Turnovers killed us in the 1st. The fact that it was 10 of them would've been bad enough, but they were high risk showtime turnovers, which salted the wound.
I wasn't confident of a win in any case, but having Balls out, was massive. Big Red was a stand-out, but there's only so much 1 guy can do. I disagree that he was overplayed, & that fatigue stymied his scoring in the 2nd half. He was either double or triple teamed, & heavily at that. Not that I have a problem with that, it's part of the game. It should've freed up a couple of our guys, but we lacked movement & players wanting the ball in offence. Maybe it was because we had to conserve the 8 players that got court time, or we need to work on getting players open. By contrast, the Cats were perptual motion off the ball, spread their scoring load & utilised more players (got court time).
We should learn from last night, & I'll be happy if that's the case. The fact that we got to within 6 in the last, showed that the guys kept their heads up & played a whole lot smarter in the 2nd half. I have to admit, I wasn't confident about that eventuating at the major break.
Another thing that I was relieved about, was seeing Winnie running smoothly for the night. I had concerns that he may have been shoved back into the line-up in a moment of panic (with Balls' late withdrawal), with the risk of aggravating his ankle injury.
All said & done, it could've been a lot worse. Balls would've been a big part of the practice sessions during the week, but Gastro hits hard & doesn't give much notice.
Anyway, chill guys & the lady, the season ain't over yet.