In the previous editions we analyzed the first four games Sri Lanka played at the U18 FIBA Asia Championship. Sri Lanka took on Kazakhstan in the final match of the tournament. The story of the match in numbers is as follows.
Game 05 – Sri Lanka v Kazakhstan
Full time: Sri Lanka – 53 Kazakhstan – 92 (HT – 24-41)
Head-to-head
2007 – Kazakhstan beat Sri Lanka 93-61
2014 – Sri Lanka beat Kazakhstan 70-61
There was no choose between the teams coming into this game as they have met each other twice in with both teams registering one win a-piece. In this edition both teams came in after losing their 1st 4 games.
Kazakhstan humiliates Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka played their fifth and final match of the FIBA U18 Asia Championship against Kazakhstan.
Having beaten Kazakhstan just two years ago by 9 points, this time the tables were turned as Sri Lanka went down by 39 points. It all comes back to the same point that has been a question since the first game, is it the composition of the team that has affected the performance or were they in a bad place mentally?
Scoring Percentages
2 Pointers – Sri Lanka 32.14% Kazakhstan 37.97%
3 Pointers – Sri Lanka 0.00% Kazakhstan 47.37%
Free-throws – Sri Lanka 65.38% Kazakhstan 62.05%
During the forty minutes of play Sri Lanka has opted for 13 shots outside the perimeter and failed to get a single one into the hoop, thus the 3 pointer percentage remained at 0.00%. Sri Lanka did manage to convert 17 of their 26 free-throws. But it did not do the job as the offense of Sri Lanka went from bad to worse.
Defensive rebounds – Sri Lanka 23 Kazakhstan 24
Offensive rebounds – Sri Lanka 22 Kazakhstan 17
Turnovers – Sri Lanka 33 Kazakhstan 20
Steals conceded – Sri Lanka 22 Kazakhstan 09
Sri Lanka were on top of the defensive rebound stats in the previous games but not in this game. The problems in the offensive rebounds continued. The hustle for the ball was never there in the first match and hence it`s not fair to expect it to be present in the final game. A high number of steals conceded turned out to be a norm throughout the tournament.
Starting 5
Shereen Preena, starting the game once more, played for 37:54min and took 12 shots at the hoop and converted only one. Her field goal percentage was 8.33%. She scored 06 points in the game, converting 04 free-throws. It was Nirma Sasanthi who top scored in the game with 16 points after playing for 35:42min. Manthila Gallassage scored 05 points with a field goal percentage of 22.22% while Chalani Perera only played 06:43min of the game. Dilumi Goonewardene played for 37:26min and converted 02 out of her 19 field goal attempts.
Sri Lanka`s downfall in numbers – Part One
The FIBA U18 Asian Championship came to an end with Sri Lanka returning to the island win-less.
The Bench
The Sri Lanka bench was never up to the mark throughout the entire tournament; probably since they did not have enough time to settle into the game, as the starting five played most of the minutes even when they failed. Kazakhstan rotated the players well enough that the bench scored a total of 41 points apart from the points scored by the starting five. Sri Lanka only managed 18.
Sri Lanka`s downfall in numbers – Part Two
In the previous edition we took a look at the first and the second games of the FIBA U18 Asian Championship.
Five games. Five losses. It is okay to lose; you don’t win always. But having a 0.00% on three-pointers for two games, possessing three six footers and a player who is 5.9` and still being behind on the rebound count and conceding 20+ steals in each of the five games, are factors that are cause for concern.
