The Fog Across the Mersey: The City and The Arena
Sunday started slow in Liverpool. It was a cold, foggy day, with the remnants of last night’s Halloween parties still lingering around the city. It started to feel like winter was finally arriving, but the afternoon breeze blew away the fog and the city began to liven up. The Makers Market on the Albert Dock and the final night of the River of Light brought people out in droves. The basketball tipped off just half an hour before the LFC versus Arsenal game started, which also ended in a loss. This overlap means our new franchise is already writing its own chapter in the city’s deep sports history, making this North West derby against Manchester (seen on adverts as “Spanc the Mancs”) even more important. Inside the M&S Bank Arena, it was great to see some immediate improvements. The broadcast camera has finally been moved central after being noticeably off-centre in our previous home games, and they are making much better use of the big screen to show replays. A smaller scoreboard at the opposite end would still be a welcome addition along with floor designs, but things are definitely moving in the right direction.
First-Half Battles
Both sides had a slow start on the court. Nick Stampley made his debut and was a playmaker from the start. While there was some slight miscommunication, that is completely expected after having only one day with the team, but maybe not the total 12 TOs across the team. James Okonkwo started the fastest, fighting hard for the rebounds and throwing down a lovely alley-oop slam. It was also great to see Ling back on the floor after missing Friday’s game against Cheshire, shooting well from beyond the arc and playing solid defence. We brought good defensive pressure early, but we struggled to fight over screens at times. A lengthy delay following a technical foul on Smith for pushing cancelled out an ‘and-1’ opportunity and completely killed the momentum. Despite starting the second quarter with a lead, our transition defence fell apart again, forcing a timeout. We also struggled to get Matthew MacLellan the ball in the paint even when he was wide open; however, he looked a little unsure with his handling. Despite a sluggish end to the half where both sides were unproductive on offence, some great three-pointers from our big men kept it to a two-point game. However, shooting a poor 50% at the half from the free-throw line certainly did not help.
A Frustratingly Familiar Script: Third-Quarter Struggles
The second half brought a frustratingly familiar theme: we simply struggle in the third quarter. Stampley had a hard time getting into the flow of the game, and our overall scoring slowed down significantly. We managed to put together some good offensive sets, but it was only enough to keep pace with Manchester. The real issue was on the other side of the ball, as we just could not get enough stops on defence to close the gap and towards the end of the quarter we lost pace and fell to 10 behind.
Too Little, Too Late: The Fourth-Quarter
We had more energy in the fourth with some great driving plays and 3-point shots, but we did not really find our way back into the game until Manchester ran into foul trouble late in the fourth quarter, handing us multiple free throws. Pat Robinson was a menace, racking up 24 points and 7 assists while refusing to miss from the line in the fourth. On the other end, Okonkwo (6 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks) and MacLellan (5 rebounds) were absolute rocks on defence. Just like our ‘Fright Night’ loss on Friday, we found our fight right at the end, but it was another frustrating case of too little, too late. We fought back to within a single point, but being forced to foul to stop the clock led to the 85-91 final score. Those late tactical fouls only highlighted a glaring disparity on the night: we shot just 13 of 16 (81%) from the free-throw line, while Manchester enjoyed 30 trips, making 23 (76%).
My Player of the Match: James Okonkwo (I really enjoy his facial expressions)
