Billy Beddow was pleased to see his side return to winning ways over the weekend as MK Breakers overcame Cobham Cobras 94-73.
The Breakers were looking to bounce back after suffering defeat against Team Solent Kestrels the week prior with Beddow eager to reaffirm to his side that focusing on themselves would breed a positive outcome.
Speaking to the Breakers website, the Head Coach noted the importance of staying focused throughout all four quarters and ensuring his side kept their cool.
“We’ve got another league game, a chance to show that we’ve put the defeat to Solent behind us. We knew we would need to come out with the energy we have and we wanted to focus on ourselves and try to be consistent.
“It was pleasing to see us keep our nerve and I think that’s something that will prove to be important this year. Last season in Division 3, we were very talented for the league, so we knew if we played okay, we’d win games. Division 2 is different; we need to keep our composure and stay focused throughout – I thought we did that well.”
The Breakers rushed out to an impressive 22-16 opening first quarter lead and would continue to put their foot on the gas in the second with their lead at the break sitting at 44-32. Although their lead was dominant, Beddow was pleased to see the resilience his side showed as the momentum swung in favour of the London side.
“In the Second Quarter we saw them make a real push at us and started rebounding, playing tougher and scoring well – that helped them close the gap. We managed to ride that wave, we know Basketball is a game of momentum and we had a run of our own just before the break.”
Following the break, the Breakers played some of the most exciting Basketball they’ve played all season. Beddow felt the players had earned the right to play exciting Basketball and knows that’s when the players feel at their best.
The Breakers had four players reach double digits for points with Andre Arissol (22), Chris Tawiah (15), Jordan Spencer (15) and Dante Langley (14) all doing so. Beddow noted this was a strength of his side and was pleased to see a number of the team hit double figures.
“The last 20-minutes were great, we kept the focus on us and tried not to worry about the score. The main thing was, the team was playing with excitement, that’s the fun part of Basketball. We competed well and felt comfortable as a team and had big contributions from everyone. We earned the right to play Basketball that way through focus and achieving our goals.
“Four players getting double digits is brilliant, but we can improve on that and add to it. We can have one of our players have an off day, but the surrounding team scores enough to win – that’s the most important statistic of all.
“The guys don’t compare how much they score and don’t worry about how much they score. They worry about how they play and how much we are leading by. It’s nice that on any given day, anyone could be the top scorer and people are close to them. We are a deep team and we need to be comfortable with that.”
