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Throughout our training sessions leading up to Nationals we were very confident that this year’s New Brunswick U17 men’s team was a medal contender. With a win in our final game over our Atlantic Canada rival we would achieve that goal and improve on last year’s fourth place finish.

Unfortunately the bronze medal was not in the cards for us this year as we dropped our final game 83-67 to Nova Scotia.

For the third time in four games we started very poorly on offense shooting only 27% (6 for 22) in the first quarter. This game was even more frustrating than our semi-final game against Ontario because not only were we missing wide open scoring opportunities but many of the missed shots were layups. The saving grace for the first half, however, was our defense which held Nova Scotia to just 17% (3 or 17) in the 2nd quarter.

Nova Scotia led 30-27 at the half but like in the semi-final we headed to the locker room very positive because we knew we were getting good shots. The message at half time was to continue to grind out possessions by getting stops which could lead to transition baskets and eventually the shots will start to fall.

The third quarter was much more like the game everyone expected. Mainly because we started to make some shots and we were able to minimize our turnovers which had plagued us in the 1st quarter. We ended up playing the 3rd quarter even and considering the slow start, everything felt pretty good at this point.

The 4th quarter started much like the 3rd ended with us playing them evenly through the first 5 minutes. Then the wheels came off. Over the final 5 minutes Nova Scotia out scored us by 12 points and many of them came off wide open looks for Nova Scotia big man Alex Carson who finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds.

For the second year in a row we finish 4th in the country. If five years ago you were to tell that I’d be part of a provincial team that finished top 4 two years in the row I would have been pretty excited. I guess I need to keep reminding myself of that. The reality is, however, I’m disappointed that we were not able to win one of those last two games. I felt we were the better team in both games but obviously our opponents earned the right to say otherwise.

To be “disappointed” with a 4th place finish does speak well of where we are as a province. We are producing very talented players who have proven they can compete on the National level. I realize some of the large provinces are unable to field teams that include many of their top players because of popularity of club teams playing on the AAU circuit. But this doesn’t diminish the accomplishments of our teams. Those provinces have populations with millions of more people than we do here in New Brunswick. Heck, they even have cities with a higher population than all on New Brunswick.

This just proves that unless those provinces big their best they can not beat our best.

There was a lot of build up to yesterday’s rematch with Team Ontario. Since our first meeting on Friday they have been playing very well with convincing victories over Quebec (90-67) and Newfoundland (85-70) and looked to be hitting their stride. For us we were coming off an exciting victory over a very strong British Columbia (84-72) squad, and as most people know, had won our first round match-up with Ontario on Friday in convincing fashion.

The biggest challenge for us was finding a way to recover from Monday’s exhausting battle against BC. Tournaments like this are essentially a war of attrition. Not only are you playing day after day for an entire week, but with each step towards a medal game the opponent gets stronger. This means more minutes for your best players and those minutes need to be played at a higher level both physically and mentally.

Yesterday we lost that battle. We hit the wall.

Not to take anything away from a talented Ontario team but we just didn’t have it yesterday. This is very disappointing because we have taken pride in being one of the better teams at Nationals at taking care of the “controllables”. Players have done a great job all week of managing their rest, food intake and hydration in an living environment (university dorm rooms) that makes that a very challenging task.

As the game started yesterday it was obvious it was not going to be a pretty game. In the first quarter we had players missing wide open 15 foot jumpers, traveling on break away layups, and looking very sluggish on defensive. Meanwhile Ontario looked sharp, hitting jumpers from deep and getting easy run outs for layups. The 2nd quarter saw a few god runs but each time we started to look like ourselves Ontario would make another run. We ended the half down 16 points which, considering the way we played, wasn’t that bad.

The 3rd quarter was a little better especially when Ontario’s starting point guard had to leave the game with a sore ankle. With him out along with their starting center on the bench in foul trouble, we were able to go with a small line up who could pressure the Ontario ball handlers full court. This strategy was working perfectly on the defensive end but we still struggled to reward ourselves on the offensive end. As the quarter came to a close we had the led down to 10 points but Ontario ended the quarter with a 9-0 run and we ended up losing the quarter by 3 points. Huge blow!

The final quarter was much the same. We were able to pressure them into turnovers and tough shots late in the clock but each time we failed to get the defensive rebound or convert free throws on the other end. At around the 5:00 minute mark however we seemed to get a little more urgent with our defense which lead to a quick 10-0 run cutting the lead to 70-60 with 2:25 to play.

At this point we have all the momentum. We need one more stop and a quick score to make this realistic. As the Ontario player crosses over center he is trapped along the sideline near the Ontario bench. As he stops and attempts to pivot away from the the double team he clearly steps ACROSS (not on) the sideline. No call.

The Ontario player is able to swing the ball over to a teammate who misses the shot but because we are still scrambling back from the sideline trap they are able secure the offensive rebound. We end up committing a defense foul and they make both foul shots to put the lead back to 12 after taking 25 seconds off the clock. Game over!

Over the last two minutes we continue to fight but can’t make a dent in the led and Ontario wins 74-64.

Today will be a tough day. Last night we got hit with every possible challenge a team can face. We lost of game that required us to grind to 40 minutes. When we return to res the cafeteria is closed and the dorm rooms at 32 degrees with most rooms not having fans. The icing on the cake however is one of our players has food poisoning from eating the bagged lunches that have been a huge issue all week.

But this isn’t the time for excuses. All teams are dealing with the same issues. Bringing home a medal will definitely make it seem much better.

I’m skipping the day #4 update. It was an off day with a players banquet during the evening. Nobody wants to here about that.

Monday was the day we’ve been waiting for since we lost to Manitoba on Saturday. There is no shame in loosing but it was disappointing to following up our opening night victory with a poor performance. With our 84-72 victory over British Columbia yesterday we were able to reestablish who we are as a team.

BC is a big team that is built around a strong low post game. Like most teams here they look to push the ball hard in transition but they primarily run half court sets to isolate their best players on the right-hand low block. Unlike other teams, however, they don’t use pick and roll to accomplish this. Instead they run a number of weak side screens and high-low passes for their paint touches.

This was a major concern for us heading into the game. Most of our guys are not are not great one-on-one low post defenders especially our wings who give up several inches in height to the BC forwards. With that said, our team does have two guys that are excellent paint protectors.

Ethan O’Neil and Gbemi Oguntona, who are only 6’4″, provide us with two low post defenders that are not only agile enough to defend pick and roll, but typically require very little help defending one-on-one in the low block.

Ethan approaches this by giving up his body. He protects the rim by taking charges anytime an opposing perimeter players attempts to drive to the basket and he defends the block by taking away the offensive player’s space. Gbemi is more of a traditional rim protector who plays much taller because of his ability to play above the rim.

Once we were able to establish that we could defend BC’s low post game one-on-one without helping this allowed the rest our team to stay are home on the perimeter keeping everyone in excellent rebounding position.

On the offensive end we were pretty confident heading into the game because of how BC defends ball screens. Watching them on tape we felt there was going to be lots of opportunity for our shooters to get free. We also thought that our smaller 6’2″ wing players would have an huge advantage over the bigger BC wings in transition.

As the 1st quarter began our assumptions proved correct but we didn’t convert. It was much like the Manitoba game as we were getting good looks but the ball wasn’t falling. We ended the quarter shooting only 30% (6-20). Fortunately our defense held BC to about the same percentage (28% on 5 for 18) allowing us to take a 17-13 at the quarter break.

In the 2nd quarter the shots began to fall (9-15 for 60%) including a couple of key threes. As our shooting percentage climbed it opened driving lanes which allowed us to get into the paint and to pick up some fouls on key players for BC. Despite the much improved offense in the 2nd quarter we were not unable to get much separation from BC as they too started to get easier looks. The 1st half end with us holding a 39-31 led.

By half time heat was also becoming a big factor. The temperature on the court was well over 30 and very humid. The physical nature of defending the bigger BC players was definitely starting to have a toll on our team. To compound the problem the venue ran out of ice so there was no ice packs available to help the players reduce their body temperatures as we tried to re-hydrate during the break.

The 3rd quarter was much the same as the second quarter. We were able to get open looks off our ball screens while BC was able to get into the paint for easy baskets. It was a true battle of style and neither team was backing up. BC won the quarter but we still had a 7 point led heading into the final 10 minutes.

As the 4th quarter progressed BC’s shooting percentage had fallen off but they were getting more shots than us either by crashing the offensive glass. BC also started making some defensive adjustments to take the ball out of Jack Tilley’s hands and to take away his open looks off our high ball screen action. But in true team fashion we took what the defensive gave us which was pick and pop for our screener. Ethan O’Neil and Zac Foster both seized the opportunity to knock down a couple of huge three pointers to kill any BC momentum.

Up next for us in Tuesday’s semi-final is Ontario. Game time is 6:00 pm (9:00 pm Atlantic). This is a rematch of last year’s semi-final at Canada Games which we lost by 12. The big challenge for us is recovery. Ontario will be well rested as Monday was their off day. How we mange the 20 hours between these two games will be the difference of playing for gold or bronze.

The high and lows of Nationals. All teams experience them and we’re no different.

Following our Friday night victory over Ontario there was a huge out pouring of positive energy from NB’ers here in attendance and back home following us online and through social media. Given Ontario’s success over the years at Nationals this is understandable but unfortunately led to a little over confidence for us heading into a match-up with Manitoba who were last year’s silver medalist from Canada Games.

Manitoba looks to be a medal contender again this year. They have great guard play and bigs that control the boards and finish extremely well. If we consider ourselves a medal contender this was the game to prove that. Unfortunately that was not the case.

The game started as most do with each team trying to dictate their style of play. For us the focus was on defending the pick and roll that Manitoba uses to get their big men touches deep in the paint. For the most part we accomplished this but on the offensive end we couldn’t knock down some great open looks. The 1st quarter end in a 13-13 tie.

In the 2nd quarter our shooting struggles continued especially since Manitoba was playing exclusively in a 1-2-2 zone. With the guys feeling reluctant to shoot they started to over pass and over dribble the ball which led to live ball turnovers and easy baskets for Manitoba in transition. On the defensive end Manitoba was slowly adjusting to our pick and roll defense which resulted in their bigs getting high percentage shots. As the half came to a close we found ourselves down 13 points and more than a little deflated.

In the second half we were able to find our defensive intensity which led to easier baskets. We also benefited from being in the bonus less than 2 minutes into the third quarter which resulted in the Manitoba big men spending more time on the bench than on the floor. At the end of three quarters Manitoba still had a 51-46 led but we definitely we were back in the game and it was anyone’s to win.

The 4th quarter started much like the 3rd ended with us getting stops and being able to run out for easier scores. In the first few minutes of the final quarter we were able to get their lead cut to a single point but  could never get that key stop or basket to go ahead. As the 4th progressed and Manitoba started to bring back their bigs who had been out with foul trouble, the game slowly got away from us.

In the end Manitoba wins the game by 16 points. We walk away felling like we can play with them, especially when we can get them into their smaller lineup but the challenge is doing a better job at getting their big men to to catch the ball in places they are less effective.

Tomorrow (Sunday) will be an off day for us with the tournament banquet later in the evening. The plan is to support the other NB teams playing important play-in games, scout our next opponent (BC or PEI) and rest our bodies prior to Monday night’s quarter finals.

We’re finally here. It’s game day. Up first…Ontario.

Friday (yesterday) was all about a single purpose. Win our game against Ontario. Considering the Ontario U17 men’s team has not lost a game at Nationals in three years and NB has never beaten Ontario, this could easily be dismissed as wishful thinking on our part. But we had a huge advantage that most NB teams haven’t had in the past….we truly believed we were going to win.

This year’s BNB U17 team has five players from last year’s team that finished fourth. Those five guys want to show that last year was not a fluke and are 100% committed to being the best defensive team again this year.

Once the game started it didn’t take long us to validate our confident mindset. We were able to hold Ontario to 29% shooting for the first quarter plus we won the rebound and turnover battles. And we were just getting started. In the second quarter we shot 69% (11 for 16), were able to turn over Ontario over nine times while holding them to 39% shooting and extended our lead to 51-29 at half time.

As expected our hot shooting cooled off in the second half but we continued to play at a high level defensively to build our lead to as much as 32 points. Unfortunately with about five minutes left to play in the game and up 29 points we uncharacteristically lost our mental focus when Ontario applied a full court trapping zone defensive. The result was several costly turnovers leading to quick uncontested layouts. Fortunately we had built a big enough lead in the first 35 minutes that we were able to limp to the the finish line with a very rewarding 10 point win.

Stanley Mayambo (17 pts), Keegan Gray (15 pts) and Ethan O’Neil (11pts) led us in scoring but we got great contributions several players including Gbemi Oguntona coming off the bench to add 9 pts, 7 rebs and 5 blocks.

Up next is Manitoba who defeated Quebec 70-68 on a last second basket. They are a well coached team and have a couple of big men that control the boards and are effective scorers in the paint. Given our struggles with Ontario’s zone defense and full court pressure in the fourth quarter we suspect we may see a full diet of that on Saturday. Needless to say, that will definitely be “discussed” at practice tomorrow morning!

With the 2014 National Championships about to kick-off tomorrow, I decided it was time to dust off the old Hardfouls blog. Hopefully this will provide those who are following our men’s U17 team a little more info that what we normally try to cram into our 140 character tweets.

This year the talk has been how the tournament is wide open and that several teams look like they have a legitimate chance to advance deep into the medal round. From what we can tell our NB U17 men’s team is one of those teams. We’ve defeated Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Quebec during exhibition play and Newfoundland has defeated Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island. Some of those games were played earlier this summer or without key players, but for the most part all games were close and everyone came away thinking they could win on any given day.

Based on last year’s strong showing at Summer Games we enter this year’s tournament as the four seed. This places us in the “power pool” with Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec. Four strong opponents for sure but we would not have it any other way. Our first two games will have us battled test heading into the medal round and should give us a good indication of where we stand in this year’s field.

Our first game is Friday night at 6:00 pm (9:00 pm Atlantic) against defending champs Ontario. We are definitely not looking past this game. The winner of this game is guaranteed to be one of the top two seeds which normally is a huge advantage in the quarter finals.

Today will be all about preparing physically and mentially for that game. The players will be settling into their normal daily routine and the coaching staff will be reviewing film in preparation for our practice today and tomorrow morning.

Thank you to everyone who have sent so many messages of support over the last 24 hours. We know you’re in our corner. Hopefully this time next week we’ll be heading home with a medal. Go NB!