Playing an eastern conference foe is always a big challenge to begin with because the fight for the top four spots in the playoffs plays a big part in the quest for a championship. We played Niigata earlier in the season and came out 2-0 on that weekend. In both games they pretty much gave us a run for our money. Coming in to this weekend we basically expected the same kind of effort from them and we got it. They had a big crowd on hand to support them; you could feel the energy in the building. In the 1st half they came out with their best punches and really kept us from playing Phoenix style of basketball. In the 3rd quarter we came out with a totally different attitude which was fueled by our coach's dissatisfaction with our effort in the 1st half. Another run by us in the 4th quarter was started by the efforts of Wayne Arnold and Jermaine Dixon. Niigata's final run at the end of the 4th quarter was the reason overtime would have to settle the score. In overtime, we were down by as many as 6 points but fought back like there was no tomorrow and pulled out the miraculous victory in a jam packed gym against a very hungry team.
Game 29: Hamamatsu Phoenix 84-81 Niigata Albirex
Parmer Stats: 11 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal
Parmer reports after game 2:
We squeezed out Saturday's victory by the skin on our teeth. It was crucial that we come out with a sense of
urgency because we knew Niigata would be licking there chops for a victory on Sunday. They knew just as we knew that we didn't play our best game and almost came back to haunt us. The game would go back and forth with many lead changes. We took a 1 point lead after the 1st quarter but they played a well balanced game in the 2nd frame and take a 4 point lead into the half. With us not playing well at all, especially myself in the 1st half a 4 point deficit was as good as it could get for us. The only bright spot in the 1st half was Jermaine Dixon's solid play. Myself, Dzaflo Larkai also known as our man in the middle and Wayne Arnold kept us afloat in the 3rd quarter with numerous buckets. This set the stage for an interesting and exciting 4th quarter. A quarter that was seemingly ours to be had we didn't execute on the defensive end giving up too many easy scoring opportunities to Niigata. This claimed to be the nail in the coffin and defeat was handed to us. Which is something we haven't experienced since mid December when we were defeated by Fukuoka. This week it's back to the drawing board and on to our next opponent.
Game 30: Hamamatsu Phoenix 80-83 Niigata Albirex
Parmer Stats: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
On the road to another championship...
No comments:
Post a Comment