MyBasketball

Zimbabwe women met Zambia for their second game against each other in the tournament. The first time these two teams met, it was a massacre for the Zimbabwean team as they marched over a Zambian team that could not seem to get the ball into the basket.

Fast forward to the second game between these two teams – going into the game, it was almost obvious that the Zimbabwean team would dominate like they did in the first game, right? Wrong? Zambia started the game and outhustled, outran and outscored the Zimbabwean team 19-14 in the first quarter. That’s more points than they scored in the entire first half in the first game between these teams. The Zimbabwean team was playing their reserves most of the game – none of the usual starters played more than 10 minutes. Read the rest of this entry →

Ladies: South Africa vs. Mozambique

13 January 2011-  The second round between the two teams was another blowout in Mozambique’s favour. They started the game pressing South Africa in a 2-2-1 press and forcing them into early turnovers. South Africa was making the mistake of trying to dribble through the press, and as a result the team made 38 turnovers in the game, with 21 of them coming from their point guards.  This allowed Mozambique to get into their transition game early and outscore their opponents by 37-14 in the first.

The second quarter was much of the same and Mozambique went on a barrage from downtown en-route to making 11 out of 20 attempts from three point land in the game. The South African ladies seemed out of wind, out of sync and vastly overmatched up against Mozambique as they headed into half time trailing 24 -71. An interesting observation was creeping up on me at this stage – Anabela Cossa (6 Mozambique) was yet to miss an attempt in this game – she was perfect from the field. Read the rest of this entry →

Men: SA vs. Malawi

Basketball is a numbers game. 47; that’s how many points Malawi scored in their first game against Zimbabwe. 47; that’s how many points they scored against Mozambique. Malawi came into this game having lost their last two games by a combined total of 96 points. Therefore, fans expected South Africa to come in and tear them up from the beginning, but Malawi had other plans.  They started this game on a 5-0 run and South Africa seemed out of sync to begin it. The first quarter was an unimpressive 9-9 yawner that had fans shifting uncomfortably in their seats wondering what was happening to the South African squad.

Read the rest of this entry →

Ladies: SA vs. Zimbabwe

The highly anticipated matchup between Zimbabwe and South Africa’s women’s teams lived up to its hype. In a game that was the fastest paced so far in the tournament, there was no clear favourite and both teams fought tooth and nail till the final buzzer. This game featured 3 lead changes and 5 times when the score was tied. Zimbabwe started off the game in a man to man defense, and South Africa countered that by running a high screen and roll offense. South Africa’s shots were not in the first 4 minutes of the game, and Zimbabwe got off to a running start, largely in part to 8 first quarter points by Helina Nyagato (8). But South Africa quickly rallied back when Gabisile Ndlangamandla (5) provided a much needed spark off the bench to finish the quarter tied at 15-15. The two teams continued to trade baskets and play stingy defense for much of the second period and the game was tied at 28-28 heading into half time.

Read the rest of this entry →

Ladies: Mozambique vs. Zambia

Day four of the tournament was a hoops-fest featuring two blowout wins and two very tightly contested games. Four games in total, so much basketball to discuss, let’s begin.  Mozambique women played Zambia in what can best be described as a David vs Goliath matchup. In a game where Mozambique had seven players scoring in double figures, and every one of the 12 players scoring, Zambia was overmatched in each and every category. Mozambique had a 55-24 rebounding advantage, grabbing more offensive rebounds (28) than Zambia’s total rebounds. They also record 29 thefts, as this fuelled their transition game. They gave out 34 assists while Zambia only recorded 10, they made 80% of their free throws, converted on about 51% of their field goal attempts and had a decent 29.7% success rate from beyond the arc. Zambia had 50 turnovers, which at this point is a tournament high. In summary, Mozambique torched Zambia for 42 points in the first quarter, which matched Zambia’s final point total. A lopsided victory goes to undefeated Mozambique as they took this one 123 – 42. Stat of the game: Annabel Costa (6) played in only 9 minutes 57 seconds and notched a game high 19 points, along with 2 assists and 2 rebounds.
Read the rest of this entry →