The Kent Crusaders are looking to rebound from a disappointing loss at Colchester when they visit the two Plymouth clubs Cannons and Raiders.

The Crusaders are currently seventh in the table with four wins and four losses while the two Plymouth teams are just above and below, with the Raiders in sixth and Cannons in eighth place.

The task is made harder by an injury to Danish big man Soren Sorensen, who injured his ankle at Colchester and will not be able to play.

GAME INFORMATION

Sat. Dec. 20 at Plymouth Marjon Cannons (College Of St. Mark & St. John) – 7.00pm

Sun. Dec. 21 at Plymouth Raiders 2 (YMCA Kitto Centre) – 1.00pm

BROADCAST INFO
Live web gamecast: No gamecast available

SCOUTING Plymouth Marjon Cannons

The Cannons have an identical record to the Crusaders at four wins and four losses. After starting the season with three losses they have since won four of the last five games.

Cannons are led by ex-Raiders player Jean Wakanena, a lightning quick guard, and Matt Peard, a strong forward/guard.

To beat the Cannons the Kent side must control Wakanena’s and Peard’s scoring, and make sure that Cannons don’t get too many second chances off of rebounds, as they have good size inside.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Crusaders played Cannons in the pre-season Patrons Cup, and the 80-62 win was the club’s first ever win in the city of Plymouth.

In that game the Crusaders came out of the gates fast, as Robbie Parker’s seven points in the first three minutes helped open up a 10-4 lead. The Cannons quickly levelled the game, however, behind four foul shots and a Deng Deng basket.

The short run was stopped as Crusaders captain Pete Ayling spotted Danish newcomer Soren Sorensen near the basket and threw a perfect pass at the rim for a thunderous alley oop dunk. From there the guests went on a 37-15 run that lasted to the last minute of the second quarter. Despite the Cannons scoring the last point of the half the Crusaders could go into the break with a comfortable 47-26 lead.

Soren Sorensen scored the first two points of the second half for Crusaders, but then the hosts managed to put on a nine point run, as Crusader standout Simon Mitchell was awarded three fouls in the span of 90 seconds and had to leave the game.

The Plymouth run was eventually stopped as Crusaders veteran Steve Findley hit a two pointer and a tough three pointer under pressure in the fifth minute of the third. From there the Crusaders build the lead back up to 64-42 behind Parker’s outside shooting and some tough Sorensen drives to the basket.

In the fourth the hosts got as close as 13 with three minutes left but the Crusaders calmly finished out the game to take a 80-62 win back to Kent.

SCOUTING Plymouth Raiders

The Raiders 2 team bought in a new American coach, Tom Kambouris, along with new signings Jamie Burchell, Solomon Ojapah, Saul Rodgers and Lee Taylor at the start of this season. Initially the team struggled for a few games, but as of late the discipline Kambouris has installed on the team seems to be doing wonders.

The team plays more disciplined than in previous seasons, and are relying heavily on ex-British Basketball League standout Jamie Burchell. Burchell is a strong inside player, who does the brunt of his damage from 1-6 feet from the basket.

To beat the Raiders Kent must disrupt the Plymouth offensive flow, and especially try to keep the ball out of Burchell’s hands.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The two teams met in the Patrons Cup when Kent travelled to Plymouth and beat the Raiders in a game that was close until the fourth quarter when Crusaders closed out the game well and won by 14, 87-73

The Crusaders started the game well as they went up 14-4 behind two Mitchell 3-pointers and three Soren Sorensen baskets. Plymouth’s Jamie Birchall didn’t let the visitors run away with, however, and scored 7 unanswered points to bring the hosts within two. This became a familiar pattern in the first half as Kent got up by 5-10 points before Plymouth, led by Birchall, made a come-back. In the end the first half ended all square, 39-39.

Birchall scored the first two points of the quarter to bring raiders within 1 but from there Crusaders took over with a 26-7 run. Robbie parker did most of the offensive damage in the run as he had 16 points in the fourth quarter.

“Robbie played great on offence”, said Olesen, “but at the same time everybody were clamping down on defence and stopping Plymouth from doing what they wanted to do. Mike Webber and Soren Sorensen were able to keep the ball out of Birchall’s hands and that was another key to winning the game.”

This entry was posted on Monday, December 15th, 2008 at 1:47 pm and is filed under Game Previews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.