From being unsettled by physical tactics and hurt by poor accuracy to being ruthless in attack and sinking almost shot they put up – it was a mixed weekend for the Bathurst Goldminers.
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The Waratah Youth League men's division two away double-header was one Goldminers coach Andrew Osborn knew would present two very different challenges as his side faced a strong Hills Hornets then a weaker Moss Vale unit.
That’s what eventuated as his side fell 98-81 to the Hornets on Saturday but regrouped to better Moss Vale 104-79 on Sunday.
Playing against a Hornets outfit which included a host of top-age players, Osborn’s side were unable to match their rivals’ physical presence on court.
“With their body size and the physicality, that unsettled us more and more as the game went on. They were virtually on the edge of being ejected,” the Bathurst coach said.
“Many of them have not played against a side who plays that style of game, so it was a learning curve.
“Often there would be two and three players on Matt [Gray] and they were all over him like a rash … they were becoming more physical too.”
The Goldminers were also hurt by their shooting, a low field goal percentage seeing them unable to reel in the hosts despite being in the contest when trailing 42-33 at half-time.
“For us it was one of those games where it doesn’t matter where you were on the court, whether you were marked or unmarked, whether you had a clear shot or were pressured – we missed,” Osborn said.
“I don’t think Will [Cranston-Lown] hit a three all game and Matt was missing shots he normally makes with his eyes closed. It didn’t matter who had the ball, who had the shot, they just would not fall.
“By the same token, Hills shot very, very well.”
Granted, Gray still dropped 41 points.
With a short turnaround between games, Obsorn had to rally his players to make sure they came away from the weekend with some reward.
They responded to the coach’s calls, playing a much more well-rounded team game to ensure they posted a comfortable win over Moss Vale.
“Fortunately at the end of the [Hills] game I was able to talk to them and get inside their heads. I made sure that game was not going to impact the way we played on the Sunday. They were down,” Osborn said.
“To their credit, the boys learned from that game and took on board what was done to them on Saturday night and when we took to the court on Sunday, we were pumped.
“Moss Vale won the tip-off and scored, but that was the only time they led.
“We were at 76 at the end of the third quarter and I said to them that I wanted triple figures. They did it.
“We didn’t miss a lay-up all game and there might have only been one or two put-backs that we might have missed, but often there we got the foul anyway.”
