KS Start Dobrodzien - sekcja koszykówki

Michael

Div 2 Men - Durham stay perfect, Brixton beat Warriors in scrappy game
Tuesday, 03-Nov-2009

By Dave Ryan

Durham Wildcats 86
Mansfield Giants 75

Durham Wildcats made it eight straight wins in all competitions with a tough 86-75 home win against Mansfield Giants.

The north east side began brightly with a 7-0 start, including a three from Scott Morton, and followed that with a 10-2 spurt including two more scores from the Land of Plenty putting them 17-4 ahead.

Giants player/coach Dan Richards hit back with a three only for the home side to score the next two baskets. With all five starters having contributed points the Wildcats were good value for their 13-point lead at the first break.

The visitors increased their defensive intensity on the restart and though Durham scored first to lead 25-10, seven unanswered points by the Giants hauled them back into contention and with Michal Ciesla beginning to find space, Mansfield had pulled right back to 32-29 going into the final minute.

The home side held on to take a three-point cushion into the locker room at the half, but their comfort zone had disappeared, with only Michael Davies (with six of the Wildcats' 11 points in the quarter) making an impact at the offensive end.

Durham continued to struggle against Mansfield's physical pressure in the third quarter, as the visitors levelled the game at 39, but a Paul Elderkin trey prevented the visitors from getting their noses in front.

With the Giants' defence concentrating on keeping the Durham shooters from getting time and space, Welsh international Anthony Trigg began to take advantage of the room that opened up under the basket. As his teammates found him with fast and accurate passes Trigg racked up a steady flow of points to keep the Wildcats ahead - despite eight points from Ciesla.

When the Wildcats scored the final five points of the third period they gave themselves a crucial seven-point advantage to take into the final stanza.

Mansfield continued to threaten, with Ciesla hitting 13 of their next 16 points, but the Wildcats held on with two treys from Morton and one by Tolis Apostolidis helping them to stay ahead 77-70 approaching the final two minutes.

Maintaining their defensive pressure was paying dividends for Durham, but it was also resulting in a mounting foul count. Despite having three players on four fouls however, they kept their nerve and composure down the stretch, to eke out an eleven-point victory.

Scott Morton led the Wildcats' scoring with 24 points with Trigg adding 17. Michal Ciesla led all scorers with 32 for Giants, with Richards adding 16.

"That was a tough game," commented coach Dave Elderkin. "We began well, playing good defence, which brought the usual dividends on offence, but we lost our way a little bit in the second quarter.

"We showed good character under pressure in the third quarter, and once again the bench players made a significant contribution. I was particularly pleased for Anthony Trigg; he always works hard and it's good to see that bearing fruit.

"We'll continue to draw lessons from each game, and work on cutting down on errors, but we're pleased with the club's best-ever start to a season, especially as we've just stepped up a division."

EBL2 Standings
1. Brixton T..............2-0
2. Durham W............2-0
3. Glyndwr N............2-1
4. Northumbria ........1-1
5. Plymouth MC........1-1
6. Birmingh.A's ........1-1
7. Edmonton S..........1-1
8. Birmingh.U...........0-1
9. Westminster W.....0-1
10. Mansfield G.........0-1
11. Medway Park C...0-2

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Michael

Giants get first ever Div 2 league victory

Mansfield Giants gained their first ever win in national league division 2 at their second attempt of asking, beating Medway Park Crusaders 88 – 80.

Injury and commitment to the under 18’s programme restricted the Giants to making the 3 ½ hour journey to Kent with only 7 fit players. However in contrast to previous weeks, they got off to a fast start with leads of 8 – 2 and 14 – 6, on the back of 8 points from Michal Ciesla.

In the 5th minute Ciesla picked up his 2nd foul and had to go to the bench. This seemed to spur the Crusaders on and 15 points in the quarter from James Harris and Tom Raymen ensured they kept in touch with Mansfield.

The game was close through the first 25 minutes. The visitors started the first quarter better as their star shooting guard Michal Ciesla had six early points as the visitors got up 14-6. Crusaders quickly pulled it back to 21-21 behind James Harris and Tom Raymen three pointers, as Ciesla had to sit down with two early fouls.

The downside for the Giants was that Ciesla picked up his 3rd foul of the game on a questionable charging foul with only seconds remaining in the quarter, which would see him take no further part in proceedings in the first half.

Each team traded baskets for the first few minutes of the second quarter and Canadian Brad Smith was starting to look dangerous for Kent contributing 9 points in the period.

Despite this, a combined 13 Giants points in the quarter from Coach Dan Richards and forward Sheraz Hussain ensured that, despite momentarily losing the lead midway through the period, it would be the Mansfield who would go into the half time break with the lead, albeit by the slenderest of margins at 43 – 42.

Whilst the Giants had played reasonably well on the whole in the first half it was in the 3rd quarter that they broke the game wide open. It was nip and tuck again for the first 5 minutes until a 16 - 3 run gave them their biggest lead of the game. They played some brilliant basketball during this spell. Their passing and movement was slick at one end and the defence was stifling at the other. Dan Watts in particular stood out with 8 points in little over 1 minute to start the run.

It meant that the game had gone from 51 – 51 to 67 – 54 to the Giants at the end of the third quarter.

Ciesla picked up his 5th and final foul in the first minute of the final quarter, again on a charging foul, which left the Giants with only 6 fit players, and with Centre Ben Coy, who had manned the middle so admirably, on 4 fouls himself Mansfield were going to have to play conservatively and smartly to ensure victory.

They did just that. No matter how hard Kent tried the Giants replied with baskets of their own. There was no need for anything flashy. Sensible controlled basketball was asked for by the coaching team and the players delivered.

Paul Kelly picked up 9 of his season high of 21 in the final period to steer the Giants to their first ever victory at this level. Kent got as close as 5 with 21 seconds remaining but there was no way Mansfield were going to let this game slip. Free throws from Tom Griffiths and Kelly iced the win for the Giants with the final score 88 – 80.

Scorers: Kelly 21, Watts 17, Richards 15, Hussain 12, Ciesla 10, Griffiths 8, Coy 5

Michael

Double defeat for the Giants

Birmingham A's 101-76 Mansfield Giants

Published Date: 17 November 2009
By Submitted Report
IT was double defeat for Mansfield Giants in basketball's National League last weekend as the men surprisingly lost at home to Birmingham A's while the women lost their top of the table home clash with Stockport Lapwings.
It was a second defeat in three games at this higher level for Mansfield's men as they went down 101-76 at home to a side they had comfortably beaten in the Patrons Cup earlier this season.

So there may have been on element of complacency about the Giants as, after a nip and tuck start, they allowed Birmingham to take a stranglehold and never looked back.

It was a bad day at the office as free throws and outside shooting failed to drop and it was also clear that new signings Eric Ntumba, from the Congo, and English-USA dual national Matt Martin have still to settle in.

Giants failed to push the ball inside to the new boys, being used to a guard-orientated game.

Josh Rolls-Tyson added 15 points and 8 rebounds for the visitors with Sobczak hitting 11, while Dan Watts led Giants with 16 points, 9 rebounds, with Milambo hitting 11, and Ciesla scoring 11 points and 6 rebounds.

They will hope for better away to the A's Brummie rivals,. Birmingham University this weekend.

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Michael

Men bounce back

Published Date: 26 November 2009
By Submitted Report

Giants triumph over Birmingham University

Mansfield Giants got back to winning ways after last weeks disappointing showing against Birmingham A’s. This week’s opponents Birmingham University had previously been beaten by Mansfield in the National Shield, and although they sat winless at the bottom of the table prior to this encounter, have improved significantly since the 2 clubs met in September.

The Giants made changes to the previous weeks starters and entered the contest with Tom Griffiths, Dan Richards, Dan Watts, Eric Milambo and Ben Coy taking the floor. It was a moved that seemed to pay dividends with 4 of the starters finding their way to the basket to earn an early 15 – 9 lead after 5 minutes. Recent signing Milambo then badly twisted his ankle and left the game and did not return for the remainder of the contest.

It was a blow the Giants would take on the chin. Ciesla, Kelly and Elland left the bench and continued the strong showing contributing 13 points between them in a 15-2 end to the quarter that extended the lead at the end of the first quarter to 26-11.

Point guard Tom Griffiths decided it was time he entered the scorebook and 6 quick points from him plus a fast break lay up from Coach Dan Richards extended Mansfields lead to 19 points at 34-15.

It would be the biggest lead of the game and the remainder of the half petered out into stalemate with the Giants always keeping Birmingham at arms length distance. At the half time break Mansfield enjoyed a 15 point edge over their opponents with the score 42-27.

What a contrast it was defensively to seven days ago. The defensive effort was visibly greater and there seemed to be much more emphasis on the team ethos which has won the team numerous encounters in the past.

Whilst the half time team talk was filled with praise and encouragement there was still work to be done in this game. Birmingham are Coached by former England Basketball Coach of the Year Pete Mintoft, and he ensures his teams battle to the very end regardless of the score.

The first 7 times down the floor at the beginning of the 3rd period all ended with Giants turnovers due to a combination of sloppy passing and questionable offensive foul calls. It was a good job that the shackles were being firmly kept on at the defensive end otherwise Birmingham would have been right back into this game. As it was when Ciesla finally got the second half scoring underway for the Giants with a fast break steal and lay up in the 4th minute of the second half, Mansfield still retained a 13 point lead.

Birmingham to their credit continued to battle back though, and even reduced the deficit to 7 points briefly. As it was the lead was still 10 points at the end of 3rd quarter with the score at 58-48 despite the greater efforts of the University side.

The 15 point lead was quickly re-established at the start of the 4th quarter as once more strong effort on the defensive end meant that the Giants opponents were held scoreless for over 4 minutes.

It was a contest that with all reality Mansfield never looked like losing and numerous foul calls meant that a lot of the 4th quarter was played out at the free throw line. When the final buzzer went Birmingham had made slight inroads to the score but honours were firmly with Mansfield and they took the game with a score of 74-63.

Make no doubt about it this was a vastly improved effort from the Giants. Slight spells aside there was a renewed sense of team effort on both ends of the court. People were making the extra pass on offence and had the Giants converted on some of their easier missed attempts the scoreline would have been far more punishing for Birmingham Uni.

Leadings Giants scorers: Ciesla 18, Kelly 11, Elland 10, Richards 9, Griffiths 8, Watts 8, Coy 6, Martin 2, Milambo 2

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Michael

Troszkę statystyk (W skład statystyk wchodzi także puchar ligi)

Tabela aktualna po ostatniej kolejce:
(Dla wyjaśnienia, drużyna z Colchester wycofała się na tydzień przed rozgrywkami ze względu na to, że sponsor się wycofał. Angielska Federacja Koszykówki nie zdecydowała się uzupełnić miejsca tej drużyny ze względu na zbyt krótki okres)

Tom

Dobrodzień jest na 6, Masfield na 8. Ciekawe, która drużyna skończy rozgrywki wyżej???

Michael

Michael

Giants maintain winning run

Team Northumbria 71 Mansfield Giants 84

Both teams entered the contest with similar records, but it was the Giants who made it 3 wins on the bounce, and with it climbed to 4th in the table in their inaugural National League Division 2 campaign.

It was the hosts who made the brighter start to the game, taking an early 13-6 lead, as Mansfield failed to get into any sort of rhythm on either end of the court. That lead was extended to 9 by the 7th minute when Valentin Golchev hit his 2nd 3 pointer of the contest.

Mansfield trimmed the gap slightly by the end of the quarter but Northumbria still maintained a 5 point lead with the scores at 25-20.

Whilst the Giants had started to score with increasing regularity as the quarter progressed they were not stopping the home team on the defensive end, and 25 points in a quarter is too many to give up to any opponent.

A 10-2 run in the first 4 minutes of the second period saw Mansfield take their first lead of the contest at 30-27. The Giants had finally woken up and were now playing some excellent defence, and when they do that their fast break game becomes immeasurably more effective. Mathew Martin, Dan Richards and Paul Kelly all converted easy chances by running the floor hard and receiving simple passes close to the basket.

Northumbria rallied slightly to retake the lead briefly but the teams went into the half time interval with the scores tied at 38-38.

The visitors started the second half much livelier than they started the first and a 12-2 run with baskets from 6 different players saw them build a 7 point lead early on. Northumbria’s only answer appeared to be in the form of 6’8 German Centre Nils Steuber who scored 9 points in the quarter to keep them in with a shout.

There was to be no doubt as to the highlight of the game though, a steal at mid-court by Coach Dan Richards was emphatically finished with a 2 handed tomahawk slam dunk. He then proceeded to steal the ball again and connect with a 3 point attempt on the next visit down the floor. Remarkably this was the first 3 pointer of the game for the Giants.

Again Northumbria showed they intended to put up a fight as a 7-2 run of their own meant that they were right back in the game trailing by only 5 points with the scores at 56-61.

Steuber then tried to make it a real fight as he got into a pushing match with a number of Giants players as they returned to the bench for the break between quarters. The end result was a technical foul against him and it was to his 4th personal foul, which would curtail much of his 4th quarter involvement.

Northumbria continued to rack up the fouls at the beginning of the 4th quarter, and it was a good job that the Giants were on the way to their best free throw shooting performance so far this season as they did not connect with a field goal for the first 6 ½ minutes, until a Ciesla lay up broke the shooting slump. Much to the credit of the Giants defence though was that during this run they maintained lead the whole time.

The gap was reduced to 4 points with just less than 4 minutes remaining when influential Northumbria captain, and Welsh international, Chris Pearce hit his only 3 point basket of the night.

Martin then responded with a strong driving move to the basket to score the 10th of his season high 12 points. Again the home team hit back with point guard Ian Berry scoring and the Mansfield lead was cut to 4 again.Dan Watts then spotted up in the corner to hit Mansfield’s second and final 3 pointer of the night to ice the game for Mansfield. Northumbria were forced to foul to stop the game clock but the Giants coolly slotted home their last 6 free throws before Ciesla laid the ball in the complete the nights scoring, with the game ending Northumbria 71 – Mansfield 84.

There were a number of positives for the Giants. Ben Coy and Mathew Martin both put in strong individual performances and scored season highs with 13 and 12 respectively. Defensively they looked strong in the last 3 quarters and only conceded 46 points, and at times their running game was crisp and efficient.

Leading Giants scorers: Ciesla 15, Richards 15, Coy 13, Martin 12, Milambo 10, Kelly 9, Watts 8, Hussain 2, Griffiths dns, White dns.

Moje rzuty:

Statystyki po meczu:

Tabela wraz z fazą Play-Off

Tom

Gratulacje, nam idzie trochę gorzej.
Chyba przeniesiemy się do Szkocji, bo gramy w kratkę.

Kazik

... tak, załóżmy sekcje dla sprawnych inaczej i przenieśmy się tam wszyscy

Michael

Storm warning as Giants' run ends

Published Date: 14 December 2009
By Steve Baxter
Mansfield's three game winning streak came to an abrupt end at the hands of their north London opponents on Saturday night, as Edmonton gained revenge for last season's play-off quarter-final loss to the Giants with an 83-74 win.
Like Mansfield, Edmonton were promoted from Division Two and went into this encounter having won half of their initial six league encounters.

It was the hosts who started the brighter with Eric Milambo hitting the first four points of the game before Edmonton's midweek new signing from BBL club Essex Pirates, Joe Matthews, replied with a mid range jump shot to get the Storm off the mark.

Mansfield settled for the outside shot on lots of occasions in the first quarter but did manage to hit four three pointers in the period with two from Dan Watts and one apiece from Michal Ciesla and Mathew Martin.

It was enough to give them the slenderest of advantages going into the break 20-19 to the good.

Martin extended the lead to three to start the second quarter before nine straight Edmonton points took them into a lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the game.

To make matters worse for the Giants recent acquisition Eric Milambo badly twisted his ankle shortly after scoring his sixth point of the game and would take no further part in the night's events.

Edmonton then exploited the gap left with Milambo gone as the second of Leon Bernard's two big dunks gave Edmonton their biggest lead of the game at 37-28.

Paul Kelly responded with a baseline three-pointer followed by two Ciesla free throws to narrow the deficit to four, before Matthews and Tayo Odulaja sandwiched another Ciesla deuce to give Edmonton a lead of six at the half time break with the scores at 41-35.

Ben Coy heeded the coaches' request for greater effort to start the second half and hit back to back shots to make it a two point game.
But confident Edmonton to hit the next nine points, whilst holding the Giants scoreless in the three minutes that followed.

Kelly and Ciesla again combined to score the next four points and Mansfield were still in the contest only being down seven points with 15 minutes remaining.

The last thing they wanted therefore was for Edmonton to go on another run.

This time an 11-2 effort gave them a 16 point lead, which would be their biggest of the night at 61-45.

Mansfield again refused to give up the ghost and held their opponents to only two points in the six minutes straddling the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth.

This allowed them to trim the gap back to nine.

It should have been much closer. The Giants had hit seven out of eight free throw attempts in the game up until this run, when they missed seven out of 10.

When Ciesla completed a three point play to bring the gap down to seven with over five minutes still to play the momentum appeared to be with Mansfield.
Guard Leigh Cascoe then hit Mansfield with a dagger through the heart with back to back three pointers for the Storm and their lead was back out to 12 points.

A Mike Elland three pointer, the only one of the second half for Mansfield, was the start of one last big push with Cielsa and Kelly adding another four without reply.

However with time running down the Giants were forced to foul and Edmonton kept their nerve and hit 10 out of their final 11 free throws.

It was a frustrating display from Mansfield as, quite often, their play was sublime.

However the stats don't lie and they shot a poor 7 out of 26 from three point range and 11 out of 21 from the free throw line.

A 29 combined points in the second and third quarters is also short of what is required to win consistently at this higher level.

The positives were that they out rebounded and had less turnovers than Edmonton.

Giants scorers: Richards 18, Kelly 11, Ciesla 10, Coy 9, Watts 8, Milambo 6, Martin 5, Elland 3, Griffiths 2, Hussain 2.

This Saturday Giants travel to Wales to take on the Glyndwr Nets, who currently sit level with Mansfield in joint fourth with an identical won four lost, three record.

The game is at Plas Coch Sports Centre in Wrexham with 5pm tip-off.

Michael

Giants fight back to seal dramatic Welsh win

Published Date: 22 December 2009
Mansfield Giants were victorious in their final game of the year with a hard fought 80-76 away win at Glyndwr Nets.
The Giants started brightly, with intense pressure, defence and fast break lay-ups, gaining a 22-15 lead after their first period.

The second quarter, however ,was much different.

The Giants seemed to relax a little defensively, allowing the home team to creep back into the game.

The Nets' zone defence frustrated the Giants who had a nightmare quarter, trailing 47-33 at the half.

The Giants now had a mammoth task in front of them as the Nets continued to cause problems for the visitors, gaining a 19-point advantage.

The Giants went back to their pressure defence which saw the Nets struggle to get any kind of rhythm and the gap was now closed to 63-50 to the home side.

Mansfield started the final period with a very fast line up. And within the first two minutes the lead was slashed to just five points.

With the momentum with the Giants and the Nets' fitness deteriorating rapidly, the Giants went into the lead for the first time since the first period and continued on to snatch a superb 80-76 away win.

GIANTS TOP SCORERS: D. Richards 18, B Coy 17, M Martin 16. P Kelly 12, M Ciesla 12, D Watts 8, M Elland 5, T Griffies 4,

Tom

Rewelacja, oby tak dalej!
Widać, że nasz Michał robi kawał dobrej gry w swojej drużynie.
Pozdrawiamy i życzymy jeszcze lepszych wyników w roku 2010.

Michael

Po raz pierwszy opisze Wam naszą drużynę:
Alex Denholm - młody talent jest w kadrze anglii do lat 18 - 193 cm wzrostu - poz. SG
Benjamin Coy - center - 208 cm, 28 lat - w przerwie między sezonami gra w football amerykański - niesamowity walczak, mistrz od "czarnej" roboty Wink

Daniel Watts - Niesamowity talent ma zaledwie 22 lata - może grac na każdej pozycji od SG, SF i PF... 200 cm wzrostu, zawodnik kompletny, bardzo wszechstronny, bardzo dobry rzut z dystansu, zajmuje czołowe miejsce w lidze pod względem skuteczności rzutów za 3 punkty 48% - Grał w szkole średniej w Stanach w Kalifornii, a jego brat rok temu był MVP w najwyższej lidze w Anglii.
Michał "Mic" Cieśla - 191 cm, pozycje SG i PG więcej nie będę opisywał bo znacie Wink

Kimputu "Eric" Milambo - Pochodzi z Kongo. Od niedawna w drużynie, świetny nabytek. Zaledwie 197 cm jak na PF ale bardzo silny - niesamowity walczak, olbrzymie doświadczenie. Świetny zawodnik, obecnie prawdopodobnie najlepszy gracz naszej drużyny. Niestety od początku boryka się z drobnymi kontuzjami. Być może nie jest wysoki wzrostem, ale nie do zatrzymania. Grał przez wiele lat w najwyższej lidze w anglii. Grał w reprezentacji Kongo do lat 18 swojego czasu, obecnie 27 lat.
Martin Richards - wielki walczak, 202 cm wzrostu, od początku sezonu boryka się z kontuzją
Paul "PK" Kelly 192 cm wzrostu - bardzo skuteczny rzut z dystansu i pół-dystansu. 23 lata.
Daniel "Ned" Richards - 186 cm, 28 lat - główny trener, rozgrywający - grał w kadrze Anglii do lat 18, grał w najwyższej lidze Angielskiej, Jeden z najlepszych zawodników drużyny. Niesamowicie pracowity, Bardzo dobry wzór do naśladowania. Niesamowite rozumienie gry.
Mathew Martin - Podwójne obywatelstwo Amerykańsko/Brytyjskie. Od niedawna w drużynie. Kolejny wielki młody talent - 203 cm wrostu - PF/SF - urodzony w stanach zjednoczonych i tam spędził swoje całe życie, po sezonie niestety wraca na studia do stanów bo ma zaledwie 19 lat!!!!! Zawodnik kompletny, świetny rzut z dystansu, dobre rozumienie gry.
Sheraz Hussain - Kolejny młody zawodnik w druzynie 19 lat - 193 wzrostu, bardzo waleczny, i mimo tak niskiego wzrostu świetnie radzi sobie pod tablicami.
Aaron White mimo że w koszulce zawodniczej - jednak jest to nasz 2 trener (trener od przygotowania fizycznego). To przez niego umieramy na maszynach w silowni, bądź też na sali przy różnego rodzaju programach treningowych... Duża wiedza na temat wysiłku fizycznego...
Mark Boot - jeden z najstarszych zawodników w drużynie - 32 lata, gra na pozycji PF/SF, po dojsciu 2 nowych zawodników praktycznie już nie pojawia się na parkiecie.
Zostały jeszcze 2 wichry do opisania:
Thomas Griffiths - Rozgrywający 182 cm, Super szybki zawodnik, Dobrze podający, Świetnie czytający grę, Rewelacyjny obrońca!
Michael Elland - o dziwo przy swoim wzroscie gra na pozycji SG - 186 cm - Wicher na boisku... Pojawia się na boisku pod koniec pierwszej kwarty bądź na początku drugiej. Wolna ręka odnoście rzutu, jest jak "Jocker w rękawie".. jeśli mu wpada jest nie do zatrzymania i gra długo... jeśli nie to po kilku minutach gry schodzi na ławkę na której często i siedzi do końca meczu Wink

- Superszybki, Bardzo celny rzut za 3 ptk... Super obrońca!

Na zdjęciu brakuje Steve Baxter - jest to kolejny trener - on jezdzi na mecze drużyn przeciwników i przygotowuje rozwiązania. Trener od taktyki.

W drużynie był jeszcze jeden wysoki zawodnik 209 cm - Dave Passmore, Bardzo doświadczony zawodnik który grał przez kilka lat w 1 lidze. Niestety klub z nim się rozstał ze względu na nierzetelne podchodzenie do treningu.. (a tak na poważnie to omijał sporo treningów w okresie przygotowawczym - najpierw dostał ostrzeżenie, później ultimatum - nie wywiązał się, i znowu nie pojawił się na treningu i ku zdziwieniu większości klub podziękował Dave'owi. Teraz obecny jest w większości naszych dowcipów Smile

)

Tom

Ha, pięknie.

No to teraz ja analogicznie powinienem napisać coś o naszych zawodnikach.
Ale może zrobię to w prima aprilis, bo z moim podejściem do takiej sprawy teraz nie byłby to odpowiedni czas.
Pozdrawiamy!