PNBHS Premier vs High Flyers
On Wednesday night our boys brought their billets from New Plymouth to watch our team play in the Men’s Premier League. The game was a great example of what happens when your mind is not 100% engaged with the task at hand as opposed to when it is.
The first half had the men from High Flyers capatialising off our distracted performance in the first half by dribbling through our defence and creating opportunities that would never usually be on offer against our team. The first quarter saw us trailing by one point, 22 – 21. At quarter time the question was raised to the boys, is this all you have? Is this the performance you want on display that demonstates individual effort and collective responsibility?
The second quarter was marginally better, but it still felt that we were playing warm up style basketball. We were going through the motions as a team, though we were seeing a bit more grit from a few players to turn the tables at the end of the first half, leading 43 – 42.
The boys were left to have their own discussion at half-time. Both Captain and Vice-Captain made it clear about the changes that needed to be made on defence. Coaches Terry and Sonny re-enforced the need for a better level of engagement, commitment and individual contriution to the team effort. Whether it was the talk or just the fact that it took our boys half of a game to play at the level we are used to seeing them at, but the 2nd half showed a more consistent display of the level of basketball we are used to seeing.
Our boys endured some heavy handed defence at times, copping a couple of bruises in the process, but they demonstrated resilience and played with a lot more assertiveness, finishing the quarter up 70 – 53.
Our final quarter performance was also a good performance as a whole, but periods of incosistency remain a work on. The final score was 93 – 69 to PNBHS.
Our boys did what needed to be done so that there was a decent amount left in the tank for their big game against New Plymouth Boys’ High School.
Thank you to our Premier A basketball sponsors
