The Midland Masters tournament saw a mixed team of FIMBA +50 and +55 Men take the opportunity for some warm up matches at weekend.
The shooting, passing and transition was a sight to behold as the teams produced some sublime touches, long range perimeter shooting and movement that belied their advancing years….. and that was just the warm ups. However, in the games it appeared that the opposition had shrunk the baskets, the balls had been coated in soap and the players barely knew each other, despite having trained together for the past 12 months.
+50’s Head Coach Des Williams decided to experiment by combining the +50 and +55’s, splitting them into guards and forwards and running full court defensive plays. Both teams finished 1-3 on the day, disappointing considering the wealth of experience and talent in both teams, but the positives outshone the negatives. All the players came through unscathed, fitness levels were good and the team chemistry very positive despite the losses.
When your guards are 3-15 from the floor, you miss open lay ups, lose your assignment and mentally switch off you are going to get punished at any level. Defensively, both teams did a good job and worked hard but if you can’t score it’s all for nothing and we just couldn’t score for some unknown reason.
Des Williams – Head Coach +50 Men
The question was put to Coach Williams that it may have been better to field the teams in their respective slots, could it have been bad planning that caused the losses.
We were never going to go into the competition with a full team. There were some players and teams we will no doubt face at the European Championship so we didn’t want show our hand when there’s no need to. We gained a great deal watching them and how they will play in Italy.
Des Williams – Head Coach +50 Men
Next are the GB Masters where both teams will be in their respective teams for Italy and they hope the baskets return to normal size and the soap is washed off the balls!
