England To Play for 3rd, Future Stars 2011 Day 2 Recap

England were left battling for third place at Future Stars 2011, after losing to Slovenia 93-63 in their semi final today at Brunel University, Uxbridge.

Despite England putting in their best performance of the tournament so far, the Slovenian side were just too strong, displaying some crisp ball movement and superior outside shooting to book their place in the final.

Speaking to Hoopsfix after the game, England Head Coach Steve Bucknall said:

“First couple of quarters I felt we dictated the game with our hard defence and collective work on the offensive end, but we just couldn’t sustain our intensity and let ourselves down mentally. That’s a Division A team, we knew it was gonna be difficult but my concern now is injuries.”

Looking ahead to their third place playoff tomorrow, Bucknall wants to see his shorthanded team focus on tactics:

“Netherlands beat us already, but we have to be mentally prepared to tackle tactics. We’re not gonna blow anyone out the water, that’s quite obvious, we’ve lost some of our better players, everybody knows that. We’ve lost, probably, 75% of our scoring, so it’s going to be down to tactics, determination and a collective team effort.”

In the other semi-final of the day, London United-Harefield Academy caused a huge upset as they beat the Netherlands 70-69. Down for most of the game, and trailing 58-43 going into the final quarter, LUHA went on a 15-0 run to bring themselves right back into it tied at 58. With LUHA up 1, 65-64 and little time remaining, Netherlands Head Coach Roijakkers lost his cool receiving a double technical and getting ejected from the game.

Despite the momentum shifter, Netherlands were able to stay in it, and go up one, 69-68, after an Averink basket with 7 seconds to play. LUHA called a timeout, and somehow on the next possession Ryan Martin managed to get to the basket and make a tough layup putting LUHA up 70-69 with 3.7 seconds left.

With one last possession remaining, out of a Dutch timeout, they managed to inbound to their big underneath the basket who was inexplicably fouled whilst shooting by LUHA with 1 second left on the clock. He went to the line and crumpled under the pressure, missing both as LUHA ran out victors.

That means the schedule for the final day (Sunday) is as follows:

11.00 – Sweden vs USA Select (5th/6th place game, 2nd leg)
13.00 – England vs Netherlands (3rd/4th place playoff)
14.30 – Teenage Cancer Trust Celebrity Game
15.30 – Slovenia vs London United-Harefield Academy (Final)
17.00 – Closing Ceremony

Future Stars 2011 Day 2 Full Results & Leading Scorers

Game 1
Sweden beat USA Select 99-70
Scorers: Sweden-Borg 33 (7 threes), Andersson 16, Schuszler 12/USA Select-Bond 21, Bell 17, Riddick 14
Game 2
London Utd Harefield Academy beat Netherlands 70-69
Scorers: LUHA-Ryan Martin 23, Caylin Raftopoulos 12, Matthew Don 9/Netherlands-Averink 13, Schilder 14, Hammink 12
Game 3
Slovenia beat England 93-63
Scorers: Slovenia-Rupnik 15, Osolnik 15, Dimec 12, Skerbec 11/England-Josh McGinn 13, Jamie Batish 11, Simeon Esprit 11, Jack Crook 10, Raphell Thomas-Edwards 8

Notes

• England starters: Josh McGinn, Simeon Esprit, Harry Turner, Raphell Thomas-Edwards and Zak Wells.
• England have some serious injury concerns with Ross Wilson, Elliott Sentance and John Stewart all sitting out today already, only to have Josh McGinn pull his hamstring just before halftime and sit. Jamie Batish is also nursing a knee injury .
• Bucknall said after the game he was hoping to have final team selected by tomorrow, but now due to injuries is unsure and will depend on the prognosis of who will be fit for the Europeans.
• Point guard Josh McGinn had 13 first half points and 3 assists against Slovenia before having to leave the game with a hamstring injury. He looked solid and handled the Slovenia pressure without trouble.
• Jamie Batish, who has not been with the team for the first two games, made a big difference in his return to the side, giving them a scoring option they have sorely lacked.
• Sweden’s Tobias Borg had the performance of the day as he finished with 33 points whilst draining seven threes against USA select (all in three quarters).  He shot a ridiculous percentage, all while making some nice dishes and playing solid defence.
• Highlight of the day was USA Select’s Jaylen Bond taking flight on a fast break over a helpless Swedish defender.
• I don’t like to harp on about referees, but the refereeing was the worst I have ever seen in my life. No exaggeration.

Did you attend? Thoughts?