Time to regroup: After an 89-80 series-opening loss to the visiting Niigata Albirex BB on Saturday, guard Kenya Tomori, seen competing against the Sendai 89ers earlier this season, and his Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix teammates will look to bounce back in Game 2 on Sunday. DOMINIKA FITZGERALDErron Maxey, a former Providence forward, paced the Albirex with 18 points in 18-plus minutes off the bench. Ex-Texas Christian University guard Nile Murry had 16 points and nine rebounds, while Chris Holm scored 14 points, raked in 14 boards and swatted three shots. Bennet Davis added 13 points and nine rebounds, Shuhei Komatsu scored 12 and Kimitake Sato had 11.The Albirex (28-24 in the regular season) trailed 47-37 at the break, then put 52 points on the board the rest of the way to earn the win at Hamamatsu Arena.Niigata shot 24-for-33 at the foul line; Hamamatsu was 8-for-14.Guided by first-year coach Matt Garrison, the Albirex out-rebounded the hosts 53-43 and grabbed 25 offensive boards.For Phoenix coach Ryuji Kawai's club, which finished atop the East standings with a 37-15 record, 2011-12 Best Five guard Jermaine Dixon had 23 points on 7-for-21 shooting, including 4-for-12 from 3-point range, and nine rebounds. Big man Gyno Pomare contributed 12 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Lawrence Blackledge and Shoji Nakanishi each had 11 points and Jeffrey Parmer scored 10. Kenya Tomori contributed eight points. Best 5 member Atsuya Ota, a backup center, had zero points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal, one turnover and four fouls in 20:05 of playing time.Phoenix standout Wayne Arnold, who was held to 1-for-11 shooting, reflected on the loss in a post-game interview with The Japan Times"They made plays down the stretch and we didn't, bottom line," Arnold said. "We came out of the gate fast in the first half behind a strong effort by Jermaine and Shoji Nakanishi. Gyno also gave us a big lift on the glass. I think we as a team were complaining to the refs too much, although the foul call were pretty uneven in the first half. I think that carried over to the second half."We got out in transition and forced some turnovers. We definitely did that well," he continued. "They made a great adjustment to slow the game down and took away a lot of opportunities that we get by playing fast. In turn, they were able to go inside more and spread the court with their Japanese shooters, who played well. Once the game slowed, I think we lost our aggression and they stole the momentum."Looking ahead to tomorrow, we have to continue to play our brand of basketball for 50 minutes (including the mini-game tiebreaker). We can't just rely on Jermaine to create all of our scoring opportunities. Everyone has to be aggressive on D and on offense. This is playoff basketball, no one is going home without a fight."Golden Kings 71, Lakestars 61In Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, Narito Namizato scored 17 points and Dillion Sneed had 16 on 7-for-10 shooting as Ryukyu defeated Shiga in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series.The Golden Kings, the league's winningest team in the regular season at 39-13, held Shiga to nine fourth-quarter points to lock up the win.Anthony McHenry had 13 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots for the Golden Kings, who shot 2-for-23 from 3-point range. Forward David Palmer, the league's top 3-point shooter in the regular season at 50 percent, missed all five of his 3-point shots, but added eight points and eight boards.Yu Okada scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the first half for Shiga, which finished fourth in the West under first-year coach Alan Westover. Julius Ashby had 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks and Shinya Ogawa added eight points. Ray Nixon had a team-high 10 rebounds.Ryukyu held Shiga to 22-for-70 shooting from the field."Down 0-1 in best-of-three playoff series only motivates me to overcome this obstacle and prevail through adversity," Nixon wrote on Facebook. (We're) not going down without a fight! Tough loss today but we get back at it tomorrow."Hannaryz 64, Evessa 59In Osaka, in a low-scoring, defensive struggle, Kyoto edged the Evessa, who were playing their first playoff game in the post-Lynn Washington era.Jermaine Boyette scored a team-high 17 points for the Hannaryz and Lee Cummard poured in 16 points. Former NBA center Lance Allred (eight points, 10 rebounds) and Taizo Kawabe (eight points) provided key contributions for bench boss Honoo Hamaguchi's club.Kyoto shot 16-for-17 at the foul line, compensating for its 22-for-64 effort from the field. The Hannaryz exhibited patience and poise on offense in turning the ball over only seven times.For Osaka, which had reached the Final Four for six consecutive seasons (three championships) with two-time MVP Washington, whose so-called retirement was announced in April, as the franchise cornerstone, Mike Bell finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Longtime Tokyo Apache star Cohey Aoki scored 13 points in his playoff debut for the Evessa and Wayne Marshall added 12 points and eight rebounds.Though they sank 16 of 18 free throws, the Evessa missed 43 of their 63 shots from the field.
Showing posts with label Defending. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Defending. Show all posts
Monday, May 14, 2012
Niigata prevails over defending champs in series opener
The Niigata Albirex BB had six players reach double figures in scoring in Saturday's 89-80 victory over the two-time reigning champion Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix in Game 1 of their bj-league Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series.Time to regroup: After an 89-80 series-opening loss to the visiting Niigata Albirex BB on Saturday, guard Kenya Tomori, seen competing against the Sendai 89ers earlier this season, and his Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix teammates will look to bounce back in Game 2 on Sunday. DOMINIKA FITZGERALDErron Maxey, a former Providence forward, paced the Albirex with 18 points in 18-plus minutes off the bench. Ex-Texas Christian University guard Nile Murry had 16 points and nine rebounds, while Chris Holm scored 14 points, raked in 14 boards and swatted three shots. Bennet Davis added 13 points and nine rebounds, Shuhei Komatsu scored 12 and Kimitake Sato had 11.The Albirex (28-24 in the regular season) trailed 47-37 at the break, then put 52 points on the board the rest of the way to earn the win at Hamamatsu Arena.Niigata shot 24-for-33 at the foul line; Hamamatsu was 8-for-14.Guided by first-year coach Matt Garrison, the Albirex out-rebounded the hosts 53-43 and grabbed 25 offensive boards.For Phoenix coach Ryuji Kawai's club, which finished atop the East standings with a 37-15 record, 2011-12 Best Five guard Jermaine Dixon had 23 points on 7-for-21 shooting, including 4-for-12 from 3-point range, and nine rebounds. Big man Gyno Pomare contributed 12 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Lawrence Blackledge and Shoji Nakanishi each had 11 points and Jeffrey Parmer scored 10. Kenya Tomori contributed eight points. Best 5 member Atsuya Ota, a backup center, had zero points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal, one turnover and four fouls in 20:05 of playing time.Phoenix standout Wayne Arnold, who was held to 1-for-11 shooting, reflected on the loss in a post-game interview with The Japan Times"They made plays down the stretch and we didn't, bottom line," Arnold said. "We came out of the gate fast in the first half behind a strong effort by Jermaine and Shoji Nakanishi. Gyno also gave us a big lift on the glass. I think we as a team were complaining to the refs too much, although the foul call were pretty uneven in the first half. I think that carried over to the second half."We got out in transition and forced some turnovers. We definitely did that well," he continued. "They made a great adjustment to slow the game down and took away a lot of opportunities that we get by playing fast. In turn, they were able to go inside more and spread the court with their Japanese shooters, who played well. Once the game slowed, I think we lost our aggression and they stole the momentum."Looking ahead to tomorrow, we have to continue to play our brand of basketball for 50 minutes (including the mini-game tiebreaker). We can't just rely on Jermaine to create all of our scoring opportunities. Everyone has to be aggressive on D and on offense. This is playoff basketball, no one is going home without a fight."Golden Kings 71, Lakestars 61In Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, Narito Namizato scored 17 points and Dillion Sneed had 16 on 7-for-10 shooting as Ryukyu defeated Shiga in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series.The Golden Kings, the league's winningest team in the regular season at 39-13, held Shiga to nine fourth-quarter points to lock up the win.Anthony McHenry had 13 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots for the Golden Kings, who shot 2-for-23 from 3-point range. Forward David Palmer, the league's top 3-point shooter in the regular season at 50 percent, missed all five of his 3-point shots, but added eight points and eight boards.Yu Okada scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the first half for Shiga, which finished fourth in the West under first-year coach Alan Westover. Julius Ashby had 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks and Shinya Ogawa added eight points. Ray Nixon had a team-high 10 rebounds.Ryukyu held Shiga to 22-for-70 shooting from the field."Down 0-1 in best-of-three playoff series only motivates me to overcome this obstacle and prevail through adversity," Nixon wrote on Facebook. (We're) not going down without a fight! Tough loss today but we get back at it tomorrow."Hannaryz 64, Evessa 59In Osaka, in a low-scoring, defensive struggle, Kyoto edged the Evessa, who were playing their first playoff game in the post-Lynn Washington era.Jermaine Boyette scored a team-high 17 points for the Hannaryz and Lee Cummard poured in 16 points. Former NBA center Lance Allred (eight points, 10 rebounds) and Taizo Kawabe (eight points) provided key contributions for bench boss Honoo Hamaguchi's club.Kyoto shot 16-for-17 at the foul line, compensating for its 22-for-64 effort from the field. The Hannaryz exhibited patience and poise on offense in turning the ball over only seven times.For Osaka, which had reached the Final Four for six consecutive seasons (three championships) with two-time MVP Washington, whose so-called retirement was announced in April, as the franchise cornerstone, Mike Bell finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Longtime Tokyo Apache star Cohey Aoki scored 13 points in his playoff debut for the Evessa and Wayne Marshall added 12 points and eight rebounds.Though they sank 16 of 18 free throws, the Evessa missed 43 of their 63 shots from the field.
Time to regroup: After an 89-80 series-opening loss to the visiting Niigata Albirex BB on Saturday, guard Kenya Tomori, seen competing against the Sendai 89ers earlier this season, and his Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix teammates will look to bounce back in Game 2 on Sunday. DOMINIKA FITZGERALDErron Maxey, a former Providence forward, paced the Albirex with 18 points in 18-plus minutes off the bench. Ex-Texas Christian University guard Nile Murry had 16 points and nine rebounds, while Chris Holm scored 14 points, raked in 14 boards and swatted three shots. Bennet Davis added 13 points and nine rebounds, Shuhei Komatsu scored 12 and Kimitake Sato had 11.The Albirex (28-24 in the regular season) trailed 47-37 at the break, then put 52 points on the board the rest of the way to earn the win at Hamamatsu Arena.Niigata shot 24-for-33 at the foul line; Hamamatsu was 8-for-14.Guided by first-year coach Matt Garrison, the Albirex out-rebounded the hosts 53-43 and grabbed 25 offensive boards.For Phoenix coach Ryuji Kawai's club, which finished atop the East standings with a 37-15 record, 2011-12 Best Five guard Jermaine Dixon had 23 points on 7-for-21 shooting, including 4-for-12 from 3-point range, and nine rebounds. Big man Gyno Pomare contributed 12 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Lawrence Blackledge and Shoji Nakanishi each had 11 points and Jeffrey Parmer scored 10. Kenya Tomori contributed eight points. Best 5 member Atsuya Ota, a backup center, had zero points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal, one turnover and four fouls in 20:05 of playing time.Phoenix standout Wayne Arnold, who was held to 1-for-11 shooting, reflected on the loss in a post-game interview with The Japan Times"They made plays down the stretch and we didn't, bottom line," Arnold said. "We came out of the gate fast in the first half behind a strong effort by Jermaine and Shoji Nakanishi. Gyno also gave us a big lift on the glass. I think we as a team were complaining to the refs too much, although the foul call were pretty uneven in the first half. I think that carried over to the second half."We got out in transition and forced some turnovers. We definitely did that well," he continued. "They made a great adjustment to slow the game down and took away a lot of opportunities that we get by playing fast. In turn, they were able to go inside more and spread the court with their Japanese shooters, who played well. Once the game slowed, I think we lost our aggression and they stole the momentum."Looking ahead to tomorrow, we have to continue to play our brand of basketball for 50 minutes (including the mini-game tiebreaker). We can't just rely on Jermaine to create all of our scoring opportunities. Everyone has to be aggressive on D and on offense. This is playoff basketball, no one is going home without a fight."Golden Kings 71, Lakestars 61In Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, Narito Namizato scored 17 points and Dillion Sneed had 16 on 7-for-10 shooting as Ryukyu defeated Shiga in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series.The Golden Kings, the league's winningest team in the regular season at 39-13, held Shiga to nine fourth-quarter points to lock up the win.Anthony McHenry had 13 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots for the Golden Kings, who shot 2-for-23 from 3-point range. Forward David Palmer, the league's top 3-point shooter in the regular season at 50 percent, missed all five of his 3-point shots, but added eight points and eight boards.Yu Okada scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the first half for Shiga, which finished fourth in the West under first-year coach Alan Westover. Julius Ashby had 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks and Shinya Ogawa added eight points. Ray Nixon had a team-high 10 rebounds.Ryukyu held Shiga to 22-for-70 shooting from the field."Down 0-1 in best-of-three playoff series only motivates me to overcome this obstacle and prevail through adversity," Nixon wrote on Facebook. (We're) not going down without a fight! Tough loss today but we get back at it tomorrow."Hannaryz 64, Evessa 59In Osaka, in a low-scoring, defensive struggle, Kyoto edged the Evessa, who were playing their first playoff game in the post-Lynn Washington era.Jermaine Boyette scored a team-high 17 points for the Hannaryz and Lee Cummard poured in 16 points. Former NBA center Lance Allred (eight points, 10 rebounds) and Taizo Kawabe (eight points) provided key contributions for bench boss Honoo Hamaguchi's club.Kyoto shot 16-for-17 at the foul line, compensating for its 22-for-64 effort from the field. The Hannaryz exhibited patience and poise on offense in turning the ball over only seven times.For Osaka, which had reached the Final Four for six consecutive seasons (three championships) with two-time MVP Washington, whose so-called retirement was announced in April, as the franchise cornerstone, Mike Bell finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Longtime Tokyo Apache star Cohey Aoki scored 13 points in his playoff debut for the Evessa and Wayne Marshall added 12 points and eight rebounds.Though they sank 16 of 18 free throws, the Evessa missed 43 of their 63 shots from the field.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Defending champion Bruins rise from worst to first after slow start
BOSTON — The Boston Bruins got off to a horrid start to their Stanley Cup championship defense, winning just three of their first 10 games and landing in last place in the Eastern Conference.After an incredible two-month surge, they're back on top."They deserve a lot of credit for that and they worked hard to accomplish that and I think it's important that they enjoy the three days of the Christmas holiday they have," Bruins coach Claude Julien said after Boston beat Florida 8-0 on Friday night for its 20th win in 23 games.It's easy to see why the Bruins have been nearly unbeatable since losing two in a row to Montreal at the end of October.They enter the NHL's three-day Christmas break with the most goals scored (119) and the fewest allowed (63) in the NHL. A recipe for success for any team — not just defending champs.During the Bruins' rough stretch, the players heard complaints and some boos from the hometown fans. They sensed the disappointment and feel as if they've responded with a similar effort that saw them win the organization's first title in 39 years."We were sitting at the 15th spot in October with a lot of criticism on us so we realize that this is a game that things change quickly and oftentimes things change through hard work and that's what I think we did the last two months," forward Gregory Campbell said. "We worked hard, we played our game and we played consistent. It's a tough league. Every night is a battle and every night you have to compete. Wins aren't always going to flow as easily, or not as easily, but I think as pure as they have, but as long as we're competing and playing our game, I think that's our goal right now."The big offensive night against Florida was hardly unusual for the Bruins this season. They've scored six or more goals nine times — eight coming in their last 22 games. Quite a run for a team known for its defense."I think it goes to show that we have probably more talent than sometimes people give us credit for," Julien said of the team's offensive outburst. "We play a good team game, we create our scoring chances and right now our guys are scoring some pretty nice goals."Behind the offense is the top goalie tandem in the league. Both Tim Thomas — last season's winner of the Vezina and Conn Smythe trophies — and Tuukka Rask have goals-against averages under 1.85, making the Bruins the NHL's only team with two goalies allowing under two goals a game. The pair have combined for three shutouts in Boston's last five games and held opponents to two goals or less 22 times this season."It's a big-time luxury. I'm not going to hide that fact. It doesn't matter who you put in net right now, you know you're going to get good goaltending," Julien said."Both guys have been at the top of their game, which allows you to put in one or the other. The other guy gets a rest and the other guy stays sharp. They're both very supportive of that approach and they're OK with it. That just makes us such a better team by having that situation right now. We're extremely fortunate because most teams in this league don't have that approach or luxury."The players talked after Friday's win about how they realize now what it took to recover from the rough start but they hardly seemed content with where they're at, considering that the calendar hasn't even turned to 2012."We're feeling good about ourselves. We're confident, but we can't, we always said it before, we can't be satisfied," forward Patrice Bergeron said. "Now we have a couple days to rest and make sure we get ready for the second half of the season because it's going to get tougher."
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