A Bad Feeling of Deja Vu

Versus Roche earlier this season.

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  Deja vu of the worst kind. For the second week in a row, my team led the majority of the game only to lose in the final minutes. Not a very good tendency to have: losing leads late in the game week after week.

  I don't even know where to start or how to explain what happened. Last week vs. Armentières we led by 11 points with 5 minutes to play in the game, and lost by 4. We turned the ball over constantly down the stretch, and essentially gave the game away as well.

  This past Saturday against Le Havre, we led by 5 with a minute to play and lost by 2. I always have a general feeling (during the game) about what aspect of the game hurt us the most. Versus Le Havre, I knew they killed us on the boards. They got countless second (and sometimes third) scoring chances. Statistics don't lie: we gave up 18 offensive rebounds, and Le Havre out rebounded us 43-28 as a team.

  Coaches all around the world will tell you if you get out-rebounded that badly, or turn the ball over too many times, chances are you're not going to win the game. It's an unwritten rule of basketball: you give the opposing team 'extra' scoring opportunities (through turnovers or offensive rebounds), you will lose. That adage has not failed this season.

Tip off versus Armentières.

  They keep an interesting team statistic here called 'time with the lead'. After our last two games, it's a pretty painful stat to look at. On Saturday we led for almost 31 minutes of the game. Last week against Armentières, we led for almost 33 minutes.

  Obviously, the only real statistic that matters is who is ahead when there are zeros on the clock. No matter how well you play throughout the game, it means nothing if you don't finish. So that's where we are right now. We play well in spurts, but aren't able to finish.

  I think our team has the potential to be really good, and that's what is the most frustrating right now. You look at our record, and you say we could/should be 4-2, not 2-4. But with basketball there are no 'shoulds'. All that matters is who wins the game. We didn't perform when we needed to, so we didn't deserve to win. Here's to hoping we are done saying 'coulda, shoulda, woulda' this season.

  Back to work! ~ Sabrina