Northants 20 30 54 67
Sharks 27 58 80 93
The first game of a weekend double header took place at Northants Basketball Centre, home of the Thunder. Northants had given the Sharks a scare in the cup Q’Final a couple of weeks earlier so Sheffield were determined to make a statement this time round.
The visitors got off to a slow start however and were making the same defensive mistakes as in the previous meeting, allowing the quick Northants guards to get to the basket for easy lay-ups. Things were looking up on the offensive end however as Henryk showed his strength to register his first points of the contest and improved ball & player movement was leading to open looks for Sheffield.
The 2nd quarter was one in which the defending National Champions showed how good they can be with a little concentration & intensity. The credit for this lies in no small part with Zach Fenech, who came off the bench to ignite a furious spell of defence in which the visitors completely shut down the Thunder for several minutes. Furthermore, the team showed a glimpse of how devastating the offense can be when it is habitual and played at a high pace; there were lay-ups and open jump shots all over the floor as Northants simply could not cover the relentless cutting and ball movement. Josh Adams was doing a stellar job of leading the break with a very nice behind the back pass to Renny being a highlight and Conor & George found their shooting touch. Eventually the defensive intensity led to a few fouls, giving the home side a chance to put some points on the board from the free-throw line. As the half-time buzzer sounded the sharks had played a very impressive period, 31-10.
Despite the half-time team-talk being dominated with instructions not to relax and take our foot off the pedal, this is exactly what happened. Holes began to appear in what had been an impregnable defence that Northants were only too happy to take advantage of. In addition, all the fantastic ball movement that had led to easy scores had now been replaced with too much dribbling and outside shooting. Unsurprisingly, the thunder took the stanza 24-22.
The final period saw more of the same, a drop in intensity slowing things down for the Sharks. There were occasional periods of good play however and Conor continued to shoot the ball well. It all seemed a bit flat however and they quarter finished at 13-13 giving Sheffield a comfortable 26 point win.
To summarise, this was another frustrating game. On the one hand, the first half performance (particularly the 2nd quarter) was nothing short of fantastic, if the boys can play like that for 40mins they will again be able to call themselves the best in the country. However, not once since lifting that trophy has this group played like the nation’s finest or put together a 40min spell of quality & desire. There is no doubt of the potential possessed by this group of players; can we turn it into substance?
Conor Faulkner: 29pts, 7rebs, 7steals
Josh Adams: 23pts, 13rebs, 8assists, 3 steals, 1 blk
George Brownell: 22pts, 10rebs, 2 assists, 1 steal
Renny Nascimento: 6pts, 7rebs
Henryk Krajniewski: 5pts, 5rebs
Zach Fenech: 2 pts, 3rebs, 2 assists
Quincy Kaka: 2pts, 3 rebs, 1 steal
Callum McKenzie: 2pts, 2rebs, 1 steal
Jonni Shepherd: 2pts, 4rebs
Aidan Appleyard: 2 assists
Trent Woodward
Sheu Matewe – DNP - Injury
