement are Ksenya J mostly WD sometimes GS, and also Erin K at GD. Both are focusing well on the task at hand. But all other players are contributing very well and played fantastic.
As far as losses are concerned, this was a very good one. The team displayed many passages of play that utilised so much more teamwork than has been seen in the past.
An excellent job on the court showing team improvement.