BELLAHOUSTON

Scotland Junior Men hosted a tournament at Bellahouston Sports Centre, 14/15/16 July 2006, involving the junior men’s teams from Ireland, Luxembourg and a Scottish senior men’s select which was mainly St Mirren’s team with guest players, Ronnie Gordon, Scott Russell, Garreth Murray and David Johnston.

Scotland 81 V 83 Senior Men Select

Scotland opened the tournament against a strong physical select team and more than held their own in the first quarter which finished 21-19 in junior men’s favour. However we struggled at the start of the second quarter as the select team hit a couple of big threes and they opened up a gap to lead 45-36. 

We started the second half well with Glascodine proving a handful and pegged them back to 5 points 66-61.

Final quarter with everything to play for we upped the tempo and were leading by 1 point with 6 seconds to go when Garreth Murray hit a 3 pointer from downtown to seal the win for the select.

Top Scorers, A Glascodine 24, A Hornell 21, I Thomas 14, C Cleary 9.

Later that night Ireland beat Luxembourg by 78-63.

Scotland 74 V 80 Ireland

Next day we played Ireland in what turned out to be a terrific game with the lead changing hands several times at the start, Scotland managed to edge the first period 20-17. The second period saw Ireland shooting the lights out from outside as they did not seem able to miss, half time 47-41 to Ireland.

In the second half the Irish continued to shoot well from outside but we managed to hang in and finished the third down 67-58. final quarter we gave it everything we had and managed to get back to within 2 points but every time we got close, Ireland seemed to pull out some big shots. So we lost an exciting game which we could have won by 6 points.    

Top Scorers:  A Glascodine 23, A Hornell & K Scott 11.

The Scottish select continued their winning ways by beating Luxembourg in a very physical game.

Scotland 65 V 81 Luxembourg

Final game on the Sunday saw us face Luxembourg who like ourselves were searching for their first win of the weekend. We got off to a great start to lead 8-2 in the first few minutes of a high scoring quarter which finished 27-24 to Scotland.

Second quarter was disappointing for Scotland with some poor defence to blame half finished 44-40 in favour of Luxembourg.

If that was bad the third quarter was even worse as we conceded 25 points and only scored 13 to trail 69-53. The final quarter was tied 12-12 as both teams looked to have run out of gas and were unable to step up which suited Luxembourg who just ran the game out.

Top Scorers: A Glascodine 22,I Thomas 16, C Cleary 10.

The select team completed an unbeaten weekend by winning against Ireland.

These were our final warm up games before departing for Romania, although there will be further training sessions. After performing really well in the first two games both of which we could have won, the final game was very disappointing, not because we lost but the manner in which we succumbed especially poor defence. Hopefully this was just a blip as we know we can play much better.

A big thank you to the organisers and all the volunteers who made the weekend such a success.

Croatia

Scotland Junior Men travelled to Croatia on 27^th June for a training camp and six competitive games against Croatian National League teams.

Scotland 74 V 63 Opatija

Scotland played Opatija on the evening of their arrival – Tuesday. Opatija is  a junior team who finished 5^th in the Croatian National League.  Scotland made a slow start to this game, possibly due to the travel and the heat.  We found ourselves down by seven points at half-time.  In the second half we picked up the tempo and started hitting shots to win by 74 – 63.  The score sheet is not available for this game.

There was no game on the Wednesday as the team we were due to play had to pull out.  So, we had training in the morning then a scrimmage game at night.

Scotland 61 V 78 Dimp Select

On Thursday we played a senior men’s select team, which included some professionals and one 7’ player, also, one 6’10” player.  We did really well to hang on during the first half and were down 39 – 28, following a point buzzer beater from Dimp.  During the second half we were given a lesson in pressure ‘D’ as we turned the ball over too often to lose easy baskets loosing by 17 points. 

Top Scorers:

A Hornell – 12,

D Sutherland – 9,

K Scott , C Cleary & A Glascodine – 8.

Scotland 72 V 51 Pazin

Friday saw us training again in the morning and playing Pazin in the evening.  By this stage we could see the improvement in fitness and execution as we cruised to lead 39 – 25 at half time against a Junior National League team.  We continued the good work in the second half and ran out easy winners by 21.

Top Scorers:

K Scott  & A Glascodine – 16,

I Thomas – 14,

J Frew – 8.

Scotland 85 V 83 Kraljevica

On Saturday we trained as usual in the morning and that evening we played a senior men’s team from the Croatian National League 2^nd Division.  They had some outstanding 3 point shooters but we hung in well to keep it tight throughout the first half going down 47 – 42.  In the second half we chopped and changed ‘D’ and they had a little more difficulty scoring.  Our boxing out and rebounding was much better in this game and by the end of the third quarter we narrowed their lead to 3 points.  We took the lead for the first time with one and half minutes to go and held on for the win.

Top Scorers:

I Thomas – 28,

A Glasgodine – 21,

K Scott – 18,

A Hornell – 9

C Cleary – 7.

Scotland 73 V 66 Pazin

On Sunday we had two training sessions then travelled I hour by bus to play the return match with Pazin – on their home court.  This was a more difficult game than the first as Pazin shot the ball much better at their own gym.  The lead changed hands several times and at half time it was 35 – 35.  At the end of the 3^rd quarter we had a narrow 5-point lead, but were in foul trouble.  Again we showed our fitness and tenacity to win by 7 points.

Top Scorers:

I Thomas – 19,

A Hornell – 10,

A Glascodine – 8,

K Scott – 7.

Scotland 61 V 70 Dimp Select

On Monday we had our final training session then our last game.  This was a re-match with the only team to beat us on this tour, and a chance to gauge any improvement. We started the 1^st Quarter brightly and trailed by only 6 points.  However, in the 2^nd Quarter we struggled and finished the half down by 39 – 26.  An excellent start to the 2^nd Half saw us reel them in to 3 points, but we tired in the final quarter to lose by 9 points.  It seemed like an improvement but we actually played better in the first game and it appears tiredness played a part after a hard week with training every day and 6 games in 7 days.

Top Scorers:

A Hornell – 13,

A Glascodine & I Thomas – 11,

C Cleary & R Govan – 8.

This trip has been invaluable as part of our preparation for Romania, where we will experience similar conditions and style of play.  The players are a lot fitter and are more aware of their roles in the team.  Also, execution of offences has improved.  We now look forward to games in Glasgow against Ireland, Luxembourg and a Scottish Senior Men’s Select.

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Aberdeen Invitational Tournament 9^th -11^th June 2006

This weekend saw the first of two Home International Tournaments, which we are hosting in preparation for Romania.

Despite England arriving off three separate planes about 8 hours later than we were originally told, Luxembourg sportingly agreed to play re-arranged fixtures against Scotland and England almost back to back thus allowing a full range of competition.

In the first of two Scotland – Luxembourg encounters, Scotland made it hard for themselves by dropping behind by anything up to 15 points in each quarter before bringing the scores back towards parity at each break. When the abrasive Picard was fouled out early in the fourth, Scotland homed in on a win and twice closed to 3 points in the last minute before a late foul allowed Luxembourg to score both free throws and win by 5    (91 – 96) I think

Barely an hour later Luxembourg tipped off against England and did well in the early encounters. There was little to choose between the teams in the first quarter as Luxembourg’s fleet running and co-ordination matched up against their bigger opponents. As the match progressed England’s relentless pressure began to tell and some slick interpassing and athletic ability proved too much for a tiring Luxembourg side. England won by about 20

In the first of Saturday’s games Luxembourg were given some stiff opposition by a Scotland Select comprising mainly Troon and Grampian Flyers men players. The lead changed hands frequently before Luxembourg eventually eased home by 5

The much-anticipated Scotland – England encounter was probably the poorest contest of the weekend. Scotland missed several early bankable chances and seemed to be mis-timing rebound attempts as they allowed England the possession to take a comfortable lead and control the game. Although the Scots improved a bit in the second half, England were too good a side to let a twenty point lead slip away and won comfortably in the end.

On Sunday the Scotland Select went into an early lead against England before the superior match fitness of the English took its toll and they powered to a comfortable victory.

For the purist, or neutral, the best game of the Tournament was arguably the final encounter between Scotland and Luxembourg. Play raged from end to end and Scotland’s rebounding had noticeably improved, Despite some missed chances at both ends, the scoreboard ticked over nicely with neither side able to push more than a handful of points clear. The final buzzer sounded with Eoghann being fouled while shooting from outside the arc with the scores tied. Three free throws failed to drop and we were into overtime. As with the first game Scotland failed to seize the initiative at the start of a period and ended up playing catch-up, falling 3 points short at the end.

On a more positive note, the weekend was a useful team- building exercise and the standard of opposition prepared our players for what they are likely to encounter in Romania. The logistics held together with team members being transferred from home–hosts, B&B, 2 Match Venues,  2 Training Venues, Airport, Train Station and BBQ without losing anyone.

I think everyone enjoyed the BBQ where the assembled company failed narrowly in an attempt to eat 200 Burgers.   100 Sausages and 70 Baked Potatoes. Appetites revived however as Fiona was nearly bowled over in the rush when she mentioned that puddings were almost ready.

The Teams and Coaches all got on well together despite the language difficulties. Within the England team alone I noticed “Scouse”, “Mancunian” and “Norf Landan” dialects being spoken and the Luxembourgois spoke French, and German as well as their native tongue. Their Coach Kreshmir Basic (pronounounced Bachik) Coached in English but blasphemed in Croatian or any one of a dozen Balkan Languages and even the Troon Drawl, the Weegie Whine and the Doric Bleat were subsumed in the universal language of Basketball – Even the refs were tolerated.

We must thank all our hosts who provided accommodation food and transportation for the Scottish and Luxembourg Teams, and particularly Anna who teaches at Tom Clark’s School who, with some help from her two dogs, looked after four of the Luxembourg boys and became the team’s unofficial Mascot and spokesperson.

In turn, I would like to thank all the boys (and Coaches) for behaving so well. All the feedback I have had from Hosts and B&B owners has been positive and it is refreshing to note that you are all worthy representatives of your countries, both on and off the Basketball Court.

Finally Thanks to all those who made the Tournament happen:  

The Referees (Whose performance was praised by at least one visiting Coach early in the Tournament)

The Table Officials from Aberdeen Grammar School and Beacon Basketball Club + Mrs Bald & Josh

And Tom Clark, Jack McLaren and the other Scottish Coaching Staff.

Fiona and I enjoyed our wee bit too.

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