BBL Trophy: Mersey Tigers 90 Cheshire Jets 78

Oct 2 2010 by Alec Doyle, Chester Chronicle

A FRUSTRATED Paul Smith is still searching for the magic bullet that will cure the Cheshire Jets' inconsistency after seeing his side lose for the third game in four, killing off their slim hopes of progress in the BBL Trophy.

After the derby game against Mersey Tigers last night the coach blamed a sporadic performance and the lack of a commanding voice on the court for the Jets' ongoing difficulties after they struggled to keep up with the in-form Tigers at the Echo Arena.

As the game got underway it looked as though the Jets were prepared to take the fight to the Tigers, knowing they needed to overturn a 21-point deficit to win the head-to-head and also knowing they needed to deliver a strong performance for the travelling Jets fans.

Quemont Greer and Jeremy Bell were causing all sorts of problems at one end for the Jets, keeping the score ticking over, but the problems were at the other end, as loose marking and a lack of concentration left the defence open to keep the Tigers in the game.

With seasoned pros like Tafari Toney and Andrew Sullivan to contend with that would have been bad enough, but Tony Garbelotto has James Jones and Andrew Thompson on hot streaks as well and the Jets began to fall off the pace, trailing 25-21 going into the second period.

Despite head coach Smith's instructions the defence did not tighten up and no matter how many points the Jets put away, the Tigers matched it and they began to extend their lead.

Some impressive three-point shooting from Bell -who finished with a game-high 31 points - helped keep the scores close enough and Matt Schneck seemed to take on board the importance of defence, placing his body on the line to block out and collect as many rebounds as possible, but he needed more support.

The second half may have been different if a buzzer-beating shot from downtown by Bell had been allowed, but despite the fact the ball left his hands half a second before time was sounded, the referees bizarrely ruled it out, robbing the Jets of the chance to carry some momentum into the third period.

Having conceded 53 points in the first half the Jets trailed by 13 and had a mountain to climb but they set about their task diligently, finally taking on board the need for a tighter defence.

But as they did that they suffered at the other end, as for some reason their scoring touch dried up preventing them from closing the gap enough.

They outscored the Tigers 16-12, the only time in the game they did but they couldn't catch their hosts. In the final quarter after a game where the Jets seemed to be punished by the Tigers and the referees, the score got away from the visitors, leaving Smith with plenty to think about as he prepares for tomorrow's opening BBL Championship fixture against the Essex Pirates at the Northgate Arena.

"The refs weren't great but our problem was defence," he said. "We were poor in defence in the first half. We conceded 53 points in the first half but 12 points in the third quarter when we actually played some defence.

"Unfortunately when we got those stops we weren't hitting our shots at the other end and we didn't close the gap really but you have to play for four quarters and we haven't done that yet this season.

"Getting guys focused and playing intense for 40 minutes is always a challenge especially when you've got quiet guys like this and we're challenging them for somebody to step up and be a leader on the court and they're all a bit quiet so I'm having to do a lot of that.

"We have to make it a habit that whenever you cross that floor you play intense, that's what they do."

Smith also highlighted that the Tigers fitness was demonstrably better than the Jets, something which shone through towards the end of the match.

"Their fitness is still superior to ours you can see that they're much fitter and stronger than us. I thought we gave them more of a game than last time and with a couple of breaks it may have been closer but we had lost it by half-time.

"The guys are definitely putting the work in in the week. They came out in the third quarter and I was really proud of the effort and I think if they had been able to put a few shots down the score may have been closer."

Next up for the Jets are Essex Pirates tomorrow as Smith begins perhaps his most important quest - to bring the BBL Championship back to Chester.

"The Pirates always come out and play hard. They've got this all-English thing, this underdog thing going on and they play you hard every single minute of every single game and that's our problem at the moment, we didn't play hard.

"We have to put that right. It's a good opportunity to put it right. We need to bounce back. The Tigers have shown they are one of the best teams around and we need to not dwell on it too much but learn the lessons and come out firing on Sunday."