Welcome to the third and final game of the Canisius College
women's basketball Italy Tour '09.
We're in Pomezia, about 30 minutes away from our hotel in
Rome. This gym is the nicest of the three palestras the Griffs have played in
during the Italy Tour. The roof is arched (think an old hockey "barn"), with
seats on each side. There are 24-second clocks on top each hoop and it's not
too warm in here. Rome has been pretty hot the last two days (not as hot as
Florence), but it's been about 95 degrees. However, we do seem to have a bug
problem - small ones that are biting.
Anyway, this team will be the best team Canisius faces in
Italy. They have 16 players and I believe are just starting their season. They appear the most serious and
physically talented. A lot of long players, one player is a few inches taller
than the others and they appear to want to make an impression on their coaches.
Canisius continues to wear the blue practice tops and blue
shorts. Roma Sistemi Pomezia has white tops with blue going down the sides and
are wearing blue shorts.
Pregame: I heard
the format was four 12-minute quarters, but only 10 minutes are on the clock... I
don't think is an official "game" as we don't have a scoresheet and appear to
only have one referee... The nets are very long on the baskets... Guarding the home
bench and the scorer's table are the European soccer things (that's the best I
can do to describe them). However they don't guard the visitor bench... The subs
have the full FIBA block to sit on before entering the game... Just had the
exchange of gifts, with each team exchanging t-shirts...
1st Quarter:
Canisius is back to the starting lineup of Russell, Drysdale, Lucas, MacDonald
and Radke... Steph Mac takes the tip for the second time on the tour... This game
has a way higher intensity, from the players on the court, to the coaches, to
the crowd... Britt had a great start, crashing the defensive and offensive glass
and going strong to the hole. Knowing her team had tough starts earlier this
tour, that's what you want to see from your senior point guard... Canisius broke
the game open with a 13-0 run, holding Roma Sistemi to no field goals for over
five minutes... Canisius used a tall lineup for a minute - Drysdale, Lee, Radke,
JJ and Kosior... Tasia was all over the place on defense, crashing the board and
stepping into a passing lane
2nd
Quarter: Canisius is getting what it wants offensively with great ball
movement at the start of the quarter... The Griffs are getting into this game -
playing very hard on the offensive end early in the quarter. Drysdale gave a
fist pump after Radke battled down low and got an "and-one"... Canisius opened
the quarter with an 8-0 run... Roma Sistemi had two field goals in the opening
three minutes and then had three field goals during the final 17 minutes of the
half... Mr. Radke is fanning the bench with a pizza box as there is no air flow
in this gym... Different style of basketball - in Italy, when you grab the
defensive board, you don't bring the ball up with strong elbows. Canisius is
used to doing that and is surprising teams with that.
3rd
Quarter: Steph Mac was crashing the boards early in the half with three in
the opening two minutes... The only thing I can complain about on this trip for
the Griffs is their free-throw shooting, but I'm guessing they didn't practice
that much, but that will come... The major difference with Canisius and the
Italian teams is defensive mentality... Mr. Drysdale has taken over fan duty for
this quarter... The other coach thought his team was giving up, called a timeout
and just ripped his team. First possession out of the timeout was a tipped pass
by Britt... JJ had a block at the top of the key and it was one of those that I
bet was in slow motion for her... Britt just showed why she's the Defensive
Player of the Year and one of the top point guards in the MAAC- she picked the
pocket of someone and then went coast-to-coast, initiating contact to get an
"and-one"
4th
Quarter: It's Ellie's turn to crash the boards early in the quarter. She
had three boards, four points and two assists in the opening four minutes of
the fourth... Canisius dominated this game by its consistent defensive effort.
Roma Sistemi doesn't appear to have a solid offensive system. Canisius can take
MAAC teams out of their offensive flow so this shouldn't be too much of a
surprise... Meanwhile Canisius is running basic offensive sets and getting open
looks. If they had a better shooting night, this could be a 50-point game... Alessia
taught me the Italian word for sub is "Cambio," which is proving to be very
helpful instead of me yelling "Sub" down the scorer's table... We've had some
shot clock issues because it's not plugged into the game clock, so it doesn't
stop automatically... JJ goes back in with 2:16 left and when asked about it, she
said "Why not?" JJ did what she's done under Coach Zeh - set screens, crash the
board and make free throws.
