PLAYOFF TIME = BUSINESS TIME
Posted on April 23rd, 2009 by Daniel BajwolukWell everyone, here we go, its Playoff time and we face the Everton Tigers!!
It won’t be easy, especially playing down in Everton in their gym. But to be honest not many people gave us a hope of taking the Tigers on the Sunday just gone, and look what happened. It was only a matter of time that we would get a win and I feel that our recent lack of wins does not truly depict the way we have been playing, all that has been missing is our ability to finish off games.
Let’s look back to the 22nd March when we played the Worcester Wolves at home, we were behind the whole game but made a couple of huge runs that should have seen us win the game. However, some questionable calls by the refs went against us and ceased all momentum that we had to get that game. The following week we played Guildford and we were an inch away from sending that game into overtime against a team that has now won 9 of its last 11 games. The Leicester Riders game was overshadowed by the sparkling shooting display of underrated BBL player Brad Wierzbicki, who has been on fire since returning from injury. We simply had no answer to his barrage of 3 point shots, and to be honest no team has found a way to stop him in recent games, with Plymouth being an exception keeping him to 9 and 12 points respectively in their past two games. The away game at Newcastle was never one-way traffic as we were in it all the way until the 3rd quarter. The final score line was flattering for the Eagles and the game was much closer then was lead to believe, especially considering that the Eagles were playing at home in front of a full arena and playing for the League Title. To this point the Rocks had been playing quite well and beginning to adjust to life without Shelton and Davis, the only thing missing was that all important win and some confidence. I think I can be certain in saying that many people thought that the Milton Keynes game was going to be the game that the Rocks would regain some momentum, get the win and start their run for the playoffs. It was not meant to be and I have to be honest, it was probably the worst performance by the Rocks in the 2008/09 season, but I feel that this game was the turning point for the Rocks, as we had hit rock-bottom. We all had a strong feeling that we would make the playoffs no matter what would happen in the final week of the BBL regular season, but we also knew that we did not want to make it after losing 12 games in a row.
The Sheffield game was a good indicator that the Rocks were back to playing some gritty basketball only losing by 4 and keeping the Sharks to 66 points. The final game speaks for itself and I think relief was the biggest thing to come out of that game. Finally things went our way and we got the win. Understandably, the final game was in affect meaningless in the whole scope of things, it did, however, prove to everyone that the Rocks can still do it, and most importantly I think it showed the players that they can do it, and that they have nothing to lose going into the Quarter Finals on Friday.
You would think that a loss like that may have been a wake up call for the Tigers who have not had the best run into the playoffs winning only 5 of their last 9. One of those games saw them go into overtime, and if it was not for the heroics of Andre Smith then it would definitely have been another loss. Another win was against the Newcastle Eagles, however this was the night after the Eagles had just claimed the League Championship, and we all know how they like to party in Newcastle.
So things have not been going as smoothly as they should for a team like the Everton Tigers who spent big in the off-season to produce a team that theoretically, should have won ALL the Silverware this season. (Hats off has to go to the Eagles who have clearly been the premier team in the league this season)
After the Rocks inflicted a comprehensive defeat of the Tigers on Sunday they will be full of confidence going into the game on Friday in the do-or-die grudge match. The fans will definitely be ready and hopefully we get a lot of them to head down to Everton and make some noise at Greenbank Sports Academy. I know I will be.
GO ROCKS!!!