Seriously Social: Generic Team

With the dreaded bye occurring the previous week, the Generic Team was keen to get back into action hoping to seek redemption for the previous game draw. This two-week break was increasingly difficult due to information being leaked about the prior draw. After talking with the team scorer and going through the scores and video, it was found that a few of our points were missed, which meant that the Generic Team should have won… which was a bitter pill to swallow, and one that made the team more excited and motivated to play their match up against the SE Melbourne.

In yet another frosty 9:30 match, the cold proved little hindrance on the teams opening minutes. With back and forth action both teams were eager to assert their dominance early. The Generic Team started with a typical strategy, letting one player score all the points. ‘Pete’ started at a blistering pace scoring the team’s first 7 points using a combination of silky ball handling and footwork to weave his way through the opposition to score or gain free-throws on every drive. A few close misses at the line meant his skill and hard work wasn’t translated onto the scoreboard, and allowed for SE Melbourne to weather the storm and stay in the match. 7 – 8.

With teamwork being a visible focus for the Generic Team after the opening minutes, passing and off ball movement created significantly better looks for all team members. This created more scoreboard pressure and an even spread of scoring, with first gamer ‘Joldy’ back from his overseas holiday headlining the long-range barrage that the Generic Team used for the remainder of the half. While many shots fell, the bigger bodies of the SE Melbourne allowed for many misses on both ends to be punished, and kept proceedings close. It was the end of the first half. 19 – 17.

The second half began with a slower pace, as defence seemed to be an area of focus for both teams at the break. No more open looks for either team, meant that scoring had to be earned by each team. The Generic Team used their newly energised defence as their main source of offensive with some timely steals and deflections by ‘Lawless’ resulting in a few easier opportunities for the team. With a breakout game for ‘Geron’, who over the span of 5 minutes couldn’t miss a shot, the game was starting to break open and looking to be all but over for SE Melbourne. 28 – 20

With either overconfidence or complacency, the Generic Team seemingly flipped a switch and stopped applying all the pressure and hustle that was pivotal in building their lead. A few sloppy passes and lapses on defence gave the opposition a new-found hope, and the momentum leading into the closing stages. No matter what was tried, the Generic Team couldn’t buy a basket, and things were looking bleak. This was until ‘Roo’ decided to single-handedly take over the match. Having previously teased glimpses and flashes of brilliance and dominance throughout the opening matches, ‘Roo’ hadn’t yet sustained this for large stretches of a match. Whether it is due to his team oriented approach or lack of opportunity, it cannot be determined, but whatever was holding him back… was gone.

Every possession was a one man show, with contested jumper after jumper flying straight through the net. This scoring outburst helped to overcome the errors that were seen by other teammates and didn’t allow the opposition to get within 4 points. A few Generic Team players seemingly tried their hardest to lose the match, with ‘Geron’ attempting to catch a ball with his face (the damage was only minimal – only minor nose surgery needed). With all the ups and downs of the match, the final whistle was blown and the match over, the Generic Team were victorious 39 – 32.